The Middle of Somewhere

A Whole New Perspective

2009-05-07T07:10:00.002-08:00

Back in the day, I was a Bethel-hater. As a new-ish teacher in a village who had to come in semi-regularly for inservices, I saw it as this place that was hard to get around, expensive, and not necessarily worth the effort. If I was going to leave my comfortable little cocoon, I'd rather go into Anchorage and get some "big city" out of the deal.

And you know what? I think all that still holds true for village teachers. If you don't have a car and a place to call "home," Bethel is a hard place to visit. Cabs are expensive and kind of a pain in the ass, and the drivers look at you like you're wasting precious time when you want to take the minute required to, you know, strap your infant (TODDLER?! HOW IS MY BABY A YEAR OLD?!) and his car seat into place so, you know, they're safe in the event of an accident. Hotels are also expensive, and the selection is... well, it's varied. You can pay a lot and get good-if-quirky service, or you can pay a lot and feel like you're getting supremely ripped off.

But we're quickly discovering the "other side" of the Bethel coin. We're in town for the week, and are staying at a... yurt. An uber-yurt, actually, with a lofted bedroom and kitchen area and everything. Pics forthcoming (probably on Facebook; I think everyone who reads this is on FB at this point? You can e-mail me if you're interested but not on FB), but the only disadvantage to the Yurt is some very slow internettage. Anyway, yeah. We've got something that resembles a home, and we've *drumroll* purchased a vehicle. Suddenly, Bethel has gone from being this pain-in-the-keister place I am occasionally required to visit to being a slightly bizarre place that I'm looking forward to calling home.

Now, I don't deny that it's still a pretty harsh place for visitors. But as far as living goes... I think I can do this.

(Oh, and in case there are people reading this who haven't been following my life on Facebook and/or Twitter... I've got a new job next year, at the District Office, in Bethel. Hence the move. Also, Isaac is one year old. There, you're up to speed. Now get on Facebook. :D)

To the Flake

2009-03-24T09:16:00.002-08:00

For months, I've been admiring a particular kindergarten student's version of the Pledge of Allegiance... I finally got around to documenting the specifics:

I blech a leechance to the flake of the Noonighted States of the Mairca, and to the repuhpic for which it stands, one nachun, on the God, indabisbull, with liberty and justist for all.

Amen, little brother.

Anchorage!

2009-03-07T18:12:00.002-09:00

This year, we have a four day weekend for our "spring break." Having not had many excursions out of the village this year, we decided what the heck, let's take a little mini-vacation.

The weather tried its best to thwart us. Snow, rain, fog, freezing rain, freezing fog... Ma Nature threw her worst at us. Small planes wouldn't fly. The JET wouldn't fly. But Our principal, his wife, Shaun and I remained naively optimistic.

It became evident that the airplane gods were not deciding in our favor. But did we let this stop us? NO! We waterproof-bundled the four adults, plus two babies (Isaac and their daughter) and hopped on snowmachines (or, in the case of the men, into sleds). A wet-but-warm ride later, we were eating dinner at an airport restaurant (or the Bethel version thereof). And that's when things got weird.

Shaun, Isaac and I headed back to the Alaska Air terminal, leaving our travel companions at the restaurant. We waited at the airport for about 15 minutes for them to follow us, but they never showed. Instead, we got a phone call... apparently the wife had suffered a serious seizure and was on her way to the hospital. We boarded the plane, sans travel buddies, much sobered by the news.

She was Medevac'ed, unconscious, into Anchorage that night, and Thursday morning we did our best to help out our friend and his young daughter (she's 5 months old). The daughter had previously been exclusively breastfed, and was not taking formula at all. I never thought I'd do it (I had never really considered it), but I offered to nurse the baby, and the dad agreed. It wasn't as weird as I thought it would be, and it felt good to help out a little one who had no clue why her mommy was no longer around to feed her. The mama's now doing much better, and the future looks bright.

We've done a little shopping (though not much... we may be moving villages this spring and are trying not to accumulate much stuff) and, this morning, went to the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. It was cool, though we couldn't see much.

Pics to come. :D

Fully Circled

2009-02-11T16:19:00.002-09:00

One of my main... hmm... I don't want to say beefs, but maybe just plain old complaints with life in the Bush has been its general lack of access to fresh/quality produce.

Enter Full Circle Farm and their stunning organic CSA program. They are based in Washington state, but have found a nice little niche shipping produce up to Alaska. This year, I got us set up as a delivery site, so several teachers from Nunapitchuk and the neighboring split village of Kasigluk-Akiuk and Kasigluk-Akula signed up for delivery this week. The boxes arrived a day early and I'm like a kid in a candy store. Or maybe a rabbit in a carrot store. Either way. Happy. Happy to have fruits and vegetables I don't have to cut the bad spots off of (or, sometimes, cut the good spots off a mostly bad item). Happy to be able to feed my little guy veggies and fruits that aren't all pesticide-y. And happy, mostly, to eat tasty food.

Shaun took a picture of our bounty; I'll either update this post or link to his when he gets it up.

And now... WE FEAST!

Update-tastic

2009-01-05T06:26:00.002-09:00

I'm in Wisconsin until the 10th of January. Baby, husband and I are having a good time, but as usual there are just too many things that we've done, are doing, and will do in the next few days.

Some highlights in the past tense:

The flight here was... interesting. It was just Isaac and me (Shaun and Loki having flown back a week early), and the weather was not cooperating. For once, however, getting out of the village, and out of Bethel, was not even close to an issue. Clear skies and cold temperatures made for easy flying, although a recent ear infection for Isaac made me a bit nervous. In Anchorage, I was greeted by news that while my flight to Seattle was one of the few still not canceled, it was delayed by several hours, putting me on a VERY close connection schedule in Seattle. We waited. 300 people were waiting for 30 standby seats on our flight; apparently ours was the only Anchorage-Seattle flight that had flown in the past 24 hours due to bad Seattle weather and flight crews being over their hours or some such madness. Our flight boarded after several more delays. We reached a post-blustery Seattle, without further incident, approximately ten minutes after my flight had started boarding. I had to get to a different concourse; I didnt' even have time to put Isaac in his carrier. So through SEA-TAC airport I sprinted, baby under my arm like a football, infant snowsuit draped over the diaper bag, everyone pointing and laughing because Isaac is shrieking with laughter at this fun new game. We arrived just as they were about to close the door. I got on board (first class this time... hooray for mileage upgrades) just in time to... sit on the tarmac for an hour and a half while they de-iced us THREE times. Come to find out SEA-TAC airport ran out of de-icing fluid. I'm not surprised; that airplane was COATED in ice. After we finally took off, it was comfortable (if not well-appointed; they hadn't had time to stock the plane with first class edibles, but we were all so happy to be airborne, they could have fed us stale bread and water and we'd have rejoiced and asked for more) flight into Minneapolis-St. Paul, where I discovered that my luggage (a suitcase and Isaac's car seat) had not made the quick connection in Seattle. I really didn't care. The airline loaned us a car seat and home we went. Our luggage arrived just in time for Christmas via FedEx.

So there you have it. We shouldn't have made it home as easily as we did. My frantic sprint through SEA-TAC was nothing compared to what most people who went through Seattle experienced. But apparently the virgin goat I sacrificed was just what the travel gods had a hankerin' for, because I was home on my originally-scheduled flight, albeit late and without luggage.
Grandparents have been loving on the baby. I have pictures, and will try to get 'em posted at some point
Everyone in the entire extended family except for Isaac and myself caught a nasty norovirus on Christmas Eve/Christmas. I credit breastfeeding for keeping Isaac from getting it too badly, but I'm not sure why I didn't get sick. It's possible that, as an elementary school teacher, I've already been exposed to this specific bug, or maybe I just have a gut of steel. Anyway, I had 12 hours of hardly-noticeable queasiness when everyone else in my family lost five pounds on the Pray to the Porcelain God diet. I also had a bunch of pickled herring on Christmas Eve... maybe that helped. Pickled herring for good health!
I visited Minneapolis, and got to see Katie (only briefly because she and her husband, thankfully not their baby, also got sick) and Chanda. Good times, as usual.

That's about it. Pictures to come, I hope. :D

From Bad to worse

2008-12-10T21:59:00.001-09:00

28 (now 29) posts in 2008. And it's not like nothing blogworthy happened. I popped out a baby, for chrissake.

I guess raising a kid is just more important than blogging about him.

I should try harder, though. Really. But I'm not going to make it a New Year's resolution or anything.

Well, Then

2008-12-10T14:35:00.002-09:00

It's been a while. Thanksgiving has come and gone, and the holidays are all up in our faces. The year has blown by. I think that, just like the pregnancy made last year go so quickly, school-wise, having a baby around to mark the passage of time is doing the same this year. Just a few updates:

Ike is... crawling, pulling up, and (as of a few days ago) flushing the toilet. Cause and effect... "I push this shiny silver thing down, and it makes a noise!"
Loki has taken well to his new human torturer. He'll allow himself to be crawled upon, grabbed at, and bitten, and when he's had enough, he just gets up and walks away.
My classroom looks like twenty different construction paper art projects exploded in it, and it's not far from the literal truth. This time of year, it's best to stick to things that keep students' little hands busy.
I'm trying to lose the pregnancy weight, and making modest progress. Slow and steady wins the race, eh?
Isaac is eating food. He refuses anything offered to him on a spoon, so we're just giving him baby-sized portions (read: tiiiiiiiiiny and non-choke-able) and letting him self-feed. Not sure what I'm going to do with my ziploc bags full of homemade purees, though.

