Oops!

I forgot my log-in credentials for Blogger! Took a while, but obviously, I've remembered! haha

This has been one of our longest winters! It's STILL snowing out there. Usually we get one or two good snowfalls a winter...never this far into March. We're two days into spring and its a winter wonderland outside. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the rain.

This past week was our spring break. I go back to work tomorrow for two months before summer break. I can't believe how fast this school year has gone. I dread going back, though. Our guidance counselor lost her fight against cancer last Monday. She hadn't been at work for the past couple months, but knowing that she will never be there again is hard to accept. I've learned so much from her over the past 15 and a half years. I loved her dearly and will really, really miss her. :o(

Wasting Time at Work

Volleyball season is over. Our team placed dead last in the tournament, but was selected to receive the sportsmanship award which is voted on by the coaches. Also, Alexys received All-Conference as did another niece of mine, Lakin.

Lindsey was on a trip for wrestling. She still hasn’t won a match in this sport dominated by boys, but for the first time ever she lasted all three rounds without getting pinned and only lost by 2 points! I wasn’t too sure what to think of her choice of activity, but she seems to be enjoying it and already has plans to join again next year.

We are definitely into our fall weather. The wind is howling and the rain is coming down hard. I don’t mind hearing the rain on my window except when it comes during the night when I should be asleep! Our mountain tops are starting to turn white. I so cannot wait for snow! Snow means colder temps and I love the cold!

Our guidance counselor is fighting harder than ever against her cancer. She’s been on chemo for 10 months so far. She was hoping to be done, but when she went north for her latest appointment, she received some sad news. Her CAT scan showed cancer in her liver and fluid around her right lung. When they tested the fluid, it too had cancer cells. We lost our interpreter in May to brain cancer. Losing our counselor would be devastating. She’s such a loving lady. Even the toughest kids love the time they spend with her and are better for it. She touches our lives daily and always has a smile even when we know she’s so tired.
I’m at work and have things to do. I guess I better get to them

Hello? Anybody There?

Okay, let’s see if I remember how to do this. I haven’t forgotten about my blog. I just haven’t really felt like I had anything interesting enough to say. One of the downfalls of living on a small island is that life moves very slow. There is not a lot of change, and when change does come, it comes slowly.
How many times do you want to hear “The new road is almost finished”? Even I’m bored with that…and I’m here watching it happen.
I guess that’s good, in a way. Life moving slow, I mean. It allows one time to really soak it all in. Stop and smell the roses? I could tell you how many new blooms the neighbors bush got this year because there’s nothing else to do but stop and smell the roses.
My nieces and nephews are about the only indication that time is moving on. (Besides the “natural highlights” in my hair.) They’re growing up so fast. Alexys will be graduating high school this year. Lucione is a junior and Lindsey a freshman. Even Craig and Mikayla are growing up. They are in 5th and 3rd grades this year. They now have a new baby sister, Emily. I don’t see her often enough, but believe me, she’s cute.
My husband and I are doing very well. He’s working full time now…at HOME. If you know anything about me, you know that I’m loving having him home. That whole commuting to California thing was awful. My job is actually not so bad this year. We zipped right through our 1st quarter. I’m not wishing for summer yet, so things are good.
I haven’t done this in so long, I don’t even remember what I’ve shared and what I haven’t. I guess I should go back and read some of my posts.
Connie, if you read this, I owe you an apology. I promised to call you if I ever found myself in your neck of the woods. In September I was in Anchorage for an entire week. I didn’t call because I was there for medical reasons and didn’t want anybody to see me in my condition. Especially someone who’d see me for the very first time. Very selfish on my part and I apologize. I wish I would have swallowed my pride and made arrangements to meet you and possibly pay a visit to Millie. You are not the only one I snubbed, though, if that helps any. I have family up there who I neglected to call.
We’re definitely into our winter weather here. No snow on the ground yet, but our mountains are white.  The rain is cold and our frequent winds have been gusting pretty good.
I guess this is it for now. I’m just curious if anyone stops by anymore. Jayleigh, I know you said you have been. I apologize for not keeping up with this. Thanks for not giving up on me!

BUSY

I've been so busy I can't keep track of what day it is!

Work has been hectic. I'm so ready for the break. One month left...I can handle one more month. My boss and I have been butting heads. I've even gotten stubborn a few times and given him the cold shoulder. I don't know why it bothers him, but it does. So when I see him treating others badly, which has been more than usual lately, I make sure he knows I'm ignoring him. Sometimes it takes a day or two, but he always comes around and straightens up. I started to worry I was putting my job in jeopardy, but I passed my evaluation with flying colors. Go figure.

My nieces have been keeping me busy, also. Lindsey was busy with a basketball tournament. Her team got 2nd place, but she was the 3-point AND the free-throw champ! Space Cadet didn't make it to a single tournament game. The first two, for no good reason...then she left town to watch Lucione in the music festival. I made sure I was at every game even though I haven't been feeling all that well. She played very well and was a good sport through the whole thing.

Lucione had her 16th birthday on the 14th. I can't believe how old that makes me feel. haha

She is now officially old enough to date. That's scarier to me than being old enough to get her license.

Work is going to be very busy from now until the end. We've got Prom this weekend, then the elementary concert, the high school concert, a scene showcase, high school graduation, middle school promotion (Lindsey will be promoted to HIGH SCHOOL!), Sea Week field trips, Field Day...and probably more I'm not remembering.

