Concerts and Cookies

It’s 9:00 and I’m trying to decide if I should wake my little “elf” or not. I call her my elf now, because last weekend when she came to visit I asked her, “Who’s my light plugger-inner?” My mom used to use silly words like that all the time when I was small. Hehe, guess I really do take after her.

Anyway, when I asked that, Lindsey laughed and said, “Gah, Aunty! Light plugger-inner?”

“Well, what else am I supposed to call you?”

“Elf.”

She said it so matter-of-factly without even the hint of a smile. So now she’s my elf. A tired elf because I let her get online last night and she was up till around 11:30.

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Michael comes home today. I am so excited! He called me 3 times last night. I think he’s a bit excited, too. :o) I’m glad I didn’t try to change my ferry reservations. They’re booked solid today so I couldn’t have made it over, anyway. At least not with the truck.

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The school concerts were great. It was kind of sad to think that it was Lindsey’s last elementary Christmas program. She’ll be in Junior High next year! She tries to tell me she hated it, but I think she really enjoyed it and is too “cool” to admit it.

Craig had a blast. He really got into it this year. His little sister Mikayla enjoyed herself, too. She actually surprised me and behaved quite well.

James was a little harder to read. He’s been really self-conscious lately, but I think he had a little fun on stage.

I’ll post some pictures, but haven’t had time to do any editing. I wanted to get them posted before Michael comes home (tonight! Yay!) and I get busy.

Elementary Concert:

Here’s Craig (in the blue shirt in front) with his class singing We Three Kings. I thought this was the sweetest picture. I’m glad I caught it.

Mikayla is normally quite active and not able to be still or quiet. She behaved quite well and is actually looking a little robotic in this picture. She's the curly-headed one in the front row wearing a black dress with a red ribbon around her waist. It's weird that she looks like she's looking right at my camera. I was waaaaayyyy in the back of a dark gym in the top row of the bleachers.

James was a little harder to read. He said he hated it but he looks like he's having fun. He's the taller boy in the back wtih a blue shirt. The girl in the pink is my niece Autumn. I don't think I've ever mentioned her before.

Lindsey tried really hard to convince me she hated the whole ordeal. I don't know, what do you think? She's in the vertical striped shirt in the back row. The tallest girl, with the glasses, is my niece Tawny.

Here is the entire elementary school, kindergarten through 6th grade, singing the finale. They sang Yankee Doodle Santa and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Junior High/High School Concert:

My nephew Adam sang "Oh, Holy Night' as a solo. I was extremely proud of him. He did great.

Alexys played "Silent Night".

Lucione played "We Three Kings of Orient Are".

The tiny band...7th through 12th grade.

Cookies:

Here's Lindsey learning how to roll dough. She's concentrating so hard she had to stand up! hehe

Decorating with popsicle sticks is not easy as evidenced by the intense look of concentration on Lucione. haha

Once they got the hang of it, they came up with some really neat designs.

Forgive the weird camera angle. haha I was trying to just get the cookies. When Lucione spots a camera THIS is what happens:

I better get back to the kitchen. Maybe more baking will keep my mind off of Michael for a while. This has already turned into a really long day. hehe

Good News!

I’ve spent so much time attending concerts and…ahem…sleeping late(ly) that I have neglected to tell you my good news! Michael was supposed to come home on Tuesday the 20th but he will actually be home TOMORROW evening! I’m so excited!

My original plan was to meet up with him in Town when he came in. We’ve decided that instead of going through the hassle of changing ferry and hotel reservations again, we would just keep it as is. So he’ll come home on the ferry tomorrow evening and I cannot wait.

I still haven’t figured out why we’re going to Town because he’s been busy shopping in Fresno. I’ve decided to just enjoy our time and not worry about “why”.

I plan to start baking tonight if I’m not too tired. I woke up extra early today probably in fear of sleeping in again. I’m also thinking of having my girls stay with me this weekend. They enjoyed baking so much I want to give them another chance. They don’t usually get to be in the kitchen at home.

If/when I find some time to use my computer at home, I’ll post pictures. School concerts, baking cookies, and who knows what else. :o)

At Least It's Wednesday

Sheesh! What a crazy, bizarre start to my day!

