Happy Thanksgiving!

Michael heads home today. He won't make it all the way home because the boat we were relying on isn't going over until tomorrow. Their check didn't come so they have no money to get fuel. That was their whole purpose of going over today so now that's not going to happen. I didn't know that until after I got to work so he doesn't know yet.

I called him this morning to say hello. He was busy getting ready. I said, “But your plane doesn’t leave until 11:00. It’s only 6:00.”

He said, “Yeah, I know. But Wal-Mart opens at 7:00 and we want to stop there before we go to the airport.”

It’s an addiction, I tell ya. The guy just loves to shop! I’m sure he’ll also have to stop at IHOP for some pancakes, too. That seems to be turning into a travel day tradition for them. That’s so not fair! Hehe

The first bell hasn’t rung yet and already the kids are all hyped up. Short weeks do it to them every time. Tomorrow morning is going to be even worse because it’s not only the last day of the week, but it’s a short day.

I was going to take tomorrow off, but I took a personal day last week so I’ll be one of the lucky ones left behind to deal with the rambunctious rugrats. I think tomorrow we’ll have more subs than regular staff. Even the kitchen will be covered by subs.

Tomorrow night, I’ll be baking pumpkin pies. Thursday, of course, we’ll be busy making the rest of the dinner, Friday we’ll decorate for Christmas (if I wait till he comes home again, it will be too late), and Saturday we’re going to Town to get the ingredients for my Christmas cookies. So I guess Jayleigh was right. I will be busy this week! That’s okay, though. It’s a good kind of busy and I’m looking forward to it.

Rick’s wife was trying to order a cell phone online last night. I had written a page full of step-by-step instructions so she could get through it without problems. She must have called me at least 3 times to ask questions. Some of the questions, though, were just totally off the wall. One time she called and asked what a chargeable cover was. I told her I didn’t know. It wasn’t until about 5 minutes after we hung up that I realized she was reading it wrong and the phone had a CHANGEABLE cover!

The bells about to ring so I better get busy. I have science first thing this morning. If I don’t have time to update over the weekend, I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!

Rainy Days and Mondays

Ya know, I’m getting so sick of these storms; especially when they interfere with Michael’s travel home.  He’s due in tomorrow. He arrives at the airport too late to fly home and there is no ferry on Tuesdays. So now I’m back to searching for a boat.

Speaking of searching, one of our community members is lost in the woods so please keep him in your prayers. He went hunting on another island, alone, and didn’t return. There is a search party out looking for him. I’m worried because he just lost his re-election campaign and has a history of suicide attempts. Granted, he was drinking and using drugs at the time and he doesn’t do that anymore, but it’s still a part of who he is.

My weekend was pretty good. I wasn’t as busy as I had anticipated because I managed to give Lindsey back to her mother on Friday night. We did not go to the carnival. I couldn’t talk her into it. I tried up until the last minute. We watched the Disney Channel until it was time for her to go home.

We had a nice potluck yesterday. I didn’t bring my camera, though. It was a good sized crowd even though there were a lot with conflicting plans. I let Lindsey talk me into making mini-meatloaves and I must say she was right. I was embarrassed to admit they were mine after people started commenting on them.

I had a nice visit with my Aunt Laurena. She’s actually Michael’s aunt, too. She is my father-in-law’s sister who happened to marry my Uncle Buster. Michael and I fight over her now. Whenever one of us mentions Aunt Laurena, the other one will say, “You mean MY Aunt Laurena?” She makes the best Mexican Jam and we get a jar every Christmas.

I think I have Michael talked into taking me to Town this weekend. I want to buy the ingredients I’ll need for my Christmas cookies and fudge. That way, I can have my cookies all done by the time he gets here and he can make his bread. He doesn’t come home for Christmas until the 22nd so he’ll have to bake all day on the 23rd.

I better get this posted so I can concentrate on these kids. It’s 3rd grade and for some reason, they need a lot of attention today.

Busy Weekend

This is going to be a busy weekend. Lindsey followed me home. We've got dinner in the oven (mini-meatloaves). There's a carnival tonight that I can't seem to convince her to go to (and it's right next door!). If I do, I'm sure I'll have to go with her as her sister is out of town and she hates to do anything alone. Saturday I have to do grocery shopping because Sunday I have a family potluck to attend. I've got 5 mintues till I have to take our dinner out of the oven so this will have to be short. I'll update if I can find the time. I'm not sure yet if I'll let her, but I know Lindsey is going to try and talk me into letting her sleep here.

Have a good weekend!

Back to Work

It wasn’t easy, but I came to work today. It’s storming again and my dad decided I shouldn’t be allowed to walk to school today. Nice of him to think of me, except that it meant I got here 30 minutes too early. Needless to say, this can end up feeling like a really long day.

Michael moves to Fresno today. They should be on the road now. If he plans things right, he should be able to see my mom on his way up.

The weather is supposed to be fairly good the day he comes back to Alaska, so hopefully, we’ll be able to find a boat to pick them up and bring them home.

Speaking of weather, I cannot believe how some of the kids are dressed today. Its fall people; time to start dressing your kids in warm clothing. There are still kids wearing short pants and pretty little sun dresses. It makes me wonder if the parents even pay attention to what the kids are wearing. It would be different if the kids were being driven to school. But the majority of them are the ones who walk or stand out in the weather waiting for the bus.

Space Cadet is moping today. Lucione is leaving for a basketball trip. Space Cadet thinks she has to go everywhere her daughter goes so is being a little bratty today with the whining and complaining. I have absolutely no sympathy for her. If you ask her, Lucione is “fine with having her mother along” all the time. But when Lucione and I are alone, she tells me it’s embarrassing for her to always have her mom with her. She feels as if her mother doesn’t trust her to be responsible. I’ve tried telling Space Cadet, but she doesn’t hear me. Today she asked if I could tape her up in a box and ship her to Petersburg. I said, ‘Find the box. I’ll tape you up but I won’t send you anywhere!”

I better get some work done.

Personal Day

I took a Personal Day today. I got up, got ready for work, and decided not to go. My heart just wasn't in it today. I'm not sick or sad. I just wasn't motivated and rather than go to work and do a half-hearted job, I decided to stay home.

The weather today is beautiful. The skies are blue and the wind is calm. My only complaint is the temperature. It's 45 degrees and I'd much rather have it 15 to 20 degrees colder.

I finally got those birthdays straight. My step-mom's birthday is tomorrow...so the 14th is my cousin's birthday. Hopefully I'll remember next year because I hate forgetting. I've got some sort of mental block around these two dates for some reason and it irritates me. haha

Lucione is going on her first basketball trip of the year this weekend. I hope they do alright. They're going up to Petersburg. They'll be playing against bigger schools with tough competition but that's always the case for our kids. Even our high school competes with schools twice our size. It'll be a good experience for them, win or lose, but it would be nice if they could get a win or two in! :o)

Not being a soap opera or talk-show fan, I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of my day, but I'll think of something. I hope all of you are having a good day.

My Father in Me

I'm seein' my father in me
I guess that's how it's meant to be
And I find I'm more and more like him each day
I notice I walk the way he walks
I notice I talk the way he talks
I'm startin' to see my father in me
Chorus from “Seein My Father in Me” by Paul Overstreet

All through my life, I’ve been compared to my mother. I’ve been told I look like her. I’ve been told I sing like her. I’ve been told I’m strong like her. The list goes on. Even my mom compares me to herself. I can’t even count the number of times she’s said something like, “Hey, look! We both {do whatever} the same!”

I have been noticing lately, though, that I have inherited a lot of my dad’s traits as well.

He’s an extremely patient man. You need patience to have a job like mine and I believe I got my patience from my dad. I definitely inherited my dad’s sense of humor! I’ve often been told “You’re just like your dad!” when I tease or make a joke. I’ve always taken that as a compliment.

Yesterday, I even noticed that some of my habits are just like my dad. We both write with our right hands but eat with our left. When seated at a table or desk, I lean on my arms just like him (That trait I wish I hadn’t inherited because now I’ve got cubital tunnel syndrome in BOTH arms!). Sometimes when I laugh, I sound just like him.

It’s comforting to know that I’ve got the best of both my parents in me and others can see that.

I need to live my life in such a way that people can not only see my parents in me, but God as well. I need to treat others with love and respect. I need to spread joy. I need to be compassionate. If I live my life correctly, people should be able to see God within me.

And on that day when we will pay for all the deeds we have done,
Good and bad they'll all be had to see by everyone.
And when you're called to stand and tell just what you saw in me,
More than anything I know, I want your words to be
She had her father's eyes,
Her father's eyes;
Eyes that found the good in things,When good was not around;
Eyes that found the source of help,When help would not be found;
Eyes full of compassion,Seeing every pain;
Knowing what you're going through,And feeling it the same.
Just like my father's eyes…
From “My Father’s Eyes” by Amy Grant

Ups and Downs

I think our one small window of opportunity for snow has come and gone. It started to fall this morning, but changed to rain rather quickly and there’s rain and more heavy winds in store for us tonight. So, at least for now, and the next week or so, it seems we won’t be getting any snow.