And with that, I leave you. Don't let the holidays stress you out.

The Fan Scan

2008-11-16T10:27:00.002-09:00

My mother and middle sister are at the Packer game. We keep scanning the crowd shots for them, but no luck so far.

Good game to be at!

Geek Cute

2008-11-07T22:18:00.003-09:00

That dear husband of mine spliced together a video documentary of "Baby's First Exercise in Democracy."

We may not remember to video his first steps, but his first trip to the polls... that's not to be missed.

WHEE!

2008-11-04T19:40:00.000-09:00

"President-Elect Obama."

That sounds pretty.

Whoda Thunk It

2008-10-23T15:54:00.004-08:00

I've always been convinced that elementary is the level I was meant to teach. I'm certified K-12, but my entire teaching career has been at the elementary level (and most of that in the primary grades).

This semester, however, due to budget cuts, schedule constraints, and one of the secondary teachers needing an extra prep period, I've been teaching one period of junior high reading.

Yes, that's right. Junior high. The redheaded stepchild of school leveling. That age that everyone wishes their kids would just skip over on their way to adulthood. Puberty at its finest. Attitude and laziness and sarcasm.

And I kind of enjoy it. Sick, huh?

In some ways, it's more difficult than teaching the wee ones. In others, it's easier. The workload kind of balances out. But I kind of enjoy the specific challenges that teaching those in-between ages presents. Maybe it's just the newness of it all, but I honestly find myself looking forward to seventh period. They're loud, hormone-y, and slightly awkward. I have to say things like, "Please don't fart and waft it intentionally at your neighbor." I have to answer questions like, "If number one is pee and number two is anaq (poop), what's number three?" I supervise boys and girls whose idea of coy flirtation is throwing mechanical pencils at each others' heads.

In a sick, sadistic kind of way, it's a lot of fun.

Yes, Yes, and Yes

2008-10-22T17:12:00.002-08:00

I like what this guy has to say about Palin, Alaska, and where the two do and don't intersect. We're talking about a state that still lacks basic infrastructure in many places. A state where my husband (who is a highly intelligent and capable person, but has ZERO I.T. training) is a village's "guy who really knows computers, you should ask him." A state where thousands of women can't remain at home past the 36th week of their pregnancies because their communities lack sufficient health care facilities and professionals.

I get the "Alaskan Mystique." I really do. But the reality just doesn't match up with what Palin's trying to capitalize on.

In Case he Forgets who he Is...

2008-10-16T15:10:00.001-08:00

I made the bracelet (in manly colors, of course) for him before he was born, but it was too big for him at birth. I just got around to putting it on him today at lunch!

I... No Words. I Have no Words

2008-10-10T22:23:00.002-08:00

Pet Yarn Chic.

And then there are some finished products here.

I love knitting, I love my dog. But... no. No. No. No. A thousand times no. I guess I shouldn't judge, but no.

And the Money Kept Rolling In...

2008-09-12T10:14:00.001-08:00

It's PFD Day, baby. At least for those of use who applied early and opted for direct deposit.

Cash.

Money.

Hos.

I really should post a picture of the baby or something. I know.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle my Pants

2008-08-17T20:33:00.003-08:00

Isaac's pants, really. Made from an old sweater. It never quite fit me right.

It's wool (nice and soft), so it doubles as a diaper cover. It also has a killer cargo pocket on the leg... how lucky was I to have a pair of pants with a cargo pocket on the arm in just the right place?

Liar, Liar...

2008-07-18T09:43:00.005-08:00

...Pants on Fire!

I made fleece shorties (they work like a diaper cover and also take the place of shorts, for those of you not in the know). It's just a first try, and I didn't have a pattern or anything, so they're less spectacular than they could be, but I learned a lot and think that they'll be better next time. I know I want to put another layer of fleece into the crotch region next time around, but it was fun to just bust out a pair during naptime. I'm working with fleece for now, wanting to perfect my pattern/method before finding some nice recycled wool to play with.

I'll put them on Isaac when he wakes up from his nap and hopefully post a pic of him wearing them at some point.

REALLY, REALLY, REALLY Random Non-Baby-Related Thought

2008-07-11T19:32:00.004-08:00

I really, really, really get annoyed when people use unnecessary big words.

I pride myself on having a pretty decent vocabulary; I'm not annoyed because I don't understand you. You think you sound smart just because you use big words. NO. You sound smart if you have good ideas. There are no bonus points for extra syllables.

I'm speaking to a general "you," not to anyone specific. Well, someone specific, but it's not someone I actually know... just someone whose writing I happened to read.

And now back to our regularly scheduled mundane crap...

It Starts

2008-07-08T07:04:00.001-08:00

Mobility, that is. Isaac rolled over today, front-to-back, on his adorable puppy blanket.

This kid is an animal. :D

We're not Laughing AT Him...

2008-07-07T19:00:00.004-08:00

Well, yeah, we're laughing at him, but I don't feel too bad because (a) he's a dog, and (b) he was having a whole lot of fun.

My sister has two Weimaraners, named Cosmo and Wyatt. Like Loki, they both love swimming. Like Loki, Cosmo is quite skilled at it. Wyatt, on the other hand... well... he gets an A for effort, an A for enthusiasm, and we'll just leave the little "achievement" box blank because I can't give a failing grade to someone trying THIS hard.

(Edited to add: Kudos to Shaun for splicing the videos together, and for taking the video itself. No, there was no earthquake in Northern Wisconsin, the shaking was a result of cameraman laughing fits.)

Just cute, in a general kind of way

2008-06-14T19:18:00.002-08:00

6-14-08 008_2
Originally uploaded by smacca

If I could just keep him naked all day long, he'd be ecstatic.

We're in serious trouble once he's old enough to remove his own diaper. I can totally see him being that two year-old who greets visitors wearing nothing but a smile.

The ONLY time he consistently puts up with just being put down is when naked, or at least bare-butt. Of course, while he's perfectly happy, he's also likely either peeing all over the place or preparing to pee all over the place.

But he's not crying, and pee is fairly easy to clean up.

He's Gonna be a Swimmer

2008-06-05T18:04:00.004-08:00

Seriously, this kid LOVES the water... more so if the jets are on. We were in the tub for at least 30 minutes and he didn't so much as whimper until the very end, and he was sleepy and probably well beyond his attention span at that point. Yes, worrywarts, he was plenty warm... that's the nice thing about being in a grown-up sized tub: most of him can be underwater. This is the first full smile we've managed to catch on camera. I just put it in black-and-white for shits and giggles.

And no, it wasn't a bubble bath, just a regular bath. The water just got really bubbly for some reason.

Hah! Baby!

2008-06-05T09:42:00.003-08:00

Well, he's four weeks old, and if poopy diapers are any indication of happiness, he's quite content.

He's also started smiling... pretty much only right after waking up from a long nap or first thing in the morning, but a smile is a smile. And don't give me any of that "it's just gas" crap. These are smiles. Full, open-mouthed, crinkly-eyed smiles. It melts the heart. We tried to catch a few on film (is the term "on film" really applicable to a digital camera?), but it's hard. We caught him almost-smiling a bunch of times. They come and go pretty quickly. I've included a few below for your baby-viewing pleasure. Please also witness (and be totally awed by) the quilt he's laying on. It was made for Isaac by Mary S., a long-time friend of my parents and someone I consider to be pretty darn close to family. The quilt is cool. Beyond cool, even. It rocks. Beyond rocks, even.

Side note: Ignore the funny-looking mother. Her presence, while not aesthetically pleasing, was necessary to coerce a smile out of the little guy.

Old News...

2008-05-11T12:20:00.002-08:00

I know pretty much everyone knows this already, but I've had a good reason for not posting (as opposed to my usual laziness reason for not posting).

Isaac Vincent made his arrival on May 6th at 3:57pm. Weighed in at eight pounds, 2 ounces and was an even 20 inches long. Screamed like a banshee right away and pinked up quite nicely, to the point where he pretty much matched the pink on my sexy hospital gown.

Just looking at this picture... he's changed so much in just the past four days. Time to take some more pictures...

Rusty Voicebox

2008-04-25T07:34:00.003-08:00

I feel like 95% of the "talking" I've done over the past few weeks has been internet-based and in typed form. Now, there's nothing wrong with that. It's sure as heck cheaper than making a bunch of telephone calls. But I often wonder whether I'm losing the capability for normal human speech. I also wonder if the baby will forget what my voice sounds like. ;)

Shaun arrives today. I can tell, because the weather has turned kinda nasty. The weather gods don't want him getting homesick for the Tundra, apparently. Up until I woke up this morning (at 5am... who wakes up at 5am voluntarily? Me, apparently...), I hadn't seen a cloud in about a week. Highs have been in the lower 50s, for the most part, with little wind. This morning, however, I heard a noise that has been conspicuously absent from my life since leaving Nunapitchuk... the wind. It's 38, windy, with light rain. I feel like I'm back in the village.

In addition to my dearest darling husband, who'll be here for... well, until we go back to Nunap with the baby, a bunch of other friends will be in town for the weekend. Four friends, to be mathematically exact about the whole thing. I'm going to have social opportunities coming out of my rear end.

I just hope my voice still works. Perhaps I should sing at the top of my lungs for a while, just to make sure.