Michael has me turn the hot water heater off when I'm not using it so save on electricy. I get up every morning at 5AM and turn it on so that I will have plenty of hot water in plenty of time to shower for work. I have an alarm set for 6AM that ALWAYS wakes me up should I fall back to sleep after turning on the water.

Have you figured out where this is going?

It was chilly in here this morning so after turning on the water, I got back under my cozy blankets to warm up. It didn't feel like I was laying there very long so when I opened my eyes once again, I went straight to the shower.

I hadn't looked at the clock so I was thinking it was somewhere near 6:00 because I hadn't heard my alarm come on yet. I took my time in the shower and got dressed. I walked out of the bathroom and heard the phone ringing.

"Who would call this early?" I thought to mysef. I pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, good morning." It was Space Cadet. I got panicky because yesterday my father-in-law was brought to the clinic with chest pains. I figured the only reason she'd call me this early (in my head it's still around 6:00) was if something bad happened. "How are you?" she asked.

Then I really got confused. Nothing's wrong with Dad...why is she calling so early and acting so non-chalant? "I'm good," I said.

"Oh, ummm...did ya sleep in?"

Then I looked at the clock. 8:11AM. 8:11!!!

"Yeah, I guess so." Then my mind went totally blank. "I can't remember when my first class is. Is today Wednesday?"

She said, "Yes, it is. You have 5th grade at 10:00."

"Okay, I'll be there before then. I'm sorry." I was SO embarrassed!

"That's okay, there's a first time for everything!"

"Yeah, I guess so." I said goodbye and hung up.

I have never over-slept for work before. In all the years I've worked there, if I'm not going to be at work, I always let them know ahead of time. If I wake up feeling sick, I always call by 7:00. I cannot believe I did this. I took cold medicine last night because I had been sneezing all day. I figured it would be okay because I hadn't reacted too poorly to medicine lately and it wasn't Nyquil. I can only assume the medicine played a part in my sleeping so hard. I must have slept through my alarm. I checked it and it was set.

I can't change the fact that I slept in. I'll have to live with the embarrassment. But as far as work goes, at least it's a Wednesday. My only day of the week that I don't have a computer class until 10:00.

Sheesh.

Finally Some Answers!

Before I forget, there were a couple questions asked of me in comments the past few days that I haven’t answered yet.

I had mentioned that alcohol was illegal here and Tee asked if it was in the entire state of Alaska or just my community. Alcohol is not illegal in the entire state. There are a lot of social issues that arise from the over-use of alcohol, such as fetal alcohol syndrome and suicide, so many rural communities in Alaska choose to “attempt” to regulate the import of alcohol. There are communities who decide to be dry (having alcohol and its consumption completely illegal), damp (allowing alcohol to be imported but not sold), or wet (having the sale and consumption of alcohol legal).

I put attempt in quotes because regulation doesn’t always work. We are a dry community. We have been from day one. So even if you are of legal drinking age, you are still breaking the law by consuming alcohol while on the island. Yet we have a bootlegger almost on every block, people getting arrested every weekend for driving while intoxicated, and paranoid people “throwing away the cap” and trying to drink before getting caught. People don’t know how to drink socially here because they’re always in a rush to get rid of the evidence. I don’t know that I’m for legalizing alcohol, but outlawing it hasn’t worked.

On a totally unrelated subject, I mentioned that Mt. Edgecumbe was coming here for basketball and Connie Marie asked if we had to go to high school at boarding schools back in the day. I don’t remember the year our high school was built, but there was a time when the schools here only went up to 8th grade. If you wanted to continue on, not every one did, you had to leave home and go to boarding school.

A lot of people, my dad included, went to Mt. Edgecumbe. It used to be a strictly native school where students from rural communities throughout Alaska went to school. It is still predominantly native, but I don’t know if the policies are as strict as they once were. My dad went to Mt. Edgecumbe for his freshman, sophomore, and junior years of high school. By the time he was a senior, they had built a school here so he was able to move back home. When the school year started, however, most of his friends were juniors. I guess schools weren’t as quick back then at transferring records and such. My dad told the school here that he was a junior. He got through the whole first quarter before the school realized that he should have been a senior. By then they figured he was too far in to the year to catch up with his classmates so he was allowed to repeat his entire junior year. My dad had 5 years of high school and it was totally his own choice!