The weather finally turned toward spring. We haven't had snow since Friday! The sun is shining and the temp is eeking up towards 50 degrees ever so slowly.

Hopefully, I'll be back to write again soon. Until then, I hope anyone who reads this is happy and well!

I'm SO Ready For Friday

This week cannot end soon enough!

Yesterday was an emotional day for me. An uncle of mine passed away last month. March 3rd...the same day I left for a week-long trip. I was already traveling when I got the news. I continued my trip and have been riddled with guilt about it ever since. I didn't miss any of the services, though, because they scheduled them for the 10th and 11th. I returned home on the 9th.

This uncle of mine, had a nick-name for just about everyone he knew. His name for me was, "Big Ape". I cannot remember how we started calling each other that, but it was not meant to be mean. We always said it with a smile. For as long as I can remember, we exchanged apes. Stuffed gorillas for Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, birthdays, whatever...I've lost count of the number of apes exchanged between us.

Within the last year, he moved out of his house into a small apartment. He could not take all of his belongings because of space limitations. He took only the necessities. Yesterday, his oldest son was cleaning out the apartment. He found one of the apes I had given to my uncle. He came to the school to find me. I had my back to the door and I heard, "I'm looking for Big Ape."

I spun around to see who dared call me by my uncle's nick-name. I was happy to see my cousin standing there. He was holding something and when I realized what it was, I let out a little gasp. He asked if I remembered it. I told him, "Of course I do."

He said, "This was one of Dad's favorites out of all his apes. I found it while cleaning his apartment today. I think he'd be happy to know you were getting it back."

I thanked him, we hugged, and he left. I thought I was okay and for a while I was. Then I saw Space Cadet. I told her about the ape and she asked if I was okay. I said I was, but then felt a tear run down my cheek. She hugged me and I started to really cry. She cried with me and we talked about my uncle for a while. She, too, had a nick-name from him. I never knew that.

I brought the ape home and was emotional all night long. I think because I wasn't here for that week before his services, it didn't really sink in that he was gone. I was exhausted from my trip and didn't have the quality time with my family right after his death so I don't think I really dealt with it properly. Yesterday was the first time I admitted to myself that he is indeed gone.

After my emotional day yesterday, I was hoping for a smooth day at work. No such luck. The copy machine broke down, Space Cadet was having phone issues so calls were not going where they should...if they were able to get through at all. And the kids....oh, the kids. One of my nephews ran away so I was one of 4 people sent out to hunt for him. I found him on the beach. He almost refused to return to school with me but we decided that he needed to return and face the consequences before he made it worse for himself. Luckily, he finally agreed to come with me but I had to keep his mind distracted by playing dumb. I let him tell me how to fish, all the while acting like I had no idea. His dad showed up and took him home, which I did not agree with. He WANTED to leave school. He got what he wanted.

Anyway, we got through that and then a boy got a bloody nose and panicked. Took a while to calm him down and a little girl fell and hurt her arm. She got hysterical. So much so, that I thought she'd hyperventilate. Got her calmed down and relaxed just in time for an emergency call at the junior high.

So now I am drained. Whew!

I'm So Bad

I think of my blog often...even tried to make a pact with a friend that I would (we both would) get better at posting and reading each other's blogs. That was back in January. I don't know how she's doing because this is my first time on Blogger since then.

I've been up to a whole lot of nothing since our trip to Juneau. I'm glad school will be ending soon. This has been a tough school year for me. Seven more Mondays. I can handle that, right?

My family is doing okay. Lindsey sprained her ankle last night, but other than that, no major disasters lately. One of my God-Daughters got her acceptance letter to Stanford. Needless to say, she is extremely excited and I am extremely proud!

We are still getting wet snow showers off and on. We call that herring weather. The first opening was right off the beach by our graveyard. We could actually drive down there and watch them fish. It was pretty cool.

In between snow showers, it's beginning to look a lot like Spring. :o)

Trying to Get Back Into This

I'm having a hard time getting back into writing in this blog. I enjoy writing and reading what others have written, but just haven't been making the time.

A lot has happened in the past few months. Two of my colleagues have been diagnosed with cancer. One of them, for the 3rd time. The other for a 2nd time and this was a total surprise. I feel terrible because I didn't know he was leaving to go to the doctor. It helps to know that the last time we spoke, we were teasing each other. He loved to tease me and it always tickled him when I would tease back. He has brain cancer and the prognosis is not good. He most likely will not return to the island. He had kidney cancer a couple years ago. They just took his kidney and he received no form of treatment.

Our guidance counselor has cancer for the third time. It's breast cancer again, but it has spread to her lung. She's undergoing chemotherapy. She was in remission for 2 years. Before that, she had been in remission for almost 10 years.

My uncle who tried to take my house away is speaking to me again. He came to see me at work after speaking with my mom. He didn't apologize, but that doesn't bother me. I'm just glad he's talking to me again. I didn't like being ignored.

Our high school basketball season is in full swing. My nieces are doing well. In fact, I'm related to all but one of team members! I'm sure if I dug deep enough, I'd end up being related to her, too. haha

The slow count-down to the regional tournament has begun. Michael and I leave on March 3rd and will be in Juneau until the 9th. We're leaving a little earlier than we normally would because Michael's sister lives there and we want an extra day or two to visit before the hectic tournament schedule begins.

I'll try to get better at posting. This is all I have for now.