... and Waiting

2008-04-15T22:22:00.002-08:00

I'm here. Whilin' away the time in good old Anchorage, AK.

It's funny. After the pukey, tired, sick, miserable first two months or so, this pregnancy FLEW by. Work helped me not focus too much on how much pregnancy I had left, and pregnancy helped me not focus too much on how much school year I had left. Next thing I knew, it was April 7th, and I was leaving for Anchorage.

Now, however, time seems to have slowed to a crawl. I keep myself pretty busy... I spread out appointments so I have something to do most days, I try to get to the YMCA to swim five out of seven days per week, and I have craft projects that I haven't even TOUCHED since I've been here (although that's my plan for tomorrow afternoon). But still, without the daily distraction of work, I can't help but notice the passing of every day. The past week was probably the slowest of my entire pregnancy.

Not the most terrible week, mind you. I'll take slightly under-occupied over actively vomiting any day. It's not that I'm horrifically sick of being pregnant or anything. It's not so awful, really. I guess I'm very much aware of the passage of time. I'm not insanely bored or anything. I'm just... waiting. Like being in line at Space Mountain at Disney world. There's lots of fun stuff to look at and make the wait less mind-numbingly boring, but you're still acutely aware that you're waiting for the "real part" to start. You know you're just waiting for something to happen.

I know, I know, I know... enjoy it while it lasts. Everyone keeps telling me that.

Anchorage-ing

2008-04-09T09:17:00.004-08:00

Yup, still just chillin' in the big city. I got a bus pass and a YMCA membership for the month, so I'm set for transportation and at least an hour of entertainment per day through the end of April. Swimming is fun. I look like a beached whale, but it's lots of fun.

Good news... baby is head down and "very happy in there." I just hope he's not so happy that he decides to take after his mom and Auntie Mel and book an extended stay.

Bad news... well... there's some sad news back in Nunap that I really don't want to get into.

That's about it, really. I'm trying to fill my days with things that don't cost huge amounts of money. Sure, I could eat out at a different restaurant for every meal, and that would be QUITE entertaining and take up a lot of time... but that stuff adds up quickly. Right now, I'm enjoying having a bunch of fresh vegetables and dairy products (I've been on a yogurt kick; and apparently one company makes a tub of yogurt twice the size of the regular "large" tub of plain yogurt). And Jelly Bellies. I may have bought some Jelly Bellies. But that was my only junk food purchase, I swear. I'm tryin' to end this pregnancy on a healthy note.

Well, Here I Am

2008-04-06T20:32:00.003-08:00

I type this at a keyboard in a house on a street (a street... not a boardwalk) in a neighborhood of a city that is connected by road to other cities. I type this having returned, carrying bags containing vegetables and yogurt and cottage cheese and maybe a bag of Jelly Bellies, from a grocery store larger than my house. I type this on unfiltered, non-school internet. I type this, in other words, from Anchorage.

Yes, I'm "waiting." That's what you do when you have a baby in the Bush. At some point, you go into Bethel or Anchorage "to wait." It's just what it sounds like. You take time off of work (over half of my maternity leave will likely be used up before the baby is even born), go somewhere, and do nothing but gaze at your navel and wonder when the baby lurking beneath it will appear.

Five hours, and I'm already kind of homesick. Sure, there are restaurants and movie theaters and stores and Other Assorted Things Not Found in the Bush, but it's not home. I'm lucky enough to have a coworker from whom I can rent a house for the month-plus I'll likely be here. Shaun will join me here when I get closer to my due date.

I'll admit it... I'm kind of homesick. Our house in the village is really nothing special, but it's our house. Home. Home containing a husband and wildly-shedding dog.

But, bare minimum, I'm homesick in a place with fresh vegetables and fruits that I won't have to cut the bad spots off of.

Intercultural Flatulence Exchange

2008-04-04T11:16:00.002-08:00

This week has been... standardized testing week. It's also my last week of work, for the record. In addition to EVERY student, grades 3-10, having to take a test, the state of Alaska has added this year a Science test for grades 4, 8, and 10.

Several of the students in our 4th grade classroom are actually third graders according to the state, so while the rest of their class slaves away at bubble-filling, they're hanging out with me. We had some work to do, but at this point, we're just hanging out, chatting, listening to some Mexican music, and being artistic. They were especially interested in the Mexican music. We found Mexico on the globe and everything.

Suddenly, the inevitable happens, someone passes wind.

Student 1: "Student 2 FARTED! AAAAH!"

Me: "Everyone farts sometimes. It's not a big deal. But for the rest of the day, if we have to fart, let's try to go over by the door."

Student 2: "Okay."

Student 1: "Everyone farts?"

Me: "Yup."

Student 1: "Even 50 Cent?"

Me: "Yeah, if he eats a lot of beans or drinks a lot of milk or something."

Student 2: "Even Mexican people fart?"

Me: "Yes. Even Mexican people. Everyone farts."

Our Baby Wears Many Hats

2008-03-05T09:02:00.007-09:00

Or, as it were, many pairs of pants. For one so young, he really has a lot of different personalities.

Sometimes he's a prisoner (note: these are actually shorts).

Sometimes he's a pirate.

Sometimes he just wants to be a dirty, filthy hippie.

This is waaaaaaaaay more fun than buying baby clothes! Seriously, ONE cute handmade item is like 500x cooler than anything we've purchased thus far. Especially the Pirate Pants. How do you say "YARR" in baby-talk?

Place Your Bets Here, Ladies and Germs...

2008-02-27T09:28:00.002-09:00

Will I have a May baby or an April baby? My original (and, as far as I know, still my official) due date is May 1. BUT, when I looked at my charts (I did one appointment in Wisconsin, so got copies of my charts to take with me), they had my "adjusted," as in what they think it'll be after seeing him on ultrasound, due date as April 27th.

So... April baby or May baby? When do YOU think this little guy will arrive? Pick a date and make it your own. Closest guess wins... well... probably nothing. You just get the joy of being a winner. Make your guess as specific (date, time, etc) as you want.

The OPPOSITE of a Bargain Baby

2008-02-14T09:14:00.005-09:00

No, I didn't go blow $300 at Baby Gap. I blew significantly less than that at a wonderful yarn store in Anchorage, Knitting Grounds.
There's something to be said about GOOD yarn. I'm talking about Malabrigo. Tough on the wallet, easy on the skin. This stuff gives my fingers happiness. There is also something to be said for a good pattern. I'm talking this time about Little Turtle Knit's Picky Pants Pattern. Now, at this point, you may be thinking one (or two) of two things... "But Sara, you PAID for a PATTERN? Aren't you the self-described cheap bastard who can't follow directions any better than your students?" OR "Sara... wool? On a baby? Are you daft?"

Well, I followed directions, thankyouverymuch, and they came out awesome. This pattern is actually worth the money. Most knitting patterns suck. This one gives you a whole bunch of options and a wide range of sizes, so I'll be able to use it many, many times. And I plan to. And as for the WOOL ON A BABY?! screamers amongst you, let me assure you of a few things. This is not like the wool you find at your local Mega Craft store. This stuff is... amazing. And as far as washing goes... well... these (and the second project, shown below the pants) are designed to be worn over a cloth diaper. Wool is awesome for that. Keeps liquids in, if you lanolize it correctly (which I sure as heck hope I manage to do).

Here be the Picky Pants, knitted in Malabrigo Azul Bolito (note: they haven't been blocked or lanolized yet):

And my other project (knitted in... crap, I forget, but some kind of yarn slightly less awesome than Malabrigo, but still pretty great), is a soaker I made from a free pattern I found online. I'd give credit, but the pattern was saved on my computer, which has again decided that it doesn't need to function. It's in a bigger-butt size. I'm trying to sew and knit things in various sizes, since I'm sure I won't have time after this moving mass in my abdomen makes his way out into the world. These haven't been blocked either, but the yarn is a VERY hand-spun kind of yarn, so it varies a lot in thickness. Even after it's blocked, it'll be pretty... wavy. I think it adds character.

So there you have it. Stuff I've made. Pretty boring post, I realize.

Bargain Basement Budget Baby

2008-02-02T17:00:00.000-09:00

I've kind of been both mortally dreading and pathetically looking forward to the purchasing of baby clothing. Upside: Cute. Downside: Expensive.

Enter, the thrift store (Did I mention we're in Anchorage? Yeah, we're in Anchorage for a prenatal appointment). Ah, the thrift store. Onesies and T-shirts? $.99. Stretchy pants? Also $.99. Some really spendy items (a pair of Oshkosh B'Gosh overalls, an elastic-bottom "sleep sack," etc) were a whopping $4.99. I only bought a few of those most expensive items. Come to find out that most of the items were also 50% off today. Whaddayaknow?

$20 later, our unborn son is the proud owner of four pairs of pants, two sets of bibs (the Oshkosh B'Gosh pair and one short pair), three onesies, two little jacket shirt, aforementioned "sleep sack," and a baseball-style jersey shirt. $20.

The amount of Baby Gap and Other Assorted Expensive Baby Brand clothing there was mind-blowing... and most of it looked pristine. Shaun insisted on buying Baby Gap, out of sheer irony. We are the proud owner of a $.50 Baby Gap long-sleeved onesie. The cheapest price I could find for onesies on the Baby Gap website was 3 for $18. For $18, I could have gotten, if my calculations are correct, 36 onesies.

I'm such a cheap bastard. And darn proud of it.