I hope that everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was uneventful. I stayed at home; cleaned house a bit, watched more TV than I normally do (and now remember why that is) and just tried to keep myself busy.

My cousin’s daughter is in the hospital in Anchorage. She has some sort of birthmark on her brain that has been bleeding and causing her massive headaches.  They are trying to decide whether or not to do surgery. Please keep her in your prayers.

Another cousin of mine became a grandmother yesterday. Her son and his girlfriend had a baby girl. She is 7lbs 7oz with strawberry blonde hair.

Yet another cousin of mine became a grandmother on Saturday but, sadly, her granddaughter died immediately following her birth. She was 10 days overdue, 13 lbs at birth, but didn’t make it. Prayers for that family would be appreciated, also.

Michael will be home in 8 or 9 days. He’ll make it as far as Ketchikan in 8 days and hopefully find a way to get home that night. It’s not a ferry day so we’ll have to find a boat. He’ll be home for 6 or 7 days. His longest visit yet!

By Thursday, he should be moving up north to Fresno. They’ve got one small project to finish before they pack up and start their drive. If they plan things right, they should be able to stop and see my mom on their way up. That will be good since she hasn’t seen either one of us in about 4 years. Come to think of it, it’s been about as long since she’s seen Rick.

Today is somebody’s birthday and it is killing me that I don’t remember whose. It’s either my cousin’s or my step-mom’s. Whoever doesn’t have a birthday today has one on Thursday. For some reason, I’ve never been able to keep these 2 straight. When I’m positive it’s one of them, I end up wrong. I’m normally pretty good at remembering dates so this really annoys me.

Okay, enough rambling out of me.

Thank God For Friends

Always be joyful. Keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Thanks to a very special friend of mine for sending me that scripture in e-mail today. I don’t know if she meant to, but she helped me immensely and I love her for that. Her sister, too, who also helped in her own special way. ;o)

We should be back to regular programming here on my humble little blog soon. Thanks for the e-mails and instant messages. The thoughtfulness of all of you means a lot to me. Hugs to all of you!

Is it Really Worth it?

The more I think about it, the more I am getting tired of my life.

I’m sick of all the politics at work. I’m sick of the family issues concerning this house I’m living in. I’m sick of always having to say goodbye to my husband.

Don’t tell me its seasonal depression. It’s not even that dark yet and I don’t go through a similar phase every year.

In fact, I’m normally more optimistic about things. But there comes a point where thinking positive doesn’t help. No matter how much you try and tell yourself things are going to be okay, they can’t just suddenly get better.

Even if the situation gets resolved, things are changed forever. Relationships you could once trust become strained or just sort of fade away.

The appeal this small town once had for me is tarnished and as much as I love it here, I’ve come to realize that I love what it used to be. Not what it is now.

I understand that things must change. Change is inevitable, unstoppable.

I know I could be strong enough to weather any storm if I choose to be.

The question is do I want to be?

Do I want to stay here and fight these battles hoping that someday, by some miracle, things will be resolved? Is it really worth the effort?

Right now, I don’t think so.

I’m frustrated, disappointed, discouraged, and lost.

I hate this feeling.

I hate what my life has become.

My Weekend

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was pretty good, for the most part. There are some things going on in my family that concern the house I’m living in. I don’t want to go into details just yet. I’ll wait till I have more details and know what’s really going on.

Having Michael home was so nice. Not just because he spoils me! His visits are always so short. This time, he’ll be gone for 15 days. He comes back on the 21st for Thanksgiving and will get to stay home until the 28th. We’re really looking forward to that.

Space Cadet ended up staying over in Town an extra night so we had Lucione most of the weekend. It wasn’t so bad, though, because she’s pretty independent so it’s not like we had to drag her with us everywhere we went. In fact, when given the choice, she opted to stay home. She went back to her home on Saturday after supper so we had all of Sunday to ourselves.

Saturday night we went for a drive later than usual. While we were out, the rain turned to sleet and then into a really wet snow. There was about an inch of slushy snow covering everything by the time we got home. Most of it had melted by Sunday morning, but the mountains are gorgeous. I love the way they look in the winter with all that fresh, white snow.

Today, we’re back to our rain so whatever’s left of the snow, will be gone soon. It’s gusting around 31mph so I didn’t think Michael and Rick would make it out. They did, but their jet hasn’t even reached the airport yet because it is delayed up in Juneau so who knows if they’re going to make it back to Santa Maria tonight or not. Hopefully, the plane won’t be terribly late and the jet out of Seattle will delay long enough to wait for them.

We tried to do most of our shopping for Thanksgiving this weekend. Obviously, I didn’t buy the produce, but we bought the turkey, cranberries, canned pumpkin, and stuffing. The less I have to do on my own, the better since I tend to walk everywhere. I wanted to get most of it done because I’m counting on our usual Thanksgiving storm to wreak havoc on Michael’s travel plans. But then again, we don’t usually get snow until after Thanksgiving so I really don’t know what to expect.

Here at work, we have to get our TB and flu shots today. I’m hoping for a different nurse than last year because I don’t feel like bleeding for hours afterwards again. For such a tiny needle, the TB shot causes some big bruises on my arm. I don’t mind needles, though. I’ve seen enough of them in my lifetime that they don’t even phase me anymore.

Monday morning is actually my busiest all week and it’s taken me over an hour to finish this post. I’m not even sure if it makes sense and I’m not going to take the time to read over it. I’ve got 2nd grade now and they’re a little wired so I need to deal with them.

Happy Monday to all of you!

He Comes Bearing Gifts

Well, Michael made it home safely last night around 7:45. Lucione and I were watching a movie and he just waltzed right in the door. I don’t know why it surprised us. We knew he was going to be in last night. But the door opened and we both gasped. Then when we saw him it was a race to be the first to get a hug. I won. :o)

Lucione was very excited. He brought home new basketballs. He can’t seem to travel without buying something for her and her sister. He’s spoiling them.

Not that I have room to talk. He spoils me, too. This time I got a bunch of movies and Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0. He actually took his boss to the store with him and asked him to help him pick out some photo editing software. I have to say, his boss made an excellent choice. I’ve wanted Photoshop in some form for a while now but didn’t dare mention it to Michael because I knew it was expensive. Michael thinks that if I say I want something or wish I could have something, I’m asking him to get it. I have to be careful what I wish for.

I also got another inflatable figure. This one is for Christmas and there is no way it will fit indoors. Hopefully, come Christmas time, we won’t have high winds. Otherwise I won’t be able to use it. It’s 8 ft. long. It will not fit in my house.

After Michael ate his dinner (which I managed to cook in the oven without burning myself) we went for a drive. Lucione didn’t come with us because she was glued to the TV watching Herbie Fully Loaded, one of the movies Michael brought home for me. I tried to talk him into letting me stay home today to help him clean the house (we have company coming on Saturday and even though the house isn’t in terrible shape, I wanted it to be “extra” clean) but he insisted he could do it alone. He said he wants to be able to cook me lunch. I offered to sleep in till lunch time. That just made him laugh. :o)

So here I am at work, feeling guilty that I’m not at home cleaning. Now I’m afraid I won’t be able to find anything when he goes back to work. He cleans so well, only he knows where things are.

Once while we were visiting my mom, he cleaned and organized her garage. Months later, when she couldn’t find something, she called and asked Michael. He was able to tell her exactly where the box was that held what she was looking for. Not just a guess, either. He told her which box on which shelf. I don’t know how he does it.

Tonight he’s going to make homemade pizza for dinner. He doesn’t let me do a whole lot when he’s home. That’s okay, though. I won’t complain. I’d be crazy to. I’m just going to enjoy this weekend as much as I can.

What Day is it?

Today feels like Friday. All week I felt like I was a day behind and now I’m a day ahead of myself.

This morning as I was walking to work with my head down, I was thinking how the rain felt extra cold. I couldn’t pick my head up because with the breeze and the ice cold rain, it hurt my face. When I finally had to look up in order to cross the street, I noticed that the mountains are half white. The snow is moving further down the mountain. It’s 37 degrees today, which isn’t even all that cold but it’s the coldest we’ve been so far.

I don’t remember the mountains getting snow this early in recent years. I know it didn’t happen last year. I remember grumbling on here about the lack of snow almost all winter long. It’s beginning to look like I’ll get a lot of use out of my lovely green scarf this year! :o)

Don’t forget, if you’d like a Christmas card from me, click the E-mail Me link in the side bar and send me your address. I promise not to send you anything weird; nor will I share your personal info with anyone. Hehe!

Michael comes home today but I don’t know what time to expect him. He arrives at the airport at 4:14 AK time. The ferry normally leaves at 4:30, but they are going to delay their departure for at least an hour in order to allow Michael and my cousin to get from the airport to the ferry. Depending on when they leave, he’ll get home anywhere from 8:00 to 9:00 PM my time (This community is the only one in Alaska that does not change its clocks for Daylight Saving Time. We are on Alaska Time from April to October and on Pacific Time from October to April).