Well ladies, I’m sorry it took so long for me to answer your questions. Does anyone else have a question for me?

My Favorite Twins

These two little angels belong to my niece Erin. That's Hope on the right and Sabrina on the left. They were the first set of girl/girl twins in our family (besides these twins, our family has 2 sets of boy/boy twins and 1 set of girl/boy twins).

If you remember my post back in September about my Mouse, Mouse and Erin are sisters. Erin has been living in Dutch Harbor for a couple years and I miss her and her girls terribly. Looking at that picture reminds me of when Erin and Mouse were that age. They used to love to model and lip sync to their favorite songs.

During the summer, it would take ages to get them into their pool because they'd strut around modeling their bathing suits. They were such big hams and it looks like Hope and Sabrina are, too.

They look like they'd be so much fun to spend time with. They were still little babies when they left. I was their babysitter, just as I was their mother's. I was one of the few who could tell them apart. Distinguising the difference between twins was never a problem for me. Once I figure out what's different, they no longer look the same to me.

Lucione and Lindsey used to like to help me take care of them and the babies liked them, too. They each had their favorite. Sabrina would just laugh and laugh when Lindsey played with her. Hope cried every time Lucione left the room.

Last year, Erin was in town for a couple days and decided to throw an early birthday party for her girls to get the family together. It happened to be on my birthday so I got to celebrate with them. That was a lot of fun. Especially sneaking them hershey bars behind their mother's back. hehe They were the huge bars. I didn't buy them for them, but kept breaking pieces off for them to eat because they were heartbroken when their mother let them have a bite and then took them away.

This time of year I find myself getting quite lonesome for those who can't be home for Christmas. I cling to my memories and am so thankful for telephones, computers, and the postal service.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Michael and I will see each other again in 12 days! I can’t say he’ll be home because I’ll be meeting up with him in Town and we’ll spend a night or 2 over there before we come home and get busy with the family. This was all his idea, of course, but it will be nice to have some alone time.

This weekend I’m going to make fudge and cookies for my coworkers. I was going to just do the cookies but I’ve had a request for fudge so I’ll do both. Lucione and Lindsey will help me decorate the cookies. That should be a lot of fun if I can keep them from fighting over the icing and sprinkles.

The weather is starting to turn on us again. We have wind and rain again today. It wasn’t really blowing all that hard this morning, about 45mph, but my dad insisted on driving me to work. That meant I got here a whole 30 minutes early. I sat in Space Cadet’s office and kept her company for a while before making my way to my classroom.

I’m administering 2 math tests today and I am done until February. I’m so happy. Testing is stressful for me because I never know if the software is going to work or not. This time around, the Early Literacy software didn’t work, but the principal let me off the hook and said I didn’t have to run that test this time.

Next week is our last week before Christmas Vacation and it’s a short week, at that. We won’t be in school on Friday. The kids are already getting antsy. Who am I kidding? So am I! I’ll be very busy that weekend because I’ll need to have all of my cookies and fudge done before I head to Town. Michael will need the kitchen when we come home to bake his bread. Too many people look forward to his bread, he’s decided he can’t skip a year.

Tomorrow is a big day for our little community. It will be our first basketball home game this season. Mt. Edgecumbe boys will be here. Basketball is a big thing here. Everyone is either a player or has been one at one time. I even played in high school. This year is especially exciting to me because my niece Alexys not only made the team, but she’s a starter on varsity. Unfortunately, the girls team only has 3 home games this year. I don’t know if any of her games coincide with Michael’s trips home, but he’ll be able to see her at the Regional Tournament in March. He’s going to take his vacation during that week so we can go watch her play. The tournament is in Town so it will be a nice little getaway for us.

I’ve got test scores to print out. I better get to that. I hope you all are having a good day (or night – whatever the case may be).

I Have a Headache

We had a minor catastrophe in our building on Sunday. Well, it’s minor to me. I suppose it was quite major to the people it affected directly.