I've Been Busy

2008-01-24T08:47:00.000-09:00

And clearly, I've been busy not blogging.

I've been on a baby-item-making spree, though. I made two little cotton shirts (the collars were HARD, but the second one came out far better than the first, so I'm encouraged) and am currently in the middle of a knitting project (a romper, I guess they're called).

Over Christmas, my mother and I started on this...

... and I finished it the night that Shaun had his little snowmachine adventure. They're a big-baby size, because I figure I might as well build up a stash now, while I'm childless and fairly bored. The pattern called for no pocket and patches on the knees, but I started sewing on the patches and they just didn't look very good... kinda tacky. So I improvised a pocket. Thus continues my streak of being unable to leave anything alone. I can't think of a craft project I've completed "by the book," ever. I just can't leave well enough alone.

Conveniently, it is Chocolate Lab-colored, which is nice because, like everything else in our house, I'm guessing this baby will not be dog-hair-free.

*The flash made the dog shiny... they really are closer in color than this photograph would indicate. I'm very jealous of people who can arrange their craft projects to look all cool and artistic... not me. These are casual snapshots, and I am very OK with that.*

The Rise and Fall of This

2007-12-12T20:21:00.000-09:00

I was just looking at the stats over on the righthand side of my blog. My yearly post totals caught my eye...

* ► 2007 (48)
* ► 2006 (162)
* ► 2005 (197)
* ► 2004 (99) [note: I started blogging in August of 2004]

Have I really become so boring? So lazy? So... no, I think boring and lazy pretty much sum things up quite nicely.

2007 has been a pretty eventful year. I got married and knocked up. I'm sure many other, smaller, yet equally blog-able things have happened to me as well, but I have neglected to record them for the ages. I guess that's the ages' loss. Well, the ages and me, since I also promptly forgot everything that I didn't write down. Guess that best-selling life story I was planning on writing just won't be happening. Darn.

For the moment, I'll just go back to gestating this baby. I might even post about it, or something.

So...

2007-12-12T16:24:00.000-09:00

Yup, it's a boy.

Shaun posted ultrasound pics. I'd blame the fact that my computer has gone to the land of dead technological things (which is HAS), but let's face facts here, even if my computer were not kaput, he's just more on top of these things than I am. I didn't even know they were going to do the creepy 4-D ultrasound... it seems pretty unnecessary, so I didn't think it was something they just did without asking. All the sudden the tech just switched over to 4-D and started printing out pics! One profile shot would have been MORE than enough of a keepsake for me (and really... a keepsake is not a reason to have a medical procedure... but I digress...), but I guess I'm just kind of weird like that. Also, the 4-D shots really kind of creep me out.

So, yeah. Baby. Has "outdoor plumbing" and is normal, or as normal as the offspring of Shaun and myself could ever possibly hope to be.

Gobble Gobble

2007-11-26T15:24:00.000-09:00

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner for those in Teacher Housing who weren't going elsewhere. We had nine people gathered around our table (and couches in the living room). Turkey was consumed, as were stuffing, mashed potatoes, and all the usual trappings... plus a whole lot of dessert. All told, to be split among nine people, we had three pies (pumpkin, cherry, and apple), two cakes (one spice and one white with salmonberries on top), and a pan of apple crisp. There was also a loaf of pumpkin bread that, while served with dinner, was probably more dessert-like than entree-like.

And the lasting (for an hour or so, anyway) proof of this soiree... the dishes.

Edited to add... Shaun didn't do all the dishes. We split them in half. We also made turkey stock with the carcass (which can be seen in the stock pot on the stove). Nummmmmmmmmy...

Apologies in Advance

2007-11-15T09:38:00.000-09:00

Wow, I had a whole long post, but my computer crashed and it disappeared. So, I'll re-create, but I've lost some of my writing gusto, so it's probably not as exciting as the original. Here goes...

I don't want to turn this into an All-Baby-All-The-Time blog. I really don't. In spite of that, it may just happen... against my will, I swear.

I'll try to blog about other things, but it's hard to FIND other things to blog about. I'm in a comfortable pattern up here, and comfortable patterns, while comfortable, are not particularly blog-worthy.

So... yeah. Baby post. I made a blanket. It's for next winter, really, but I felt the sewing itch now and scratched it. Notice the lack of pastel pink, blue, green, and yellow.

I'm Infected

2007-11-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

The Onion: Woman Overjoyed by Giant Uterine Parasite

POP QUIZ!

2007-10-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

OK, boys and girls. Since we've got no school today (river is half frozen, so we didn't have enough kids to call it a school day), and I'm feeling teacherly, I'm going to administer a pop quiz. Please study the picture below, and answer the question that follows.

In this photograph, Sara is barefoot and _________ in the kitchen.
a. a man
b. pregnant
c. picking her nose
d. not wearing underpants

If you chose option *b*, you are correct. Due May 1. Shaun wrote a very nice post all about our trip to Anchorage for my appointment. No ultrasound pic to show off, though; they were fresh out of paper for the printer.

AbracaFABulous***

2007-10-20T08:38:00.000-08:00

Now, I can usually spot concealed homosexuality in fiction and film with the best of them. In fact, I spot it where it doesn't even exist. My literary gay-dar, it seems, is on overdrive.

But I totally missed this one. I mean, jeez, I ONLY read that book how many times this summer?

I like that Dumbledore's gay. It makes sense. He certainly does have a sense of flair beyond that of your average hetero wizard.

***Shaun came up with the title for this post***

Boob

2007-10-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

When it rains it pours, apparently... at least when it comes to first graders saying inappropriate things in cute ways and me just not understanding their intent.

So, the other day, I was just doing my thing, being a teacher. Being educational, and stuff.

Suddenly, a little darling tugged on my shirt. "My boob hurts," she said, then just kind of wanders away without further comment.

I was more than a little dumbstruck.

"Student," I called, "come back here." She kind of bounced back towards me. In a private-conversation-voice, I asked her, "What did you say hurts?"

"My boob," she replied, as if I were asking her a very, very dumb question.

"Your... huh?"

She held up a grubby first grade forefinger. "My BOOB! My THIS KIND" she huffed, pointing to a small cut on aforementioned digit.

Comprehension at last. "Oh," I said, "your BOO-BOO?"

"Yeah. That's what our baby calls them. Boo-boos."

Better than boobs, I guess.

@$$hole

2007-09-27T10:36:00.000-08:00

First graders are precious.

Every day, my students take their own attendance. It takes the first graders a little while to find their name on the chart, trace over to the correct day, and make an "X." They're getting faster, but it's still a bit more of a process than I'd like.

They're allowed to talk quietly while waiting their turn.

Yesterday, they were busily marking Xs and quietly chattering about... who knows. First grade things. I was arranging things for the day's lesson.

Suddenly, I hear "Asshole. Asshole. Asshole."

It was directed at no one in particular, and was coming from a nice, sweet, non-swearing kind of kid. He's also a strong Yup'ik speaker, and not as fluent in English, so I thought it a possibility that he just had no idea what he was saying.

I walked over and asked, "What did you say, student?"

"Asshole," he replied. Or so I thought. He was saying it funny. It actually sounded more like "Essole."

So I asked for clarification. "Essole," he repeated.

Then he pointed at my flashlight, which I keep close by because the power goes out semi-regularly and my classroom has no windows. It had "ESL" written on the side in permanent marker.

First graders are just learning to sound out words around this time of the year. He was quite proud of himself. "Essole!"

I had to think of a way to at the same time congratulate him on his great word-detective skills and also inform him that it kind of sounded like he was swearing at someone.

Put me in, Coach

2007-09-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

We bought a nice sled from some students last year. We can now bring back more groceries and other assorted goodies than we can carry in our backpacks when we go to Bethel.

Right now, it just needs some snow. :D

Nice Rack!

2007-09-26T08:25:00.000-08:00

When you move into Teacher Housing in bush Alaska, you often inherit the possessions left behind by decades (or, OK, years) of previous occupants. I've scored some sweet stuff in the past few years... dishes, silverware, cookware, shampoo (thanks, Christina), board games and pillows. It tends towards the kitchen-item range of the household item spectrum, but anything is possible. You just never know, when you move into a strangely numbered Teacher Housing unit, what you're going to find. You could score big, you could get skunked.

As housing units go, our current house (which is definitely a step up from last year's apartment) was pretty castoff-free. It did, however, come equipped with a stellar clothes-drying rack:

Pictures

2007-08-28T08:53:00.000-08:00

I know, I've been lax.

But, in my defense, I've tried. Every time I try to download more than, say, one picture to my computer at a time, it throws a royal two-year-old conniption hissyfit. It shuts down.

So I'm not very photo-friendly right now.

I've been thinking about getting a non-school-owned computer of my very own, but it seems like such a waste of money when they just let us use these machines for free.

Oh, and welcome to the blogging world, baby sister.

Pretty Muffins!

2007-08-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

Left to right: Kelly, Mom, Me, Dad, Melissa.

This picture was taken when the hem of my dress was still clean (well, it's clean again, thanks to $135 and the wonders of dry cleaning), and the bridesmaids' dresses were still un-ripped. Also, all the women were wearing shoes at this point. This was, in true wedding tradition, not true later in the evening.

60 Degrees and Drizzling

2007-08-14T15:09:00.000-08:00

Best. Weather. Ever.

OK, maybe not. But after nearly a month of 90-degrees-and-humid, I'll take Southwest Alaskan weather with very minimal grousing.

