"There's Nary an Animal Alive that can Outrun a Greased Scotsman"

Random Groundskeeper Willie quote for a title because I'm feeling a little ADHD and off the wall this evening. I guess it beats the bitchy-teacher-from-hell mood I was in this afternoon. My thoughts are as follows:

1. Jon Stewart will be mine. I realize that he his happily married with a child and is too old for me, but nonetheless, he shall be mine. My love for him grows exponentially by the day... Not that I'm a stalker or anything. *looks around furtively*

2. I can't wait until summer vacation. 15 days of school remaining... when it gets into single digits I will likely become unbearable. Full pay, flush toilets, and no work... can I get a HELL YES.

3. I can't wait until next year starts. Now that I actually understand all the aspects of my job, I feel like I can start working for real.

4. What kind of beer should I drink first to start off my summer? I'm taking recommendations.

5. Why haven't some people, by their mid-twenties, escaped the high school mentality?

6. If I can't have Jon Stewart, Brad Pitt will also do.

7. You can't control Ma Nature. Snowmelt and a little rain, combined with a perpetual tendency to change, have caused a small river that is usually diverted under our village's main road to... um... cross the road. So now you're driving along, minding your own business, when all the sudden, there's five feet of river to cross. I've taken to walking. Crossing a hastily-thrown-down plank bridge across a river that wasn't there a week ago is kinda fun. One day last week the plank fell in the water and I helped put it back.

8. Mom and Dad, remember that fishing rod and reel you bought me for Christmas? Well, the rivers are open and meat is expensive up here... can I have my fishing pole?

9. Our phone is dead. After being very shifty for a long while (those who have called me can attest to the fact that the connection has gotten worse and worse over the past few months), our line is now completely dead. No dial tone, even. Call me at school if you need to!

10. September seems so long ago... I was a totally different person then. More on this at a later date, as it's totally worthy of its own post as the school year draws to a close.

Geographic Weakness

Two friends are going through rough times lately... both are faced with losing (having lost in one case or being at risk of losing in the other) friends. Neither friend-of-mine knows the other, although I know I've mentioned each to the other at one point or another. I've never met the friends-of-theirs in person, so the pain isn't my own.

But (and isn't there always a but)... I'm a helper. I'm the kid who, in kindergarten, had to take an art project home because I wandered around helping other kids finish theirs and never did quite get around to doing my own. I'd love nothing more than to give each of them a big hug, bring them hot chocolate or beer or something. Put a little change in the karma jar in exchange for all the stuff that people have done for me when I've needed it. Encouraging e-mails just don't do their feelings justice, I don't think.

Being far away can suck.

Wow, three posts in one day. That's just excessive. Especially since two of them have been long. That's it, I'm cut off.

*Whew!*

So those voices in my head DON'T mean I'm crazy. It's just one of these.

Good to know.

If you think about it, it IS some scary technology. They can make us hear things now... things that no one else can hear...

Every Year, I Forget

Every year around this time (OK, earlier in the Lower 48), I'm reminded of just how beautiful and wonderful the world around us can be. I'm talking, of course, about SPRING!

After a wonderfully lazy morning, I stepped out the door to find weather somewhere in the 50s (I think)... cloudless sunshine... kids riding around on their bikes with soaked pant legs... adults out fixing things... planes flying, landing, and delivering mail and people with no problems... geese and ducks returning... you get the idea. That it was 15 degrees and blowing (quite painfully, I might add) snow only four days ago is almost unimaginable.

This is why I love living in a varying climate. I love changes in weather. Every year, I just want to skip and dance and run nekkid through the fields (metaphorically, of course, Mom and Dad) when it finally warms up... and then, come fall, I relish putting on jeans and sweatshirts and jackets and sweaters. I think it appeals to the short-attention-spannedness of my personality to be constantly able to look forward to a change. Ever notice how, every year, the first time it "smells like snow" and the first time it "smells like spring" seem special? Never mind that I'll soon be sick to death of heat and mosquitoes and humidity and being sweaty, and every winter I'm soon sick to death of having to take 10 minutes just to get dressed to brave the cold, and I'm five seconds from trading my soul for five minutes of tropical sunshine...

Countdowns

19 more school days until summer vacaaaaaaaaaaation.

AND eight months (and a few days) until Ma, Pa, Sis #1 and Sis #2 go to HAWAII!

AND a month and a few days until my (markedly unmomentous) 26th birthday.

Avocadogasm

There are bananas, avocados, and melons at the store! Oh, it was sooooo gooooooood...