I normally don’t like to have kids at my house the night he comes home but this time it was unavoidable. Space Cadet has to take Lindsey to Town this afternoon because she has her first appointment with an orthodontist tomorrow at 8AM. It’s cheaper to go by ferry, and it’s not light enough early enough to fly so they’re going to spend a night over there. Space Cadet’s husband is a tender on a diving boat and will be out on the water so I will have Lucione for at least one night. Hopefully, Space Cadet will come home on Friday and I can give her daughter back to her without the other one taking her place.

I’m having technical difficulties here at work again today so I better get busy working.

Trick-Or-Treating With Tigger

Okay, finally, here they are. Pictures of some of my nieces and nephews with my Tigger! As always, click the pictures to view them bigger.





This is Mikayla and Craig. Their mother told her to look scary. hehe! She's too cute to look scary. Especially with all those wind-blown curls! :o)

















Here's Lucione. She calls her costume a zombie.

Here's Lindsey as a devil.....

......and Alexys as an angel.

Here's Lexi...I was most excited to see her and her little brother. These are the kids I fostered for 5 months a few years ago. I can't belive they've gotten so big but it makes my heart glad to see them so happy.

And here's Lexi's little brother, Brady.

Want Mail?

I know I promised pictures yesterday, but I didn’t get on my computer till late and then was so busy chatting with Akeskileut, I didn’t have time to post. So you can blame her. Hehe I’ll try to remember to post tonight. Maybe while Akeskileut’s eating her supper so she doesn’t distract me again! :o)

Yesterday was not a good day for me. It started off good, went terribly wrong, and then ended okay. Funny how your mind tends to dwell on the bad things and is sometimes quick to forget the good things. At least mine is, anyway.

But yesterday was a good day because I was able to brighten a friend’s day with a nice surprise.

I can’t believe its Wednesday already. Michael will be home tomorrow night. I so look forward to his visits. They’re short, but I’ve learned to be thankful for them.

Last year a fellow blogger invited her readers to e-mail her their mailing address and she in turn sent them Christmas cards. I would like to do the same. If you would like to get a Christmas card from me, click the “E-mail Me” link and send me your postal address.

I’ve got science first thing this morning…so I guess I better cut this short. I need to start posting from home so my posts have more substance to them and are not just daily “reports” all about my boring, non-eventful life.

*sigh* If only Akeskileut would quit monopolizing my time while I’m at home! :o)

Halloween Tales

Halloween was so much fun! I didn’t dress up, I never do. I haven’t since the 6th grade. I wrote all about it somewhere in my archives – probably around Halloween last year.

Michael and I had a bet going as to when the first visitor would knock on my door. I thought it would be around 7:00. He said it would be at 6:00. When I mentioned it to Akeskileut, she said it would be at 6:30. We were wrong. All three of us. My first visitor knocked at about 5:30.

It was the 5th grade teacher and her son, Samuel. I have a huge inflatable Tigger in my living room. Mrs. M said, “Oh, I like your little Tigger!” Then we both giggled because it is far from little. Her son said, “Mom, that’s a BIGGER Tigger!”

After Samuel left, my witchy step-mom (see yesterday’s post) stopped by with my two nephews Joshua and Chatham. They, too, were excited about the Tigger and posed in front of it for a picture. I didn’t think to ask my step-mom to pose. I missed an excellent photo op there.

Most of my visitors were family. The highlights were when Lexi and Brady stopped by (Lexi was the Statue of Liberty and Brady was a puppy.) and seeing my girls. I’ll post pictures later when I’m at home. I got a cute one of Mikayla trying to look scary.

The weather started off okay. It was cloudy and dreary, but basically calm. By the time the kids ventured out, though, the wind had picked up. I could hear kids wandering through the neighborhood and it sounded like they were having a lot of fun in the wind. But then the rain came. Good thing it was a school night. Most kids had headed home by the time the rain came. I tried to give Lindsey a water-proof bag but it didn’t match her costume so she declined. I hope her candy didn’t get too soggy.

Anyway, I’m here at work, sleepy and sneezing, willing the time to pass quickly. I hope you all are having a good day wherever you may be. Please say a prayer for Jayleigh, as she’s home recovering from surgery.

Happy Halloween!

If you celebrate the holiday, I hope you have a safe and enjoyable one! For those of you who don’t, Happy Monday to you! ;o)

I was on my way to work this morning, thinking to myself how dark it was and also enjoying the walk in the cold, misty rain. We’ve had a break in the wind this morning.

A car pulled up along side me and stopped. I looked in the window and had to laugh. It was my step-mother. She waved me in, even though I was just a few yards from the back door of the school. I opened the door and she said, “Get in. It’s not everyday you’re picked up by a witch!”

Being that she is my step-mother…there were plenty of come-backs I could have said, but I bit my tongue. Besides, we get along really well.

She’s in full costume; long black dress, pointy hat, green and purple hair. I didn’t ask if she had a broom. Hehe

My step-mom is the town secretary. The daycare kids are going to the municipal building to go trick-or-treating today so she dressed up for them.

Today is going to be a long day at school. The classes are having Halloween parties, but not until the last hour of the day. So they’re going to be antsy with anticipation All. Day. Long. I wish we could fix it so that Halloween always fell on a Friday. That way we’d have the entire weekend to recuperate. Haha

The first bell just rang. That means I have class coming in about 5 minutes!

Enough Already...Please!

     We’re in for another day of 60mph gusts or better. The rain is freezing cold and we’ve actually got snow at the top of our mountains! We normally don’t get these heavy rains and winds until November. I’m hoping that all these storms mean we’re getting it over with early and not that we’re going to have an extra long rainy season.

     Actually, we don’t have a rainy “season”. We get rain all year round. Most years we average around 150 inches of rain. But we always get a lot of storms in November. I can’t remember a Thanksgiving where we didn’t have heavy rains and gusting winds. A successful Thanksgiving dinner is one prepared without the interruption of a power outage.

     I received one detention while in high school. Just one…and it honest to goodness was not my fault.

     My mom had already been living out of state for a few years by then. My dad works in construction. He often had long hours starting before daylight and ending after dark. Because of this, I and my sister had to walk to school each day. Between our home and the school was a hill. It’s not very steep as hills go (it’s rather flat compared to, say, a San Francisco hill) but steep enough that we used to go sledding down it during the winter.

     One particular morning, I had a clarinet sectional before school. I was first chair so needed to be there to lead the sectional. I got close to the top of the hill and with the wind blowing so hard, I couldn’t make it up. The wind was pushing against me and as hard as I tried, I wasn’t moving forward.

     I was “stuck” there for what felt like an eternity. Cars were passing by, one even stopped to watch me. Nobody offered assistance. By the time the wind died down enough for me to get to the top of the hill, I was late.

     My band director wouldn’t accept my excuse of “the wind was stronger than me” so I received a detention. Needless to say, when we got even stronger winds a few weeks later and a tree fell on her car I was not very sympathetic.

     I’m crossing my fingers that our stormy season is almost over. I’m tired of chasing down my garbage can. I’m tired of listening to the howling wind when I should be asleep. I’m just plain tired.

Warning, Oven is HOT!

My mom left home when I was 12 years old. I've been cooking for about 20 years, give or take a few. You'd think I'd know how to remove food from an oven without hurting myself. Wouldn't you? A grown woman....cooking for more than half her life.

Click photo to view larger.

Not so...2 days in a row now...TWO DAYS IN A ROW...I've reached into the oven to remove my dinner and burned myself. I'm just lucky my reflexes are fast enough that I haven't blistered or anything. Sheesh! This is why we need a nice take-out restaraunt on this island.

Frustration

Another day, another storm. At least I was able to walk to school today. The wind calmed down but the rain was freezing cold.

     I just had a long talk with the science teacher. She had a couple parents show up at conferences who were quite upset about their child’s science grade this quarter. Trouble was, judging by the work turned in, these kids actually deserved F’s but were awarded D’s for “trying”.

     I can understand a parent not wanting their kids to have low grades, but they were not asking their kids “why” their grades were low. They just went to Ms. H and asked her why she didn’t do more to help them.

     Well, when your kid is not turning in their work, not asking for help, and not making an attempt to catch up when missing school, there’s not a whole lot you can do. Kids are given the opportunity to come in after school. They are given extra-credit opportunities. When they don’t take these opportunities, somehow it’s the teacher’s fault.

     I felt bad for Ms. H because this is her first year here. I know she would like to do more for these kids, but having 144 science students, you don’t always have the time to hunt them down or call every parent. Not only that, she’s also the Title I math teacher. She’s a busy lady. Parents don’t realize how much she actually has to do.

     In that respect, I’m glad I don’t give grades for my computer class. I would most definitely have parents in here upset with me.

     Parents are not involved enough at the elementary level. They don’t bother to come in and see how their children are doing throughout the quarter and then they are surprised when they don’t have the straight A student they think they should when report cards come out.

     And that’s just academically. Let’s not mention the behavior problems parents don’t believe their angels have. We’ve got kids who think it’s okay to mouth off to other students as well as teachers. I asked a kid one time to stop yelling at the kid next to him. You want to know what he did? He went home crying and said I threw his headphones at his chest really hard. I had the parent come in and show me how that could even be possible. The computers in this lab are all against the walls. When I’m talking to a student I’m standing behind them. If I wanted to throw something at them, which I would never do, it would hit them in the back of the head and not their chest. And the headphones? The cords aren’t even long enough for them to stand up while wearing them. It’s not possible to throw them.