Sure, a few weeks from now, it will have become a bit... monotonous, but for now, we're enjoying walking around wearing sweatshirts, being able to drink hot coffee, and performing basic household tasks without ending up a sweaty mess.

Dude, Weak

2007-08-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

Bulkfoods.com doesn't ship for free to Alaska anymore.

They can bite me.

Move Over, New York City...

2007-08-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

Cab Capital of the U.S.? That would be Bethel, Alaska.

Side note: I promise I'll get wedding pics up, one of these days. Probably after we're back in Alaska, because our internet at home is sketchy, making picture-uploading a dicey proposition.

Just One, More to Come

2007-07-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

102 bobby pins, two rubber bands, and 13 hair pins holding fake pearls into my hair. It took me a good 45 minutes last night to hunt them out of the pretty knot of hair that the stylist made for me. The not-so-romantic side of the wedding night.

We woke up early this morning (hooray for NOT getting drunk at our own wedding), and while Shaun ran a few errands, I made this pretty little picture out of the shrapnel I pulled out of my hair at the end of last night.

My scalp still hurts.

More later, including (hopefully) more pictures.

Wasn't There Something I'm Supposed to be Doing This Weekend?

2007-07-18T14:34:00.001-08:00

Oh, right. Wedding.

Kinda snuck right up on me, but I think we're ready. Not that I haven't dragged my feet the whole time, but various "helpers" kept me in line.

"I've got 18 sticks of dynamite and I'm gonna blow up the cul de sac"

2007-07-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

Sara's moving tip #1: It's good to get to know your new neighbors.

Specifically, it's good to get to know which of your neighbors are insane drunks.

He didn't blow anything up, as far as we could tell. The other (un-insane and no more drunk than I was) neighbors set off some doozies, but Dynamite Man was all talk, as far as we could tell.

DUDE

2007-06-30T15:59:00.000-08:00

We're in a house. No duplex for us.

And the bonus... fenced backyard! It's not a "secure" fence, but it's enough of a psychological deterrent that we can play with Loki off-leash. He's found doggy nirvana... I don't think he's ever had daily access to a fenced yard. Several fetch-playings a day make a happy puppy.

Pictures... eventually.

Can I get a Collective Finger Crossing?

2007-06-24T15:49:00.000-08:00

Our house is supposed to be ready for move-in on Wednesday.

Buffering... Buffering... Buffering...

2007-06-19T19:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my holding pattern. We're in housing purgatory right now. We had a great plan for summer... rent a house! Stevens Point is a college town, so there are always summer rentals a-plenty. We get cheap (if slightly college-ghetto) housing, they get to not have their house sit empty... win-win situation!

Through Shaun's mom, we found a house (two bedroom, close to downtown and therefore bars, not an apartment so we don't have to worry about Loki bothering neighbors) that seemed to suit our needs... and it was set to be available just as we got home. Good, Great, GRAND!

But... you know... shit happens. Shit, in this case, involved the house's former occupant being, shall we say, slightly hesitant to leave. We were supposed to be able to move in on the June 2nd, but the landlord called and said that she wouldn't be out for a few extra days, so they'd give us an apartment to live in, rent-free, until she moved out.

Well... it's the 19th. Apparently she JUST moved out, but left the house in such a state that they feel the need to go through and document/photograph because it could become a legal issue.

Good news... we're living rent-free.

Bad news... we haven't unpacked yet. We call it "indoor camping." We didn't bring any pots or pans over, so we're pretty much living on sandwiches (which suits me just fine since I LOVES me a good sammich) and other foods that don't require cooking. Honestly, it's not as unhealthy as you'd imagine. I haven't gained any weight thus far, at least.

I'm not complaining, I swear. I've lived without flush plumbing. Last year, Shaun and I lived with scary mold in the ceiling of our a smaller-than-one-room apartment. For two weeks, our heat was stuck on, and we only had one window that actually opened. We've become pretty roll-with-the-punches, really.

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-17T08:57:00.000-08:00

To all the dads, but especially mine, enjoy the day!

Um, Swimming is Hard, and Stuff

2007-06-15T06:59:00.001-08:00

I hooked myself up with a YMCA membership for the summer. We live close to the Y, and I'd like to get back into some semblance of athletic shape now that I've dropped the weight down to a reasonable level.

Having not done so in three years or so, I went swimming yesterday. Swimming as in swimming laps. I donned my gay swimming apparel, and hopped in. Pushed off with a nice clean streamline and started swimming.

"Geez," I thought, "I've still got it. My stroke feels good!"

And pride, as we all know, cometh before the fall.

After 50 yards, I slowed down somewhat. Still pretty smooth, but definitely slow.

After 200 yards, it ceased to be pretty. I was still making forward progress, and probably not doing as poorly as I thought, but it felt choppy and awkward compared to what I remember from my in-shape swimming days.

I swam 600 or 700 yards. A mere warm-up, back in the day.

And the sad part? I'm a little sore today.

But, I'm heading back in about 15 minutes. I've discovered that the 10:30AM laps swim is pretty unpopulated. Too late for the before-work crowd, and too early for the lunch crowd. And all the old people like to use the warmer pool. My only obstacle? WATER AEROBICS. Those ladies may not look like athletic powerhouses, but they can get a good whirlpool effect going. Tuesdays and Thursdays, they will be using half of the pool. I will persevere despite their choppy-water-inducing ways.

My goal is to swim 4 days a week, and do some light weights two days a week. Whee!

Just Go See It

2007-06-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

Go see the movie "Knocked Up." Just do it.

We got back a half hour ago and I'm still giggling at stuff.

I mean, pardon the naughty language, and the exorbitant illegal drug use, and the sexual promiscuity... ah, who am I kidding? That's what made it such a great movie. I needed a good laugh, and I got one. Despite the rampant humor, it had soul. Jewish Canadian White Boy Soul. Jewish Canadian White Boy Soul and a moderately graphic delivery room scene. We're talking crowning heads here, people.

Side note: I may or may not have a crush on Seth Rogan. Weird, huh? He's so not a muffin and yet...

Challenge

2007-06-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

I have a challenge for you all.

And by "you all," I mean whoever actually reads this drivel during the summers.

The challenge, should you choose to accept it, involves internet research. Figure out what happened to my favorite variety of pickles. Now, after my mother's secret pickle recipe (Ma, can we make pickles this summer? I want to learn!), I had a favorite pickle. The company Milwaukee's Pickles made a variety called Polski Wyrob. I'm assuming that's Polish for "Awesome Pickle That is Better Than All Other Pickles." All the rest of the Milwaukee's Pickles have the white label with green writing... these had an orange and yellow label for some reason. They were only find-able at one grocery store in my hometown (Copp's in Stevens Point), but they've since disappeared.

First person to track down the fate of the Milwaukee's Pickles Polski Wyrob variety wins a poem, written by me about him or her. What can I say, I'm a cheap bastard.

I Haven't Bored You in a While

2007-06-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

So, it's time for... DOG PICS! Loki's a dock diver now. He doesn't catch them in midair or anything (YET!), but he sure likes to jump.

But, since I'm too lazy to fire up Shaun's computer, transfer pics over to my own, and post them, I'm going to do this:

Link.

Now, wasn't that lazy? Most of you probably already saw these, since Shaun was on the ball and posted them, you know, when they were actually relevant. Me? I prefer to wait until they're historical. Who needs current events? Certainly not my tiny but moderately faithful reading public! We're all about the past here.

Oh, and do you like the ill-fitting clothing and sexy rubber boots? I call it Tundra Chic. It's going to be the next thing to hit Paris, Milan, and Other Pretentious Fashion Cities, I swear.

Trees, Cattle, and a Wedding Dress

2007-06-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

I am back in the land of tall, tall trees. Not sequoia-tall, but decidedly larger than a bush. I kind of miss trees when I'm up on the tundra.

Wisconsin is nice. Alaska is nice. Plane rides from Alaska to Wisconsin are decidedly un-nice. Well, Alaska to Illinois, but we all know the only nice thing about Illinois is its proximity to Wisconsin. O'Hare is one of the nastiest airports I've ever experienced. It's dingy, windowless, and the people who work there somehow missed the memo that went around about Midwesterners being nice people. After dutifully lining up with the other cattle and spending six wakeful hours smushed into a seat inside a flying metal tube, I'd like a smile and a little customer service. Instead, I'm greeted by a bunch of jerks who leave my dog (and other passengers' dogs) sitting back on a luggage cart while they unload ALL the rest of the luggage. These poor animals had to pee, for chrissake! Last I checked, my suitcase doesn't care if it stays in back for an extra minute, but my dog was sure as hell raising a ruckus about it. Thanks to my dad for asking them in a polite but firm-and-I'm-a-big-guy manner to please bring the dogs out.

I tried on my wedding dress today. It fits (I was worried because I had lost some more weight after buying it)... mostly. My bazongas are just not big enough to fill it out, so it'll need alterations. Either that or, as my mother so delicately put it, two boxes of Kleenex.

Oh, and by the way...

2007-05-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

SCHOOL'S OUT!

Six

2007-05-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

Six school days to go.

Each day seems to stretch to infinity.

Six times infinity is what?

Mania!

2007-05-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

I have been bitten by the productiveness bug. After a winter of barely dragging myself through a minimum of chores, I have become one of those annoying always-picking-up people.

Well, at home, anyway. My desk at work still looks like a monster ate an elementary classroom and puked it all up.