We haven't had fresh fruit or veggies at the store in a while... I made guacamole last night and it was the greatest guac I've ever had, despite the fact that I couldn't add the little bit of sour cream that I usually do. It was yuuuummmmyyyyy....

Insanity, Carefully Measured and Monitored

It's Cultural Week here at Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat. Basically, every afternoon, the different age groups (k-2, 3-6, and Jr High/High School) get to say ix-nay on the egular-ray asses-clay and do cultural activities. Since I don't have "my" own classroom (I pull out other people's students), I am helping out with the high school girls' activities. We get to make leather-and-fur baby booties, bead bracelets, and qaspeqs.

Nicely put, it's chaotic. Managed, organized chaos, but chaos. I like structure in my life, so it's a challenge to let go of my desire to make everything quiet, organized, and calm. I'm trying my hardest, really.

What Weekend?

I was ALL pumped for Trivia weekend. Trivia Plan (version 1): stay at the school for most of the weekend, where the internet connection is good, and play to my heart's content. Ah, the best laid plans of mice, men, and Trivia Fiends...

Friday morning, I awoke to a peculiar gurgling in my stomach. Thinking it was a mild case of the revenge of the curry from the night before, I tied my best to ignore it, and went about my day. By 10AM, however, there was no denying it... i had either food poisoning, the flu, or some mysterious tropical disease recently migrated to the sub-Arctic. I may or may not have puked four times.

Made it to 3pm, which was the end of the work day. My (revised, now we're on version 2) Trivia Plan at that point was to go home, sleep for a few hours, then attempt to help out the late-night crew down in WI. Seemed like a good idea. Maybe I just had to sleep it off. Got home at 3:05. Was in bed by 3:06, clothing and all. Woke up at one point to use the bathroom and let the dog out. Might have hopped online at that point, I'm not sure. Searched for Tylenol. Realized it was at school. Fell back asleep. Woke up at... ???... I'm really not sure. I KNOW I played for an hour at some point in the night. I also happened to take my temperature at this juncture and it read 102.5. Asked Roomie for Tylenol. Roomie's Tylenol was also at school. Roomie went back to school for the slumber party she was hosting for her class. Went back to sleep. Woke up later, still simultaneously shivering and burning.

Went back to sleep. Woke up at 10:30. At this point I had been sleeping for... 19 hours? Granted, it wasn't quality sleep. When I get sick, I get super-achy and my skin gets really sensitive. The goosebumps from the shivering HURT, dammit.

Tried to play a little Trivia. Slept some more. Played again that night until about 2:30 AM AK time, when the random cold pill (which I didn't need for the decongestant or cough supression but the fever reducer was working quite nicely... and yes, I checked with Roomie, it was quite safe and from last year) I discovered in the medicine cabinet wore off.

Woke up on Sunday... FEELING FINE! A little headachy and dizzy from not eating for two days, but otherwise fine. Played Trivia until midnight, WI time. We took 12th. Shibby's team took 7th. Congrats.

I feel, however, like I got cheated out of a weekend. I slept for most of it! No Fair!

Trivial Honors

In honor of the world's largest Trivia Contest, I would like to present the following poem.

Shibby is a trivia dummy.
Questions give him an upset tummy
He's nat'rally limited, this is true,
But there's really not much we can do.
He's terminally, eternally, totally, incredibly crummy.

Not high-quality, I realize this. But true, nonetheless.

I'm gonna whine a bit.

What a bad day. Standardized testing, one serious issue with a student, and all on not enough sleep last night.

And on top of it all, I'm hungry.

On the upside, however, when my Trivia team whomps Shibby's trivia team, I will get free dinner and drinks. Oh, those greasy cheese fries from the Springville Wharf in Plover, WI... and a beer... and maybe a bloody mary. And the best part? none of it's coming out of my wallet because we're going to smack them down like the little biznatches they are.

They Happen In Threes

So... the Pope is on his way out. He's been sick for a long time. Good leader, good life story... can't say he has done all he could to better the Catholic church in my eyes, but when someone's on his/her deathbead, it's generally a time to look at the good. And anyway, he's real tight with the big guy so it's probably better to not diss him too much. ;-)

Schiavo's gone. She's been really gone for years, but now she's officially gone. That a tragic family squabble over a very serious issue became a national incident is a sad statement on the nature of our political figureheads. 'Nuff said.

Johnnie Cochrain's gone. Don't feel like that one has any emotional impact on me, positive or negative. He defended OJ, for chrissake.

Well, these things always happen in threes. There are our three.