     I’m sorry, it’s just frustrating sometimes and I needed to vent. I’m done now. *Taking deep breaths.*

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

This rain just will not go away! It storms all night and morning. It will calm down usually around 3PM only to start up again in the evening. We’ve had storm after storm for days and days.

I actually called my step-mom for a ride today because, even though I’m 2 blocks from work, I didn’t feel like fighting the wind and rain. I don’t usually ask for rides, but I’m glad I did this time.

Yesterday was my sister’s birthday. If you ask her, she’ll tell you she’s 29. I find that hilarious being that I turned 29 five years ago and she’s 22 months older than I am. I tried to call her but got voice-mail. I’m sure I’ll get in trouble for not calling back. I had a message from her on my phone this morning. She tried calling after I had gone to bed. I don’t have the ringer on in my bedroom so I missed it. Oops!

We have a short day today. There are parent/teacher conferences today so the kids are being dismissed an hour early. Same thing will happen tomorrow. If we get a turnout of 90% or better, the kids get pizza and ice cream. Incentives like that really work. Last year we only had one parent miss.

This is also Red Ribbon Week. (That is so much easier for me to type than it is for me to say.) We wear red ribbons all week and the kids participate in drug-free activities with the guidance counselor all week. We also get stickers and pencils. Yay! hehe

I received Michael’s next itinerary from his boss last night via e-mail. He will be home an entire week for Thanksgiving. I’m so happy! There are 10 days till his next visit home. I try so hard not to count down, because it’s never-ending, but he asks every time we talk. I count down to his visit home and before he even steps foot on the island, I’m already counting down to the time he leaves. Then I start all over again.

I’m so glad this is not a permanent situation. Maybe I should get my CDL and insist they hire me, too. That way we could travel together.

My Weekend

There isn't really a whole lot to talk about regarding my weekend, but since I've been asked 3 times already today, I guess I should say something.

I had a long weekend because I don't do report cards and had no reason to be at work on Friday. I have a cold but it's not even half as bad as the last one. Bad enough, though, that I've wanted to stay home.

I missed the kids' basketball trounament this weekend but don't feel too badly as it was the first of many, many games they'll have this year. Our little league season drags on forever, not ending until April or March. I heard Lucione's team placed 3rd in their division.

The weather has been awful. Heavy rain and gusting winds All. Weekend. Long. It's not going to be stopping anytime soon, either. The wind has finally calmed down a bit for the first time today, but they've already issued a high wind watch for Monday. It will be gusting up around 60mph tomorrow. Not fun.

I've basically been a home-body all weekend. I bought plenty of groceries when Michael and I went to town so had no need to venture out. That has made this weekend feel especially long which isn't always a good thing.

It helped to relax and probably helped my cold...but it allowed me too much time to think. By yesterday I was an emotional wreck. I'm better today...just had to cry it all out and get over it.

It's quite a coincidence to think of the fact that of my small circle of acquaintences here in Blogland, 3 of my regular readers have husbands who travel on a regular basis for their jobs. I applaud you women, you know who you are, because you've done it longer than me and are doing so much better at dealing with it.

I swore I would quit whining and complaining on here, but y'all wanted to know how my weekend was going...so there ya go.

Mikayla

It’s time for some happy thoughts. I’m tired of getting myself all worked up about things I can’t change here at work.

I’ll give you some Mikayla quotes. She always manages to make me smile.


Last Friday she was here in the computer lab. To give you an idea about how she normally behaves, here’s a conversation I had with her teacher.

Her teacher was in here trying to do assessments with her kids while they were completing their tests on the computer. Mikayla was being her normal chatty self and the teacher noticed I was taking it in stride.

“How do you handle that? She’s not bothering you?”

“No,” I said. “She’s actually mellow at the moment. You should see her at family dinners!”

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Mikayla had her headphones on so couldn’t hear very well. She finished her test and said, “Aunty Kerri, I’m already done!”

“Good for you, Smarty Pants!”

She heard me wrong and said, “Hey! Don’t call me Farty Pants!”

I said, “I didn’t. I said Smarty…I can call you smart if I want.”

I don’t know what she thinks it means, but she said, “Oh no you can’t!”

I said, “I can too, Missy.”

Then one of he classmates asked, “Did she kiss you?”

Mikayla said, “No! But my mom kisses my dad!”

To which they both replied, “Ewwwwwwwwww!”

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Later that day, while in her regular classroom, her teacher’s husband stepped in for a couple minutes. He had something to show his wife, talked with a few of the students, and then went on his way.

After he left, the teacher asked if anyone knew who that man was. When they all said no, she said,”That was my husband.”

Mikayla wrinkled her nose and said, “Ewwww! You have a husband?!?” She has never been afraid to speak her mind. I’m glad her teacher found it humorous and not insulting.

***********************************

Here’s one more. Mikayla was in science class on Tuesday. One of her classmates said he needed to use the restroom. As soon as the words left his lips, everyone else needed to go, too.

Mikayla said, “Excuse me, Ms. H. I need to go to the men’s room.”

“No you don’t, Mikayla.”

“Yes, I do. I need to go to the men’s room.”

“Mikayla, only boys go to the men’s room.”

“Then I need to go to the girl’s men’s room!”

I cracked up when she said that and Ms. H looked at me and said, “You better write that one down, Kerri!”

Here she is last Halloween dressed as a puppy. It took forever to get her picture because she was busy crawling around acting like a puppy.

Technological Headaches...AGAIN!

     I have a short week this week because it’s the end of the quarter. Since I don’t do report cards and the kids won’t be in school, I don’t have to be here on Friday. I’m so glad today is Wednesday. I can handle one more day if I can just make it through today.

     We’re still having problems with the testing software. The program has the students listed as a grade higher than they actually are so their results are skewed. For example, a 3rd grader testing at 3.9 (the equivalence of a 3rd grader in the 9th month of their 3rd grade year) should have a high percentage and be scored as above average. But since the computer sees them as a 4th grader, they are getting a low percentage and are scored below average.

     Even knowing this, the principal still insists I continue testing. The teachers are irritated because even when the problem is fixed, there’s no guarantee it will fix scores already recorded. So all this testing I’ve been doing this year may very well end up to be null and void.

     That’s not even what’s bothering me, though. It’s the principal. He asked me to call customer service and report the problem. I did. He didn’t like the answer they gave me so wanted me to call back and “rattle their cage”. He said, “Call them back and tell them your boss is upset. Tell them your boss is spending money on training and I want to know if it’s even worth it because we’re getting incorrect data. Tell them your boss wants to know when this will be fixed and let them know that we’re very unhappy with their product.”

     I didn’t feel like it was my place to make the call. One, because I am not the Technology Coordinator and so shouldn’t have even made the initial call to customer service. Two, because HE was the one upset. HE should have been the one to tell them so. And three, just because I’m not good at rattling cages. It’s not in me to be mean even the words I’m saying are not my own.

     He ended up telling the tech guy to call so I’m off the hook as far as that goes. Not totally, though. I still have to get together with the tech guy in his office (wherever that is) to try and figure out what’s causing all the problems.

I also have to go to a Tech Committee meeting today. I’ll be there all day and I am not looking forward to it. I’m sure they’re going to tell me I’m not teaching enough. But you know what? I only see these kids once a week. With all this testing going on, I don’t have time to teach anything. They’re only in here for 40 minutes (35 for Kindergarten through 3rd grade) and the tests take close to 30 minutes of a lot of the kids.

     As Fizzy would say, I’ve got collywobbles in my stomach because I don’t know what to expect.

     Enough about work, though. I’m tired of it all. I’m so glad I have a long weekend coming up. Too bad it didn’t coincide with Michael’s weekend home.

Michael made it out this morning. I'm still waiting for him to call and let me know he's safely at his apartment. He was due in almost 2 hours ago, but he's a 30 minute drive from the airport and there's always a delay at LAX.

We had a very nice weekend together. I worked on Friday even though I didn't want to. I had to test (Which may have been a waste of time...more on that later.) so drug myself in.

Friday night we went for a drive and watched movies. Saturday morning, he woke me up at 6:00 and said that he was taking me to Town. I like to get groceries over there because they have a bigger variety of things and it's usually cheaper than over here. I was excited to have the chance to go.

We ended up spending a night over there. We didn't go to a movie, though. The theater only has 2 screens. He doesn't like horror movies so The Exorcism of Emily Rose was not an option. We weren't in the mood for Wallace and Gromit, either. We decided to go out to a nice dinner and then we just went back to the hotel and relaxed, enjoying each other's company.

We weren't supposed to come home until the 4:30 ferry, but I panicked because the weather had turned on us. We came home on the 10:30 ferry in case Michael had to turn around and go back on the 2:30 in order to make it out today. He decided he'd take a chance on the weather and I'm so glad he did.

It gave us another night together and the weather today was gorgeous.