The only problem with my current chore-mania is... well... Loki. He's a Labrador Retriever. If the Greeks had had Labs, Sisyphus may have been tasked with keeping my kitchen floor dog-hair free, rather than pushing that silly rock around for all eternity. Our poor Roomba (OOH! DID I MENTION WE GOT A ROOMBA?! I'm not a gadget-y person, but with Loki's prodigious shedding capabilities, we thought it was worth a shot)It makes me pine away for the vacu-suck hair-cutting device showcased on Wayne's World. Just the sucking part... wouldn't it be convenient to just vacuum out all his shedded hair? "It certainly does suck," indeed!

Fear not, fair readers, I will not be vacuuming the dog this evening. My mania has limits, and vacuuming the dog lies well outside of those limits.

Maybe.

Look, Ma, I'm Fishing!

2007-05-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

So...

2007-05-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, huh?

How is it May already? I've been swamped. Well, not swamped in the all-day-every-day busy kind of swamped, but whenever I'm at school, which is my internetting location, I'm busy. Henceforth and hitherto, no new blog posts in quite a while.

Hmm, a summary. We're planning to use up all our leftover scrap paper to make homemade paper (a way fun process) next week, my team took 10th place for Trivia (our first top 10 finish), the river is starting to break up (a friend's dog fell through the ice yesterday while we were out ice fishing), 17 school days remain until we're released for the summer, I've read a few good books lately, but nothing mind-blowing, and we finished our marriage prep at the Catholic church in Bethel. Each of these incidents COULD have been a separate post, but alas, that time has passed. Now is the time for brief summaries.

I'll post some ice fishing pics when I get them (they're on Shaun's computer right now)

You CAN go Home Again

2007-04-11T17:20:00.000-08:00

Allow me to present a photographic summary of my trip to Quinhagak. For those in the unknow, Quinhagak is the village in which I taught last year and the previous year.

Funkypunk likes planes. Funkypunk was my travel buddy. Funkypunk is not this shadowy in real life. Funkpunk is merely a victim of poor photography and slothfulness when it comes to editing aforementioned sub-par photography.

Quinhagak is pretty much snow-free at this point. Nunapitchuk is not. This picture is also crappy. It's crooked. Again, too lazy to edit.

We saw two eagles at the beach! One flew away, and this one wouldn't let me get any closer before it, too, fled. I hopped over some seriously slimy, muddy beach ice just to get THIS close.

Ate several Easter meals with various groups of people. Not as many as Funkypunk, but she's more social than I am.

What's Easter without an egg hunt for the wee ones?

Quinhagak has this zany ability to be both dusty and muddy at the same time.

Overall, it was quite the good weekend. It was great to see old friends and students, and we even managed to come back with a few frozen trout, a gift from a friend. Good times were had by all.

Sweatin' to the Moldies, Static-style

2007-04-11T17:13:00.000-08:00

It's really, really hot in our apartment right now. Or, anyway, it was this morning. You see, the heat went off last week, so it got fixed. However, it got TOO fixed. It was just 100% on. All-go-no-stop heat. We slept in the living room with the one open-able window open.

It's also moldy in our apartment right now. But really, It's been moldy all year, so that's not such a big deal. It's probably been moldy all decade, bare minimum. It's in the ceiling. Our house, if we don't air it out, takes on delicate nasal hues of musty goodness.

Don't let the musty smell fool you, though. The humidity hovered around 20% all winter. For one stretch there, Loki would squint a little when we went to pet him because he KNEW the shock was coming.

All in all, our apartment is a very special place. That is why I'm glad to announce we won't be living there next year. With a little poking and prodding and a goodly amount of luck, we've procured a much nicer house... one that was never, ever, in its entire existence, a Bureau of Indian Affairs school. No middle-aged adults will say, "Man, I remember having school there." It's just a house.

Hey Spring... Spring Already!

2007-03-26T14:39:00.000-08:00

Who ordered the snow?

Sorry for the low quality of the photograph, but I was too lazy to put on a coat and I was being pelted with snow the whole time I took the picture.

A former colleague was reported missing out on the tundra last night, but rumor has it he's been found. So that's good. Hopefully rumor has it right.

As for me, I'm just patiently awaiting warmer temps.

Or maybe not-so patiently.

Awkward Announcement

2007-03-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

So, I hesitate to even post this.

Mostly because I'm embarrassed that I even had to do it. Partly because I don't like to brag. But sometimes bragging is OK.

I've lost weight. I won't say how much and I won't say how much I have left, but I realized that I'd really been on a downward (well, upward, if we're talking about poundage) slide for the past few years and I did what I needed to do to correct it. I might even throw in a few short-distance triathlons this summer, but we'll see if I have the time. Right now the temp is hovering around zero and that kind of makes me lean in the stay-inside-and-do-inside-type-things direction for the time being.

So there you have it. There's less of me now.

But I'm still just as obnoxious.

Winter? Spring? None of the Above?

2007-03-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

It's 9:30 and still light out. Daylight Savings Time has arrived. The sun was making plenty of progress into the evening hours on its own, but we had to go and help it out, didn't we? Wouldn't want to be going to bed in darkness for an extra couple weeks, would we?

As Jody commented (and she'd know better than I, being way ups in da nort'), it's a little crazy right now. The sun is returning. It LOOKS so nice out there! Alas, Pa Winter retains his grip on the temperatures, even if he has cut us some slack in the daylight department.

I'm Learnding!

2007-03-09T15:33:00.000-09:00

Things I learned today:

-What to do about a snowmachine with a frozen gasline
-That sometimes new spark plugs can just be "duds"
-How to change a snowmachine drive belt
-That sitting for 45 minutes along the trail from Bethel to Nunapitchuk is kinda boring.

Yesterday, I went by snowmachine into Bethel for a doctor's appointment. FunkyPunk and I rode in, and she carried another teacher as a passenger. I spent the night last night because the weather looked iffy and the sun was starting to set by the time I was ready... and I was just feeling lazy. While she wanted to stay until Saturday, I was ready to head out Friday morning. I had visions of getting back to school by 10am and putting in pretty much a full school day.

After MUCH drama this morning (involving a frozen gas line, and the subsequent cab ride to and from the store to get gas line antifreeze, followed by an issue involving a spark plug change... even though the spark plug was new and fine), I got on my way about 11am. Like a good girl, I called my destination to let them know I was on my way, and to expect me in about an hour and a half. I gave myself extra time because I wasn't sure I'd find the trail out of Bethel easily. I found it on my first try.

So... I left Bethel, 26 miles of tundra trail in front of me. I enjoyed being out on the machine by myself for the first few miles. I was just riding along, minding my own business (and taking some sweet jumps, if I can quote Napoleon Dynamite), when I started hearing a funny noise.

"Self," I thought, "You should head back to Bethel. That doesn't sound good."

"But self," I whined back, "You are like 1/3 of the way there!"

"DO IT!" I mentally shouted at myself. "TURN BACK!"

Fiiiiiiiiine. I turned back. Or I tried... the moment I started slowing down, I heard a most distressing KERCHUNK, followed by the sound of my machine, um, not going. Hmm. Tried to start machine, knowing it to be futile. Bad noises and no starting. I freaked out for about 30 seconds (usually I'm rendered useless for at least an hour and a half by any semblance of stress), then realized that freaking out on the trail was maybe not the most healthy choice I could make.

I could still see the Bethel airport tower in the distance, so I wasn't out of town by more than 5 or 10 miles (I had a GPS with me, but didn't turn it on at this point, although I did move it to my inside pocket so it would be warmer and the batteries would last longer if I turned it on). People at my destination knew when to expect me. Also in my favor was the fact that I was on a fairly busy trail, and wearing two pairs of snowpants and two winter coats (my light one under my fluffy down one), but still... I was out on the tundra and the windchill was hovering around a balmy -30F, I think.

And so, I waited. Several planes flew over, but alas, no snowmachines happened by. I waited more. I paced back and forth. I sat on my backpack, sheltered from the wind by my snowmachine. I paced. I sat. I sang a little song. Either someone would happen by, or someone in Nunapitchuk would get worried about me and come looking. I hoped for the former, but would have happily settled for the latter.

After 45 minutes of worry and boredom, a nice man happened by. Also heading to Nunapitchuk, he is uncle to several of my students. He showed me how to change the belt that had broken (apparently a common thing in the world of snowmachines), and I got on my merry way.

I returned home around 1:45 (should have been home around 12:30 at the latest) to a worried fiancee and typically obnoxious Labrador Retriever.

Maybe next time I'll spend the night rather than coming back by myself. Live and learn, I guess.

Answer: Not a Damn One

2007-03-01T17:12:00.000-09:00

Question: How many pictures did I take of the cool stuff that went on every afternoon this week in our school?

Honestly, I meant to. We're celebrating Lunar New Year as a school, and it was good fun. We made sushi in my classroom, which was both cool and messy. Kids were doing all sorts of projects in multi-age groups, rotating around from room to room, lah-dee-dah. I could have taken some really cool pictures, but I didn't.

I had one opportunity to take pictures. Yesterday, I got a break and thought, "I'm going to take this opportunity to snap some photos of what's going down!" The fates had other plans.

Dead, my camera battery was. Foiled, my plan for photographic domination was. Talking like Yoda, I am.

So use your imagination. Imagine ten Eskimo kids rolling sushi. Imagine them eating won ton soup. Imagine them making kites and masks and Chinese yo-yos. Work up a good mental image, because you won't be getting a digital one.