The water pipes in the ceilings of two of our classrooms burst open and flooded the classrooms. Lindsey’s classroom and the science lab are now off limits. In order to be able to continue on, they’ve moved the science classes into the tutoring room and Lindsey’s class into the Reading room.

That means that the Reading teacher is without a classroom. Now she holds her reading classes in the library in the morning and here in the computer lab in the afternoon.

That leaves me with no place to be in the afternoons.

I guess I can maybe ask around to see if any classrooms need a volunteer 3 afternoons a week. Best case scenario is the classrooms will be repaired and able to be used by the time we return from our Christmas holiday. Worst case scenario…the end of February.

I don’t really mind sharing my room. I feel bad for the reading teacher, though. She’s got what she considers her most important things here in my classroom, but most of her stuff has just been shoved into the corners of her classroom so that Lindsey’s class could move in. Poor thing.

As if work wasn’t stressful enough, I just found out that one of my nieces was caught drinking last night and after being returned home, she snuck back out. She’s going to be 21 next month, but alcohol is illegal here. Had she been caught, she would have ended up in jail; where one of my nephews found himself last night. He can’t be released until 2PM today and the truck he was driving (my father-in-laws) is impounded until the 12th.

Michael was in a mood last night so we didn’t have a very good conversation. I really hope he’s in better spirits today. I won’t tell him about our niece and nephew. Not until I know he’s gotten a handle on whatever it is he’s dealing with down there. I think being away from home so much is finally having an effect on him. Now that the novelty of having restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping have slightly worn off, he’s become more moody. Normally I can tell him a story about Lindsey or Lucione and get him laughing again but last night it didn’t work. Hopefully, his upcoming visit will be long enough to recharge him.

I have a class coming in a few minutes. I’ve got to give them a test so I better start preparing. I hope you all are having a wonderful day.

Happy Birthday, Akeskileut!

Happy Birthday, Akeskileut!

Thank you so much for being a wonderful friend. You listen when I need to vent, cheer me up when I'm sad, and are always ready with encouragement when I need it. You deserve to have a very special day. I hope they treat you like a queen! :o) God bless, and may you have many, many more!

Michael said I had to sing to you but I'll link to my birthday post from last year, instead. Click here to hear me sing to you all over again!

More Christmassy Things

(Is Chrismassy a word?)

These two are the latest additions to my Christmas bear collection. The collection is becoming insanely huge but I just can't find a good point to stop. I find myself "needing" to buy a new set every year. I think I need to build a house big enough to house all my bears! hehe

Some years the bears are fancier than usual but they're all adorable. The one on the right (in the black top hat) is actually a New Year bear who counts down the last 10 seconds to the year 2000.

One year, the week before Christmas, every time I stepped out of the shower in the morning, there was something waiting for me on the floor of the hallway. Four of those days, I found these Disney characters. Tigger, Pooh, Dumbo, and Eeyore. I love them!

Akeskileut, the only cats I do not believe are evil are those in Disney movies! hehe Dutchess is one of a few cats who made it on to my tree this year. Somewhere in there is Oliver, and Thomas O'Malley. :o)

I think these Disney Christmas balls are so cool!

This is my all time favorite scene from a Disney movie.

Cute, no?

This is my newest ornament. When you press the button, the Mickey Mouse Club song plays and the member badge flashes.

This is the tree top that Lucione made for me. She was only about 7 years old. Maybe even 6. She worked on it all day and what you can't see from the picture is that it is actually 2-sided. If you look at the back, you see the back of her dress and her hair. Up to this year, it is the only thing that is not Disney on my tree. This year we bought a star but I didn't have the heart to not use the angel.

Finally, here is the Christmas inflatable Michael bought for me. I haven't set it up yet. I won't until he comes home. When I do, I'll make sure I take a picture. It has to go outdoors. It's way too large for my living room.

Christmas Cards

I love sending and receiving mail. Especially Christmas cards. I don't know what it is...but getting a Christmas card in the mail is always enough to brighten my mood.

I received my first Christmas card of the year the other day! I was so excited when I pulled the envelope out of my mail box. It didn't have a return address on it, but I knew immediately who it was from without having to open it. I could tell by the USA in the address that it was from Fizzy. Thank you, Fizzy. You made my day!