When Michael first took this job, everyone told me not to worry. They said that every time he left home it would get easier. It hasn't, and I don't know that I want it to. I was as sad today as I was the first time he left back in July.

We've talked about it and he assures me that this is not a permanent situation. I assured him, that if it ever does become permanent, he better get rich quick because I won't stand for being left home all the time. He'll have to let me follow him wherever they send him. hehe

For now, I'm doing the best I can to deal with his absences. It's not as scary but it hasn't gotten any easier. I thank God everyday for whoever invented cell phones. If I couldn't call Michael everyday or had to pay for every call, I'd lose my mind and go broke in the process.

Speaking of which, I'm going to go and try to call him right now.

Monday Madness "This or That"

Which one?

1. Lemonade or Iced Tea?
At my mom's we make lemonade with lemon's from her trees but here at home, I drink Iced Tea.

2. DVD or VHS?
I own hundreds of VHS tapes, but have switched to DVD's over the past few years.

3. Gold or Silver?
I'll say gold only because all the jewelry I own was given to me by Michael and he buys gold.

4. Baseball or Tennis?
I don't really watch either, but will watch the World Series so I'll choose baseball.

5. Spring or Autumn?
I love the cool brisk air of Autumn. Someday, I'm going to travel somewhere where I can enjoy the colors of Autumn, as well.

6. Diet or Regular?
The only diet soda I drink is my mother-in-law's diet Pepsi and that's only because she won't take no for an answer. If I drink soda, it's regular.

7. Hearts or Stars?
I'll say hearts. I don't know why.

8. Snail Mail or Email?
I love sending and receiving snail mail. I send more than I receive, but that's okay.

9. Shop: Online or In-Store?
I live on a small island with only a few stores and very limited selection. I do most of my shopping online.

10. Credit Card or Check?
I'll say check, but only because the money I spend comes directly out of my checking account. I use a Debit Card most of the time.

Build Me Up Buttercup

When Lindsey was a little girl, I'd say between 2 and 4, she had quite a temper. She was extremely active and not really "bratty", but was quick to let you know she wasn't happy when things did not go as she expected.

She'd try to curse and call you names when she got mad. She'd cry really hard and then just start spewing all of her "bad words" at you.

Funny thing was, she didn't know any bad words.

She loved being at my house. When it was time to go, she'd get upset. "I don't wanna go! You let me stay you watermelon! You're a meanie, you candy bar!"

Her favorite one, when she was really mad at you was, "Leave me alone, you big buttercup!"

She eventually outgrew it but we often talk about it. Especially when we want to embarrass her.

Michael thought it was so cute and has taken to calling me Buttercup when he wants to tease me.

One day he heard "Build Me Up Buttercup" on the radio. He instantly fell in love with the song because it reminded him of Lindsey. He now calls it my song...because I, thanks to Lindsey, am his buttercup.

When he left to start work in California, he said he was going to find the song on CD so he could listen to it more often. He was never able to find it. He kept asking me to and I kept ignoring him.

He figured it was a lost cause and all but gave up on ever finding the song on CD.

I secretly ordered it while he was away this last time and it arrived the same day he did. I purposely did not put the garbage out so that he would have to take it to the dump himself when he got home.

I raced to the truck before him and slipped the CD in to the player. When the song came on, I turned the volume way up and all he could do was smile.

"You ordered it?"

"Yeah, that's why I was ignoring you when you'd ask me to look online. I didn't know if it would get here in time."

So we listened to it a couple times last night and reminisced about how Lindsey used to curse at me. hehe

*******************************************

Speaking of Lindsey, here's another story for you.

We were in the library after school yesterday. She was coloring a picture of a frog and I was reading signs on our local tv station. I was singing "Five Green and Speckled Frogs" to her while she colored.

A sign on tv came up from the local hotel/restaraunt. It had a list of their daily specials. I read their special for Wednesday.

"Rib eye"

"Aunty Kerri, frog's don't say rib eye! They say ribIT!"

I cracked up laughing and tried to tell her that I was reading the tv. By the time she turned around, the sign had changed so she didn't see it.

"No it doesn't."

I insisted it did but she wouldn't believe me.

"You're funny, Aunty Kerri. I really wish you'd warn me when you're going to be this funny."

I Stand Corrected!

Akeskileut challenged me to take this US Citizenship test at Blogthings. She said, "You'll probably pass it with flying colors." I told her that, although I got high grades in History in high school, it's been a while and I didn't think I'd do well at all.

Weeelllll.......

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

I guess my memory isn't as bad as I thought.


******************************************

Just on a whim I tried this one:

Your Mood Ring is Dark Red

Very happy Love Passion

Mood Ring Generator

Why am I not surprised, you ask? Michael's due to arrive home tonight! :o)

**************************************

Your Career Type: Social

You are helpful, friendly, and trustworthy. Your talents lie in teaching, nursing, giving information, and solving social problems. You would make an excellent: Counselor - Dental Hygienist - Librarian Nurse - Parole Officer - Personal Trainer Physical Therapist - Social Worker - Teacher The worst career options for your are realistic careers, like truck driver or farmer.

What's Your Ideal Career?

I'm glad to know I made the right choice!

******************************************

Okay, enough fun for now. Michael just called me. He's on the ferry ON HIS WAY HOME. I better start cooking!

Action Sports- Surf industry taking off in Alaska

Hey, Sandy! Come on up! Surf's up.....in ALASKA! (Click the title for a link)

An Eventful Day

What a day I had today! I started off at work but then had to go across campus to the high school for a workshop.

I got an extra long lunch (not really, just 15 minutes extra) so came home and did my dishes AND laundry before going back to the workshop.

In the middle of our afternoon session, we had a fire drill. Not a simple little fire drill where the alarm got pulled and we all filed out the doors. This was a practice run for the fire department. It is, after all, Fire Prevention Awareness Week!

Both of our fire trucks showed up along with an ambulance and a couple of police cars. They actually hooked their hoses to the hydrants and sprayed the building for about 10 minutes.

That was fun to watch but it got a lot of passersby all shook up. They thought there was a real fire.

After the fire trucks left, we went back in, did another half an hour or so of training and then went back to our own building to get ready to go home.

I let my sister-in-law talk me into getting into her car and she drug me to the Open House at the firehall. They had a barbecue and although I don't particularly enjoy eating in big crowds like that, it was delicious. Macaroni salad, black cherry soda, a BLACK hotdog (grilled hotdogs don't taste right unless they're well done!) and FRESH grilled salmon. They had hamburgers but I didn't eat one. They were taking too long to cook them. hehe

Now I'm stuffed. My house is clean because I cleaned up at lunch time. So now I just have to figure out how I'm going to spend the next 4 or 5 hours before I go to bed for the night. I can't wait for the vehicle tours to be over so I won't have to listen to the sirens anymore.

Tomorrow at this time, I'll be cooking chicken stir-fry because that is what Michael requested. He insists on cooking for me when he's home but I always cook what he wants the day he gets here.

There hasn't been a lot of substance to my posts lately. I'm going to try and do better. Not tonight, though. It's been a long day and I'm glad to be home.

It's A Blustery Day

My lungs hurt. I almost feel like I’m asthmatic or something.

No, I’m not sick. I walked to school. A whole 2 blocks away…but it’s extremely windy outside. The road I live on, acts like a wind tunnel. The wind whips down the street and makes it extremely difficult, even for someone like me, to walk up the little tiny hill. You just have to charge right up because if you dare to stop or even hesitate, the wind will catch you and send you backwards.

The fact that it was raining…cold, freezing rain…didn’t help matters any at all. When I got into the building, my body felt light. I couldn’t catch my breath for a minute and my back was tired.

It’s only October. We get these kinds of winds all fall and winter.

I do have good news, though. Michael just called me here at work. He said that the ferry on Thursday is delayed 2 hours so he’ll have time to go from the airport to the ferry and will be home by 8PM! Yay! No stressing about boats and weather!

I have to run off to science now.

Columbus Day

I never saw the point of celebrating this day. I hated studying it in school. Columbus' "discovery" of America was the beginning of the end for so many natives of this land.

1504-1540: Mass slaughter recorded by Bartolme de Las Casas.
1512: Indian organizer Cacique Hatuey burned at the stake, refusing baptism.
1519: Cortez coordinates mass extermination of Indians.
1598: Invaders terrorize the Inca people and begin their total destruction.
1637: King Phillip declares war on American Indians.
1680: The people of Pueblo launch an insurrection and revolt against the slave masters and occupying forces.
1823: A rash of legal decisions are passed down, some of the worst for Indian people came in this time period, beginning with Johnson vs. McIntosh, then the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which lead to the Trail of Tears and the removal of Indians from their homes.
1831 and 1832: The Cherokee Cases turned Indian nations into “domestic and dependent nations.”
1864-1865: Sand Creek Massacre and the Powder River Invasion.
1875-1876: The War for the Black Hills.
1876: The Battle of the Little Big Horn.
1878: Exodus of the Cheyennes.
1890: Massacre at Wounded Knee. 153 Indians murdered at Pine Ridge by the Calvary.

None of that would have happened if Christopher Columbus hadn't "discovered" an already inhabited land. I don't know about you, but being a full-blooded Indian, I don't feel like celebrating.