The Deification of Stacy

2007-02-18T14:37:00.000-09:00

My friend Stacy is now officially a member of my personal pantheon of deities. She is now Stacius, Crunchy Goddess of Boxed Vegetables.

She sent me vegetables. A whole box of fresh vegetables. Or rather, she had them sent from the Lower 48, as her village is as woefully lacking in fresh produce as Nunapitchuk.

I was drooling at school just looking at the box, and have eaten more vegetables in the past two days than I have in the past month. And I have only begun to munch.

I've discovered one interesting thing so far... my dog really likes radish tops. Whodathunkit?

Dead Arm

2007-02-11T19:53:00.000-09:00

I took a nap this afternoon.

Weekend naps are one of the great pleasures in life if you ask me. I love a good nap.

I woke up from this little siesta to a most distressing situation. My right arm, the arm with which I do pretty much everything, was dead. Not just asleep... totally without feeling, and all floppy. I had had it up over my head (our house has no doors, and our walls don't go all the way up to the ceiling, and Shaun was watching TV), and apparently cut off all contact between my arm and the rest of my body.

It was kinda cool, actually. It was totally limp and floppy. No feeling whatsoever.

Eventually, the feeling came back. Holy crap did that hurt.

Testing the fun out of Them

2007-02-07T14:09:00.000-09:00

It's that time of year, boys and girls. L.E.P testing time! We have to test every L.E.P. (limited English Proficient) student at our school to determine whether their English proficiency is truly still limited. Great fun.

I'm currently testing first graders. I am their introduction to the fantastic world of bubble-filling, standardized test-taking, and "remain quietly in your seat if you finish early."

I kind of hate myself for that. First grade should be all about reading, adding, and Play Dough. Bubble filling takes the joy out of all three.*

I tested two exuberant, can't-keep-their-mouths-shut students this afternoon. Normally right on the brink of shouting out, when put in such a limiting situation, they step over the brink into the talking-out-of-turn oblivion beyond. My jaw sets itself in a grumpty frown, my eyebrows crinkle down over my eyes, and I give them the *LOOK*.

Of course, when faced with such unencumbered joy for hearing the sound of one's own voice, the *LOOK* is seldom enough. In an hour, I was forced to move one student to a corner desk all by himself, place a pencil in the hand of another student while pointing to her next unanswered question, and just generally pull out all my "mean teacher" tricks.

By the end of the hour, I was sick of the test, the students, and most of all myself. If I'm going to be the grumpy teacher, let me at least do it in the name of teaching them something.

Thank you and good night.**

*I'm not sure how bubble-filling takes the joy out of Play Dough, but I'm certain it must. It has unmeasurable first grade joy-stealing power that we can only begin to comprehend.
**It's not night yet, but it might be when you read this.

For CP

2007-02-02T17:38:00.000-09:00

A certain person (who never updates HER blog because... oh, right, she doesn't have one) gave me a haughty "Ahem" while checking my blog, indicating that I was not nearly diligent enough in my updates.

And she may be right.

So here's an update. I'm in Kasigluk-Akiuk for basketball. The trail was very slushy riding over. Shaun got wet because he didn't wear snowpants. I ate two hotdogs for dinner, but I feel like that's OK since I never got a lunch today. I currently have bleacher butt, both from sitting on a bleacher, and from sitting on the floor after sitting on the bleacher.

Feeling in-touch with my life now? ;-)

I Think This Post's Mostly Filler

2007-01-21T02:10:00.000-09:00

Just in case you weren't totally completely, irrevocably convinced that I am a gigantic nerdy moron with somewhat obsessive, overly-focused tendencies, I just want to clear things up.

I am.

My latest obsession? The musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More with Feeling."

The episode is not new to me. It was actually my introduction to the escapist world of Buffy. CP (currently my coworker and, back in the day, my roommate, and always the Goddess of All Things Pop Culture) introduced me to the show through the musical episode two years ago. It has recently come back into my life and I am grateful. Aforementioned CP has loaned me seasons 5-7 on DVD. Since I rarely watch TV on TV (or, rather, I can't be troubled to remember what day of the week things are on), TV on DVD comes in handy when my brain needs to be liquidated of thought for 45 minutes or so and an episode of Iron Chef: America just won't cut the mustard.

I have listened to the soundtrack twice tonight. I think Shaun is going to start throwing things soon should this blip turn into a long-term trend.

Someday I will have a "current favorite" that does not up my dork quotient.

Who am I kidding? No, I won't. Love me, love the fact that I will never, ever, in a million years be cool.

As Promised... NYE pics!

2007-01-15T15:29:00.000-09:00

Therese clearly loves her country. ;)

Oh, so pretty... I'm the non-pretty one on the right. :D

Rides Like a Dream

2007-01-13T00:49:00.000-09:00

The descent into Anchorage is always an experience. I don't know if it's the mountains-on-three-sides-water-on-the-other factor or what, but I don't think I've ever had a smooth ride into the Anchorage Bowl. Today was no exception. A nice finale to an otherwise less-than-emotionally-scarring flight.

Well, not emotionally scarring for everyone else. I am usually filled with such guilt at putting Loki on the plane that I have at least one nervous breakdown. Again, today (or yesterday, as it were) was no exception.

But getting beyond that, the ride was pretty pleasant. Shaun and I had a row to ourselves (we started out with a passenger on the aisle, but he hopped across aforementioned aisle because there was only one person there. So we had... An empty seat! Oh, joy of joys! Few things can bring more elation to the heart of a coach traveler than an empty seat. We stretched out, and slept probably two hours out of the six available to us... probably a new record for da bot' of us. We're not adept at plane-sleeping. A friend was on the flight, and she had some kind of tranqs... I'm not a use-drugs-to-cure-all kind of person, but she did look mighty relaxed. By relaxed I mean unconscious. It looked, to quote one of the great minds of American cartoon culture, freakin' sweet.

So that's that. I sit at Ted "The Internet is a Series of Tubes" Stevens Anchorage International Airport. It's 1am Alaska time, 4am Wisconsin-and-therefore-my-internal-clock time. My two hours of sleep was clearly excessive; I'm not sleepy at all.

OH! One more tiny little detail... we figured out where we're going to be getting hitched. We found a Catholic church that will marry us. We shall be tying the knot at St. Bart's in Mill Creek, WI. Should be a hoot. :D

Woah

2007-01-10T22:09:00.000-09:00

Vacation winds to a close. Friday we head north, north, and more north (also west). Back to Alaska, back to the village, back to work. My wallet is lighter and my suitcases are heavier. Or they would be, were they packed, which they, of course, are not.

Am I leaving real life and going back up to fantasyland, or is it the other way around? Distinctions get a little fuzzy at 1am.

2007

2007-01-01T08:32:00.000-09:00

"Here's to the New Year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one..."

I guess 2006 wasn't that bad. Can't complain, really. But there's something very hopeful about ringing in the new year. It hasn't yet been messed up by death, destruction, or other sundry calamity. There's always the possibility that this year will be the year in which humanity finally pulls its shit together. At 12am on 1/1, we haven't had the chance to mess things TOO badly. Hopefully this won't be the year we nuke ourselves into oblivion.

I'm not being morbid or fatalistic, honestly. I like the freshness of the new year. Infinite possibilities, good and bad.

I'll post party pics soon, I promise. There are some goodies.

The "I'M BACK!" Post, and Year in Review

2006-12-23T21:12:00.000-09:00

I arrived safely at O'Hare, four hours behind schedule do to "technical difficulties" (read: water in electronic instrumentation prevents any take-off not deliberately designed to cause death and destruction). The trip was its usual steaming pile of joy, but I'll not speak of that.

We're nearing the end of 2006. And a fine year she was. Allow me a brief review. I'll give you the first sentence I published each month, just because my body has no clue what time it is, and I'm not feeling the least bit sleepy...

January: "And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care..."
Commentary: Dang, this time last year, I was in Hawaii.

February: "The following is plucked from a conversation I had with a class of first grade boys."
Commentary: First graders are cute.

March: "It appears that we're having issues with our district e-mail, and we aren't receiving/sending e-mails out-of-district."
Commentary: Sweet Jesus I live a boring, pathetic life. Is this the drivel I publish? Do you all hate me?

April: "Daylight Savings Time is a load of crap."
Commentary: I stand by this statement.

May: "Loki, meet everyone."
Commentary: That nutty dog has grown up so much since then!

June: "We took Loki (el Dog) swimming yesterday."
Commentary: I find my dog far too interesting, it would seem.

July: "I love our dog."
Commentary: I need a life.

August: "We're in Nunapitchuk."
Commentary: Indeed we were. For quite a while.

September: "Isn't it strange how you can know exactly what your faults/failings are and be completely powerless to fix them?"
Commentary: Yes, isn't it?

October: "PFD Time, that is."
Commentary: That is not a sentence, you grammatically-challenged, ape-brained waste of human protoplasm.

November: "It's getting cold."
Commentary: Wow, really? In ALASKA? I'm glad that I exist to document these unknown factoids and info-nuggets, because otherwise, how would the world know that it gets cold in Alaska in November?

December: "Yup, I'm still here."
Commentary: Or do I just think I'm still here? Is all of existence just an illusion?

SUSHI BABY

2006-12-21T23:12:00.000-09:00

Yup, I'm pregnant with a big ol' sushi baby.