I'm Sorry!

I know, I promised a post days ago. I'm so sorry it's taken so long! I'd list my long list of excuses, but I think I should just get on with business. :o)

This has been a busy, but non-eventful week. It seemed to take me a bit longer to get back into the swing of living alone after Michael left this time.

What I've loved about this week is the weather. It's been getting colder every day. This morning before I left for work, it was 17 degrees! I'm loving it. It's a nice dry cold with a slight breeze. The sky has been clear and beautiful.

It's been so nice walking to work under the stars and enjoying the cold.

Those of you who shared your address with me have Christmas cards coming in the mail. I hope they find you happy and well. :o)

When we came back from Town on Sunday, it was snowing. I tried to take some pictures of our small town as we passed. They're not retouched or edited in any way. I wanted to get them up here since Connie and Akeskileut pretty much insisted I post "something"!

I plan to get pictures of my tree ornaments up soon. Sorry, k8, I didn't use Aladdin this year. :o(

A Long Post About a Long Weekend

Michael was supposed to get home on Tuesday but due to circumstances that should NOT have been beyond his control, he didn’t quite make it. The weather was atrocious so he may not have made it, anyway. He came in on Wednesday afternoon and is leaving any minute now.

We spent Wednesday evening baking pie. We only did pumpkin because we knew it would be just the two of us and that he’d be leaving soon. We still ended up with too much pie.

Thursday we started out watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and then proceeded to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Again…way too much food for just the two of us. We knew we were going to have dessert with his sisters so we had a piece of pie for lunch. Hehe The wind was howling the entire day and I kept finding myself praying that the lights would not go out. The house was literally shaking from the strong gusts of wind.

We had a nice visit with his sisters. Mikayla was playing with Michael for over an hour before she came over to me and asked, “Aunty Kerri, who’s that guy behind you?”  We watched the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving program with them before we left. It seemed to be Craig’s first time seeing Peanuts on TV. He said, “Wow! This is even funnier than the comic!”

Friday we spent the entire day decorating. We put lights up in the windows, around the roof, around the living room ceiling, and all down the hallway. We also put the tree up, but didn’t decorate it until last night. I set out a few of my musical figures but still need to put out my bears.

Saturday we were supposed to go to Town for the day. We ended up spending a night over there. We bought the ingredients I’ll need to make cookies and fudge, my 2005 Christmas bears, a few Christmas gifts, and went to see Harry Potter.

Yesterday after returning from Town, we decorated the tree. Space Cadet brought Lucione and Lindsey over to visit their uncle. They played I Spy with my Christmas tree ornaments. They’ve been doing that ever since they were old enough to recognize the characters. My tree only has Disney ornaments and balls. The only items on the tree that are not Disney are the tree tops.

Yes, that’s tree topS, as in more than one. When Lucione was about 7 years old, she made an angel tree top for us. She drew it, cut it out, put it together, and wrapped it all by herself. It took her almost an entire day. When we bought the star for the tree this weekend, I hadn’t intended to use the angel this year. But after I looked at it, I didn’t have to heart to keep her packed away. Now she sits on top of the star.

Michael just called. There are no planes flying today so he’ll have to get on the ferry. That will get him to Town too late for his flight. I hope they can put him on a different flight. He’s never been late returning to work. I’m not sure what they’ll do.

Now that I’m back at work, I’ve got to start testing again because the semester is over in 3 weeks. I’ve just administered the first of a total of 19. If all goes as planned (it never does), I’ll have it all complete by December 13th. December 16th is our last day before Winter Break and Michael comes home on the 20th.

This will be his longest trip away, but when he comes back he’ll be here for 2 weeks. I was wanting to go down and visit him in January, but now I’m not so sure that’s going to work out. He already has his tickets home. We’ll have to see if the company will be willing to change it.

I’ve got 2nd grade now, they need my attention so I better get going. I’ll post some pictures soon. If I have your address, be on the look-out for a card from me soon. :o)

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!”

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

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!”

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

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.

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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

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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.


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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!

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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.