Secrets

Jayleigh has a post on her blog about being expected to do something and then not doing it and the guilt that ensues. Her “something” has to do with money. She was given money for a specific purpose and used it for something else.

She asked us to think of a time when we did the same thing and tell her about it (as a way to appease her guilt, hehe). I tried and tried to think of something but couldn’t remember a time where I was given money for a certain thing. I’ve received money, but never with the instruction to use it for anything in particular.

I do have a huge secret, though. One that haunts me from time to time and I have no idea what to do about it.

When Michael and I first married, we spent about a month living with his parents. We had a house lined up before we got married but the move-in date was pushed back due to unforeseen circumstances so his parents offered to let us stay with them.

It was during this month, while Michael was working night shift, that his mother shared a secret with me; a secret that she hadn’t shared with anyone, including her husband and their children.

I was sworn to secrecy at least until the time of their deaths. She said, “If you decide to tell my children, please wait until Dad and I have passed because Dad doesn’t even know and I don’t want him to know I’ve kept this from him.”

Talk about being put on the spot. That was 13 years ago. I still haven’t told anyone. Not even Michael. Every time I think about it, it kills me because I don’t keep secrets from him.

This isn’t a small secret, either. It’s major; something that will change the lives of Michael and his family completely should they find out.

I thought I was going to be able to tell it here, but part of me doesn’t want to. If I let myself tell it on here, would that make it easier for me to tell someone before it’s time? Will I even be able to tell them once their parents are gone?

I sometimes wonder why she put this on me. I’m wondering if she didn’t want to be the one to tell and thought for sure I’d tell Michael. Then the burden would be on him to tell the family and not her. After only being her daughter-in-law for one month, could she have really trusted me enough to follow through with her wishes?

I don’t mean to tease you with it. I’m just trying to come to terms with it. Not that I expect his parents to die soon…I’m just trying to figure out what the right thing to do is. I mean, they’re a happy family without knowing. How different will it be for them to know? What if they become unhappy…and I’m the one who delivered the news? I don’t know that I can live with that.

OMG!

I just walked out of the science room. Holy cow, that 3rd grade class is enough to make me want to go into early retirement!

We had an experiment to do today where they were supposed to see whether soil or gravel absorbed water better.

It was pretty simple, put some gravel in one cup, soil in another. Add water, let it drain, and then measure to see which one absorbed more.

This class is full of a bunch of know-it-alls and all they did was bicker back and forth.

I gave so many lectures I was ready to run out of the room crying! Not really, but I was extremely frustrated by the time the period ended.

I don’t think most of them even learned the concept. It was all “We need to do this! No, we need to do this! It’s my turn! It is not, it’s mine!”

What made it so frustrating is that each kid in each group had a job. One was in charge of gathering materials, one was in charge of setting up the experiment, one was in charge of implementing the experiment, and one was in charge of recording the results.

They fought over each others jobs. I’d explain that they needed to stick to their own job. That made them pout.

Pouting kids don’t concentrate well so we had a lot of messes.

Sheesh! I wish it was Friday.

Thank God For Kids

Well, after a rocky start, this has turned into a pretty good day. I was all ready to be in a bad mood because of these never-ending technical glitches. Then I had the 1st grade class.

One of the boys, August, came in and was smiling from ear to ear. He said, “We missed you!”

“You did?” I asked.

“Well, I know I did!” and he gave me a really big hug. He then asked, “Did you miss us?”

“I sure did!”

His smile couldn’t have gotten any bigger when he said, “Guys! She missed us!”

How can I be in a bad mood after that?

Every time I think things couldn’t get any worse, something like that happens and I’m reminded once again about why I love this job.

Having summers off helps, but it’s the kids. They’re so honest and innocent. They’re not afraid to show you they appreciate you. They say the cutest things and always manage to make me smile.

Mr. F...Where are you?

When I first started here in the computer lab, the tech guy was a former teacher of mine, Mr. F. I thought it strange that he switched from being a music teacher to a computer tech, but he was great at what he did.

When I had a problem he not only fixed it, he showed me how so that I didn’t need to always depend on him.

He left us for greener pastures around the time we switched from Macintosh to Dell computers. I’ve learned through trial and error how to fix a lot of the little problems, but have yet to get another tech guy who is willing to allow me to learn.

This is the 5th tech guy we’ve had since Mr. F. left and they are all the same. They find themselves extremely busy and because I am all the way across campus, I always get left for last.

I’ve learned to deal with it, but there are times when it is so frustrating. Nobody likes being the low man on the totem pole, but there are times I feel like I’m the part buried in the ground. The part nobody ever thinks about because all of the artistic stuff is right there in plain sight for all to enjoy.

I guess you might have guessed by now that the current tech guy has, once again, let me down. Remember back in August when I was supposed to start testing and the software wasn’t working? It was because the license had expired and needed renewal.

Well, guess what? He didn’t renew. He signed us up for a 30-day free trial.

Guess what else? The free trial expired over the weekend.

So here we are, 3 weeks away from the end of the quarter. The day I’m supposed to start testing and I can’t because the software doesn’t work.

I have Mr. F’s e-mail address. I sometimes wonder if I wrote him and asked as nicely as I can if he would come back to us.

Starting to Feel Normal

I woke up without a headache this morning. First time in almost 2 weeks. I'm not really coughing anymore. It's down to just an occasional sneeze and blowing my nose every 2 minutes.

Anyway, I've neglected my blog this week. Partly from not feeling well, but also because I was just not up to writing. For some reason, I had an extremely difficult time saying goodbye to Michael this time. The day he left I think I cried every time I thought of him. I went to work which helped a little...except that he knew I was upset so kept calling to check up on me throughout the morning.

Some days are better than others, but nothing ever feels quite right when he's not here. I find myself feeling bad for enjoying things I know he would enjoy, too. I've even turned down a few invitations because I knew I'd feel guilty for having fun alone.

I don't know why that is. He doesn't seem to have trouble getting out and doing things. He shops, goes to movies, eats at restaraunts, etc. I guess after 13 years of doing almost everything together, it just doesn't feel right to me to do things alone.

Hopefully, I'll shake this cold once and for all and get out of this self-pity funk I seem to be in and all will be okay again.

If you're the praying kind, say a little prayer for Jayleigh. She's going to have surgery soon and even though I have complete faith that she'll be okay, she'll be glad to know we're thinking of her.

What Am I Doing Here?

I’m so sleepy today. My head was all stuffed up so I took medicine. Cold medicine puts me to sleep; even if it is a daytime medicine. Now I’m worse off than before because simple movements have become a chore. All I want to do is put my head down and sleep.

Add that to the fact that the kids are riled up today and I’m in big trouble. I can’t even believe I came in to work. I drug myself in despite my body and everyone I know telling me not to. Now I’m suffering because of it. Hehe

I had a really nice weekend, though. Michael and I took Lindsey for a short walk yesterday. We went to Sand Dollar Beach. It was overcast, but not raining and barely any wind to speak of. It was so nice to be out in the fresh air.

We really do live in a beautiful place and I consider myself very blessed to be here.

I can’t wait until the road to Town is complete so that we won’t be so isolated. We’ll still have to depend on the ferry to get us out of here, but at least the travel time will be greatly reduced and it will be able to make multiple runs daily.

I’m typing this mainly as an attempt to stay awake so please excuse my rambling.

The weather today is quite nice. It was partly cloudy when I came to work. It’s supposed to start raining and blowing by tomorrow afternoon, though. That means that even though Michael’s flight does not leave until 12:58 PM, he’ll have to leave on one of the first flights out of here in the morning. The ferry does not make a run on Tuesdays so he’s going to have to beat the weather.

It kinda worked out for the best, anyway, since we need to renew the registration on the truck. It’s actually been expired since July. OOPS

Before we walked to the beach yesterday, we let Lindsey drive the truck. She’s only allowed to drive 20 mph and only on the abandon air strip on the other end of the island.

I always tease her that someone will call the cops and tell them they saw a kid driving. When I say that, she sits up as straight as she can to try and look older.

Yesterday, she sat up straight and tall and then asked me if I could slide down in my chair and look like a kid. I humored her and once the other car had passed I asked, “Do you think it worked?”

She said no, but when the next car came, she asked me to do it again. Haha

This class is over in 5 minutes and then I have one more computer class. I think after that I’ll ask to go home. If I’m still awake by then.

For Tee

Light green words are links.

In the comments of my last post, Tee made me giggle by saying "I'm trying to understand geography of your location. LOL. Is it kind of an island?"

To answer your question Tee, yes, I live on an island. I live at the bottom of what some know as the Alaskan Panhandle. It's a chain of islands in southeast Alaska. If you look at a map of Alaska, it's the chain of islands pointing down towards B.C. Canada, and Washington state.

I've talked about my home a few times in the past. I wrote an ABC poem, I elaborated a bit more later on by listing some facts about my home, and even posted a picture.

These links were mainly to benefit Tee (or anyone else who is a fairly new reader of my blog) but also a cop-out because I've been (needlessly) stressing all day about getting Michael home and don't have the energy to write a proper post.