I made it out of the village along with a bunch of friends and coworkers. We checked into the hotel and made a new friend. She teaches in a nearby village that just happens to be in a different district. The Y-K Delta is cool like that... you can meet someone and just become their friend just because they happen to be there. Kinda like when you went on vacation as a child, and would just make friends with whatever kids your age happened to be hanging around the pool. Oh, you didn't do that? It was just my sisters and me? OK.

ANYHOO... We dragged newfound friend went to the VIP restaurant, a new feature in the town of Bethel. Bethel has been blessed and cursed with a plethora of restaurants. Blessed because there are a lot of them. Cursed because they all serve one of two menus, and neither are phenomenal. There's the Americanized Asian menu (they also serve burgers and fries), and the Americanized Greek/Italian menu. They're both adequate if you're in from the village for the weekend and haven't eaten a meal cooked by someone else in months, but don't really do anything for me in the culinary sense.

But now, oh now... there is the VIP restaurant. They serve REAL Korean and Japanese food, including SUSHI.

I ate sushi tonight.

I ate a lot of sushi.

My tummy rounded out to house my yummy little sushi baby.

Variables and a Rant

2006-12-20T15:55:00.000-09:00

Variables. Should they all fall into place, I will be leaving Nunapitchuk tomorrow and arriving in Central Wisconsin on Saturday. One overnight at a hotel in Bethel, a three-segmented flight to Chicago, and a wonderful car ride will put me at my parents' house ust in time for Christmas Eve-Eve.

If the weather cooperates, and the airlines cooperate, and O'Hare cooperates (O'Hare is in its own class, as far as I'm concerned, because it is big and scary and in Chicago, which automatically ups its sketchiness quotient), I might just make it without bursting into tears. Then again, I might not. At least this flight isn't going through LAX, like my Hawaii flight did last year. That place is specifically designed to suck all the hopeful human feelings out of you and turn you into a dead-eyed, beaten down, bovine zombie. Yes, a cow of the living dead. A cow of the living dead who is afraid to ask the "customer service" representatives a question because they are scarier than your average homeless crazy dude.

Side note: Can you tell I've had a bad experience at Los Angeles International Airport? This is a rant almost exactly one year in the making. This negativity has been festering for quite a while... and it goes beyond LAX.

The only nice stranger I met at LAX was a cop. A LOS ANGELES POLICE OFFICER. These guys are not known for their sunshiny personalities, and he was the friendly, helpful one of all the people I met.

I'm just too small-town Midwestern, I think. I expect to be treated nicely unless I give cause for anything else. Human "default mode" should be set on nice, with bitch and asshole only coming out when called for. Don't give me attitude if it's not called for. If I'm being friendly and polite, they why the F$*k can't everyone else return the favor?!

*breathes into paper bag*

OK, so, yeah. Wish me good luck tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday.

Still Truckin' (Poste Moste Randome)

2006-12-12T14:47:00.000-09:00

Yup, I'm still here.

I realize, I did a pretty good non-existence imitation there for a while, but rest assured, it was all an act.

Shaun and Loki left today for Wisconsin. All told, the trip will take them about 24 hours. I miss my boys, but I know that once the hellacious trip is completed, they'll both be having a fan-freaking-tastic time back in the land of Cheese and Beer.

Me? I'm just trying to get through the last week-and-a-half of school without blowing a mental gasket. It's more difficult than it sounds. Today I took one class out to take pictures to send to our new pen pals. Sounds easy, but it's not. The boys were... well... the only way to describe it is to say "bat-shit crazy," and that's not a term I just throw around carelessly. But we got some fun pictures of "important" village locations (I'll post a few later) and returned home frostbite-free, and with me only having had to shout at the top of my lungs three times.

At this point, my brain has kind of shut down. It's a good thing that I got some good routines established with my classes, because I'm pretty much running on auto-pilot at this point.

Pulled Back from the Brink

2006-11-28T09:20:00.000-09:00

Yes, my computer has been brought back to life. I even got an OS upgrade in the process... and all my files still exist.

Huzzah!

I say huzzah way too much lately.

Snowromp Video!

2006-11-27T10:37:00.001-09:00


Kudos to that fiancee of mine for taking the video... I was obviously too busy having fun.

Frolic!

2006-11-27T09:23:00.000-09:00

Ah, chasing snowballs. So fun. He'd do this all day if we let him.

What I Bin' Doin'

2006-11-26T21:43:00.000-09:00

Whole lotta nothing.

We ate Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of coworkers on Thursday. It was fun... I like having a non-school reason to hang out with people. We hardly talked shop at all.

Friday happened, Saturday happened, both without any events meriting mention. Then... Sunday. I awoke at 9 with hopes of starting a load of laundry, but alas, the machine was taken. Not one to be dragged down, I got over that extreme let-down and started my day. I looked out the window, and lo and behold, it was a-snowing. Lots.

Noon... still snowing.

Three o'clock... still snowing. Received instant messages and e-mails from coworkers stranded in Bethel. All planes cancelled.

Five o'clock... yup, more white $#!+. Loki loves it. He romped several times today. Pics to follow, and maybe a video if it gets uploaded somewhere. He likes to chase snowballs. I also romped, although I find snowball-chasing slightly less amusing.

It's now ten minutes to ten o'clock in the evening, and the snow is still falling with gusto. The boardwalks have vanished.

Pictures tomorrow!

But it's a Dry Heat

2006-11-22T08:44:00.000-09:00

Something is wrong with our heat.

It's not broken, in the strictest sense of the word. Pipes haven't frozen, we aren't shivering, huddled under blankets and burning furniture for warmth.

Quite the opposite.

It seems our heat has lost its "off" mode. It's all go, all the time. We opened our one functioning window and put a fan in it, and managed to COOL our home down to a balmy 82. Then we foolishly shut aforementioned window when we went to bed. Fools, damn fools.

I awoke at 3am in a sweaty panic. I was can't-breathe-must-have-air hot. I ran into the living room, opened the window, and stuck my head all the way out. I then moved over to the thermostat to check out the thermo-stats. It was maxed out at 88 degrees.

I slept the rest of the night on the couch in front of the window.

Noooooooooooooooooo...

2006-11-12T18:54:00.000-09:00

My hard drive on my trusty iBook G4 (OK, it's not mine, but the school district's... but it's been with me for the past two and a half years!) has been pronounced legally dead.

All my pics... gone.

All my music... gone.

All my old lesson plans... gone.

*Sigh* I was in the process of backing it up so it could be reimaged, but I never quite finished the job.

Alas, I carry on. Why do I feel naked without it?

What is This "Teaching" You Speak Of?

2006-11-09T10:46:00.000-09:00

It's Thursday, and we're finally having school. Freeze-up combined with the death of someone in the village kept our attendant population under 60% on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This meant that I came to school every morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (or at least washed, which is a step in the right direction, I suppose), only to leave an hour and a half later when we confirmed that we had too few students to hold a legal day. Basically, an hour and a half of work that does not count as work. We have to make it up. Grr.

I had a lot of week-long lesson plans set, so I'm just going to scratch them and use them next week. I can't imagine the kids will be too focused today or tomorrow anyway.

HEY YOU

2006-11-07T17:34:00.000-09:00

Did you vote?

If not, why not?

If your answer to "why not" is "It is not voting day where I live," then I accept your reasoning.

If it is, indeed, voting day where you live, and you did, indeed, answer "no" to my intial question, well, that was your decision I guess.

But I voted. And I got a sticker. Then I got another because the nice voting worker said I could. I like stickers. In that way, I am much like a kindergartner. With voting rights.

Silly River

2006-11-06T16:10:00.000-09:00

That silly river is freezing up. A bunch of students live on the other side of aforementioned freezing river, and didn't come to school today because their boats have been pulled from the water.

District sez we must have 60% of our students present in order to call it a school day.

As of 9:40 today, we were 28 students short... so no school.

School tomorrow? Stay tuned, folks.

Quick News Flash

2006-11-05T18:56:00.000-09:00

It's getting cold. When it gets cold, liquid water turns into a solid. We call this "ice." Rivers are made of water.

So basically, the river is freezing. More later (hopefully "more" will include pictures).

Ten Random Thoughts.

2006-10-25T15:07:00.000-08:00

1. Loki (with Bailey's help, but let's be honest, Loki was the primary perp in this crime) nearly gave me a black eye.

2. The first "sticking" snow should be classified as a child drug. They're like a bunch of crack fiends.

3. Hallween is coming. I'm looking for good hiding places from the hordes of candy-seeking small people.

4. Nights are getting loooooooooong. Days are getting shooooooooooooort.

5. I haven't been TRULY sick yet this school year.

6. Now I will probably be sick next week.

7. Booked my flight home for the holidays! Prepare, Lower 48, for my glorious coming! December 23rd, your part of the continent will be bathed in the brilliance that is me. Offer me beer.

8. How is it 2006? I'm getting old.

9. How come kids don't get a nap anymore? In kindergarten and even first grade, we bought carpet squares at Shopko and brought them to school for nap time. What happened to this?

10. I have been eating too much cheese lately.

He's an Intellectual

2006-10-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

Doesn't he look like he's got all the answers, and that the digusting string of drool is 100% intentional?
Thanks to Shaun for doing the captioning.

Throwback to Summer

2006-10-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

Summer, up at The Shack, wearing shorts... seems to be a world or five away sometimes...
Is it just me or does my chin look evil and pointy?