BTW, it's around 8PM...he'll be home in less than an hour!

The End is Near...

The end of my cold, at least. I think I’m beginning to see the light at the end of this long tunnel that is my cold.

I had a bad coughing spell today at work where I couldn’t catch my breath, but that was because Tech Guy left me to rearrange the computers in a classroom while he went and ran cable in another. I got too warm and felt like I was suffocating. I had a hard time catching my breath. Breathing deep irritated my throat and then it was non-stop coughing for about 10 minutes. Not fun. I didn’t have a headache today, though, so I’m taking that as a good sign.

I was in science all afternoon today. Thursdays are rough because we have two kindergarten classes in a row. We use Foss kits and they’re set up for centers, not as classroom lessons. Add that to the fact that today was only their second science class and we were scrambling to figure out what to do. The lessons not only have to be modified, but we still have to assess these kids to see how much they can handle at one time. We tried breaking up into groups, and still were not able to finish the lesson.

They were a lot of fun, though. My niece Mikayla was so confused to see me there. “Aunty Kerri, why are you in the computer lab, the library, AND now science?”

I told her I didn’t have enough computer classes to keep me busy so I help out in other places, too. “Well, is there anyplace ELSE I should look for you?”

She always has been one to speak her mind.

Michael comes tomorrow. He’s trying to find a way home from Town. The last flight home is at 4:30. Michael lands at 4:33. There’s a guy who runs people back and forth on his boat for a fee but we’re having trouble contacting him. I’m hoping if it doesn’t work out, a friend of ours will go and get him even though it will be a huge inconvenience to him. He’s going to Town on the ferry tomorrow…will be on the ferry home by the time Michael lands. He’d then have to get in his boat and go right back to Town in order to pick up Michael and bring him home.

You all don’t really want to read the boring details that are my life, do you? I’ll stop now. Lindsey should be here soon, anyway. She’s been wanting to visit but I’ve been too sick.

UPDATE: I just talked to Michael and the man who usually runs people back and forth can't pick him up because his boat broke down. I'm hoping our friend will be able to go get him. His visits home are short enough without giving up a night to stay in Town.

Back to Work

Next time I’m sick, someone please tell me to drag my rear end into work no matter how badly I want to stay home.

I was surrounded by 3 different people with 3 different problems as soon as I walked in the door!

One was still complaining about a problem from last week. I told her last week that the tech guy would have to do it because it was a server problem. Something I couldn’t handle.

She said, “Well, we didn’t know where you put the instructions so he wanted me to call tech support again but I don’t have time.”

“I put the instructions in his mailbox.”

“Well, he said he couldn’t find them.”

I walked over to his box, pulled out the top sheet and it was what they were looking for. “Look, right here in his box.”

“Oh, well he must not know he has one. Do you have the paper now?”

“No…it’s in his mailbox!”

I’m sure I sounded irritated by then, but really, who could blame me? How many times do I have to tell you? IT’S IN HIS BOX!

Then another teacher came…

“I told the tech guy about my printing and network problems. He said he’d try to get to me by the end of the week. Is there anything you can do?”

“No, I told you last week, anything that has to do with the network, the tech guy has to do because I don’t have access to the server.”

Do these people even listen to me?!

Then the principal came in. “Did Mrs. L. tell you she told the tech guy about the problem?”

“Yes,” I said, “and everything he needed to fix it was right there in his box.”

“Send him an e-mail…tell him he has a box and should check it once in a while.”

“I would, except he never answers my e-mail. Besides, Mrs. L. left a voice-mail message telling him exactly that.”
I swear, this school falls apart without me here! This is not even mentioning those who have already approached me about installing software on their computers. I’ve only been here 30 minutes!

My Favorite Mouse

I think I've spoken of my older cousin before. Her home was my safe haven throughout my childhood. Whenever I needed to be away from my home, I'd go to hers.

I learned to baby-sit watching her kids. I was only 7 the first time I was left alone with her firstborn. I still don't know what they were thinking leaving me in charge of an infant.

Anyway, she had 4 kids. A son and 3 daughters. My sister claimed the oldest daughter as "hers". If I even looked at her, I'd be in trouble. I was never allowed to pick her up unless my sister was not around.

I was never so happy to hear that there was another baby on the way. Another girl. This one would be all mine.

She was a little roly poly thing with a cute little nose and she constantly wore a smile. I commented one day how she was always so quiet. Even her cry was soft. "She's like a little mouse!" The nickname stuck.

She was the one who would come running to the door every time I walked in. Their living room was raised up above the rest of the house. She'd get a running start and leap off the stairs totally confident that I'd catch her and not fall down. I always did, thank goodness.

I always played with all the kids, but Mouse was the one who always found my lap. She'd ask me all sorts of questions and always had a story to share. Her favorite pastime was singing. She'd think of a Disney movie and we'd sing every song we knew. Her favorites were from Winnie the Pooh but she also loved Mary Poppins. Everytime a new one came out, we'd watch it together over and over until we knew the words of all the songs. Sometimes I'd sing alone and she'd dance. As quiet as she was, she loved to perform.

As she grew older, she became more athletic. She was the star of the basketball team wherever she played. She went to 3 different high schools and was on the starting 5 of all three teams.

Now she's a junior in college. She's still as sweet, kind, and generous as she always was. I miss not having her around but am so proud of what she's accomplishing and the young woman she has become.

Today is her birthday. My little Mouse is 22 years old.




This was taken at a hotel in Town about 5 years ago. That's Mouse in the red with her little sister on her lap.

Stormy Weather

The wind and rain were really pounding my house last night. The computer said it was gusting 35mph but my house was shaking. It had to be harder than that. The rain was falling so hard it sounded like a fire hose was spraying my window. The crazy wind kept changing direction so I was imagining a fireman running back and forth between my two bedroom windows with his hose! I had taken a dose of Nyquil before going to bed. Nyquil makes me loopy.

This morning I tried my best to sleep in but couldn’t lie there past 7:00. Around 8AM I had to go out and gather all the things that had been relocated by the wind. My trash can, an ice chest, other odds and ends…they all at least stayed close to home. I didn’t have to go too far to find them.

I’m feeling a little better today but you can’t tell by hearing me talk. If I can breathe in the morning I’m going to go to work but Michael made me promise to call in if I didn’t feel up to it.

That’s one good thing (or maybe not so good) about him working away from home. He used to call in sick for me before I even woke up. At least now it’s up to me.

Because of the nasty weather and this nasty cold of mine, I haven’t been able to do a whole lot this weekend. I watched a couple movies. Crash is a pretty good movie. Makes you think. King’s Ransom was kinda funny.

I’ve got pork chops baking in the oven because I was too lazy to stand at the stove and fry them up. Better go finish preparing the rest of my meal before the pork chops are done!

Be Careful What You Wish For

I should have known. Just by saying that I would prefer my cold hit me hard over the weekend, I jinxed myself. I could barely talk this morning and even now, it’s not much better. I wanted so much to call in sick but I have one final test to administer today and it’s not till 2:00.

I’m afraid I’ve fallen behind on everyone’s blogs, including my own. I haven’t been on my computer much at all this week. I don’t plan on leaving the house all weekend because of this lovely cold of mine, so I’ll use that time to catch up.

The weather has been beautiful all week. We’re approaching the first day of autumn and still get 70 degree weather every day. I’m hoping this doesn’t mean an extra mild winter. I love the cold weather. The colder it is the better. Maybe I should move further north. I’ll do a backwards migration. I’ll go north for winter and south for the summer.

We’ve almost been in school a month already. I can’t believe how fast it has gone. It’s been so much fun, though. At least when I don’t think about all the technical problems we had. The kids have been a blast. They’re always saying things that crack me up. It’s hard to be in a bad mood at work.

Craig makes me smile every single day. I pass him in the hallway and he’s learned not to call out or wave while he’s in line. He has, however, found a way to say hello. He waits till we have eye contact and then he raises his eyebrows 2 or 3 times. He looks like a little Groucho without the cigar.

Duty calls…

FYI

Today is Hug a Crabby Stranger Day!

Random Ramble

I’m so glad its Wednesday. No real reason except that the week is half over.

There’s an assembly today, too. Today is the anniversary of the day the Star Spangled Banner was written. To celebrate, the high school band is coming to play and the Veteran Color Guard will be carrying the flags. The kids will sing and I’m not sure what else will be going on.

Lucione is in the band. She says she’s “a little excited”, which usually means she can’t wait. She was born to be in the spotlight. She loves it.

Michael will be home in 9 days. I try really hard not to count down because it feels like it makes the days go longer. But it’s hard not to when HE asks me every time we talk how many more days there are.

This head cold of mine is still nagging at me. It’s not really a full-blown cold. I just wake up congested and then have a head ache all day. Other than the head ache I don’t “feel” sick. I wish it would just hit me hard and be over and done with.

Preferably, over the weekend since I just found out I got a pay raise and don’t want to miss work! Haha

It’s time for me to go to science class. Sorry for the rambling post. Didn’t really think I had much to say but wanted to post “something”.

Music to My Ears

About 3 years ago, I was a foster parent to a niece and nephew of mine. My niece was 1 and a half and my nephew was 5 weeks old when I got them. I had them for 5 months.

My cousin was having some rough times in her marriage. Her husband drank and was very abusive. She had threatened suicide when we were growing up and even tried to OD at one time. With the drinking and abuse, all of her insecurities resurfaced.

It was a Sunday afternoon. She and her husband had a fight and he left. She called her mom, my aunt, and was crying. My aunt tried to ask her what was wrong but wasn't able to understand her. She panicked and called the police.

The police knocked on her door and there was no answer. They heard babies crying but the door was locked. They broke through the door and found my cousin wearing nothing but a blanket, unconscious on the living room floor. The babies were upstairs in their cribs crying, hungry, and scared.

They found empty pill bottles on the floor. She was rushed to the clinic to have her stomach pumped and then sent to the hospital inTown until she recovered.

Social Services took her babies away and, because her relationship with her mother was unstable, they were going to send them to Juneau for temporary placement unless they could find someone here in town to care for them immediately.

The next day, I was at work when my aunt came and told me what was going on. Michael was working and not able to be reached but I couldn't stand the thought of those babies being sent to strangers if I could prevent it.

I explained the situation to him when he got home and he said he understood. Later that night, we went to my aunt's and picked them up. I was so scared. I had no idea what to expect. 2 babies...totally dependent on someone they didn't even know.

Ahka can tell you how scared I was. I'd sign on to chat with her every day to tell her what was going on. I'd tell her how nervous I was and she'd calm me down and tell me how well I was doing.

For 5 months I had them. I watched them grow healther and happier. My niece was learining to talk and started to call Michael "DaDa". Those were 5 of the hardest but most rewarding months of my life.

We gave them back to my cousin just before Christmas that year. It was hard to let them go but I had to trust that my cousin would do what was best for them.

They moved to Town and I didn't see very much of them until they moved back home last winter. My cousin's marriage was still shaky and I always knew when there was trouble because she'd disappear for a while. She'd stop answering her phone and would rarely leave the house. Most likely waiting for the latest bruise to fade. She's finally started divorce proceedings and is now living with my aunt.

I was walking to the grocery store today and walked past my aunt's house. I noticed her front door was open, but didn't think anything of it. I was on a mission...had to get to the store and back home.

Then I heard it. A little voice was calling out. "Aunty Kerri! Aunty Kerri!"

I turned towards my aunts house and there was my niece. She was all dressed up and looked like one of the princesses from Disney's Sleeping Beauty...pointy hat and all.

"Hi, Baby! Look at you! You look like a princess!"

That made her giggle and she asked if she was a pretty princess. I told her, "I've never seen a prettier one."

She danced around on the porch to music only she could hear. Then her little brother came running out.

"Roar! Roar! Look at me! Roar!"

He had a little plastic tiger and was quite proud to show it off.

When I first got them they were both malnourished and underweight. They were plump and happy when we gave them back. I constantly worried about them but knew I had to give my cousin a chance to do what was right for those babies.

I've never been an advocate for divorce but it's the best thing for her, really. I sincerely hope she follows through. It always makes me happy to see her kids and, knowing all they've been through, hearing their squeals of joy is music to my ears.

Poor Mr. Tech Guy!

Apparently, Mr. Tech Guy is scared of me! HAHAHAHAHA! I think that is hilarious! He wants me to do some things around the building but won’t ask me directly. He talked to the principal about talking to me. HE thinks it’s hilarious, too! Not only that, he laughed at the thought of me doing what TG is asking me to do. HAHAHAHA that made my day!

Enough Already!

This is turning into one long week. Even after having Monday off. I’m tired of being asked the same questions and giving the same answers to the same teachers everyday. I feel so bad for the kids. If/when this testing software ever gets up and running, it will take me 3 weeks to complete. I’m supposed to test at the end of each quarter which means that after the 3 weeks I’ll have to start all over again. IF it works on Monday, then the kids will have one week of computers with no testing and then start right back in. That seems to be a very big “if” because the tech guy can’t find the paperwork he needs to renew the software.

I know in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t really all that big of an issue. I’m just frustrated. I tell them over and over again that I don’t have the answers yet they keep asking me. Even the principal expects me to know. I don’t have ESP. I am not able to communicate by mental telepathy. If the tech guy is not answering my calls, I don’t have answers. He of all people should understand that I’m not the person to go to. He calls me the Tech Guru when really, I’m far from it. Sure I can handle little things, like printer errors and software installations, but when it comes to the big stuff like networking and server issues, that’s not only out of my league, it’s out of my building. Even if I wanted to figure it out, I couldn’t without crossing campus.

On the plus side, the science teacher and I get along quite well. She’s got an excellent sense of humor. I’m not sure the kids have caught on to her sarcasm yet. She has a way of making science fun while still teaching the concepts they need to know.

The weather has been changing rather quickly lately. It will storm at night and be fairly good all day with only a few showers and then blow all night again. Right now it’s actually mostly sunny.

Lucione has come over a couple times to do homework, but I haven’t had kids sleeping at my house at all this week. It’s been kinda nice. I’m getting used to being alone and sometimes even enjoy it. That’s not to say I wouldn’t love it if Michael could work at home.

Well, being that I’m at work, I suppose I should quit rambling.

Wait a minute! Just as I was about to post this, the tech guy showed up and asked me to try the testing software again. It works! YAY!

Feels Like a Monday

We’re off to a great start! I’m supposed to be testing in the computer lab. Last week, the testing software expired because someone forgot to pay the licensing fee for this year. Everyone’s pointing their finger at everyone else when, in reality, it’s nobody’s fault because the tech guy left without letting anyone know it needed renewal.

The teachers are anxious to get the testing out of the way and the software is used for other things, as well.

I walk into the building this morning and I swear the teachers were waiting to pounce. It was as if they were hiding behind a corner to catch me off guard. I walked in, the hall was empty and before I knew it, I was surrounded.

Teacher 1:“I noticed Renaissance isn’t working yet.”

Me: “Oh, really? I just got here, I haven’t had a chance to check.”

Teacher 2: “Do you think we can use Renaissance today?”

Me: “Good question, when I get to my desk I’ll call the tech guy and ask him.”

All the while I’m thinking, “Do you see me standing here with rain dripping off my coat? Do I look like I’m able to answer your questions? Do you even realize I’M NOT IN CHARGE OF MAKING THE PROGRAM WORK?!?”

Too Fast!

This visit went by way too fast. He was supposed to come home on Thursday night but his friend backed out at the last minute forcing him to overnight in Town. He came home on the first flight on Friday morning.

We had barbecued chicken and potato salad. Michael prepared it all while I was taking a nap. My headache was gone after the nap, but I keep sneezing. I think I’m in for a nasty head cold.

We had my nieces overnight because their dad was supposed to go hunting. Turned out he didn’t, but didn’t tell us until about 6PM the next day. We sent them home once we knew their dad was there.

Saturday we drove around and enjoyed the sunshine while the girls went for a bike ride. Driving is not as much fun when I’m alone so I tend to keep the truck parked when I’m home alone. Anything I need is within walking distance, anyway. Late that night, we were able to see some Northern Lights. They were bright green and took up the whole horizon. Every time they got dim and we thought they were over, they’d get brighter and spread out. I never get tired of seeing them.

Sunday was more of the same…just out enjoying the sunshine. We watched Monster-in-Law while eating barbecued hamburgers and more potato salad.

Michael leaves today at 5PM. His flight out of Town tomorrow is too early in the morning for him to stay home another night. This was supposed to be his longest visit so far, but ended up being the shortest because of his two nights in Town. His boss wasn’t very happy about that and has relieved the travel desk of their ticketing duties. Hehe He’s going to try and fix it so that they leave California early in the day and leave Alaska at mid-day. That way, hopefully, he wouldn’t have to overnight in Town any more.

I’m off to enjoy the last few hours with him. I hope all of you had a nice weekend.

Ugh

I came home from work early today. I'd like to say it's because Michael came home this morning and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Unfortunately, I had a massive headache so called it a day at lunch time and came home and took a 2 hour nap.

I never...well, rarely take a nap during the day. He was busy slaving away in the kitchen and I was asleep. For 2 hours! I only woke up because Lucione showed up to do her homework here.

At least now my headache is gone. But my vow to stop inviting kids into my home didn't last very long. Lucione and Lindsey are here tonight. Their mom is still out of town and their dad is going hunting early in the morning and will be gone until late evening.

Their uncle is happy to have them here, anyway. And with him home, I can always lock myself in my bedroom and let him deal with them if I need a break.

I swear, though...after this I'm done with kids for a while. Honest!

*****************

I was able to chat with my mom and sister last night on Yahoo messenger. I even turned my web cam on for a while. Trouble was, she wouldn't let me turn it off. "Look at the camera and smile. I was looking down, do it again. It was out of focus, try one more time." Over and over and over again. It was only my 2nd time turning the thing on and I'm not yet comfortable with knowing I'm being watched. I couldn't wait to turn it back off. I did better than last time, though. I didn't have my hand in front of my face this time. hehe