And It's Officially Cold

On our walk today, we all 3 noticed quite the drop in temps:)

Happy dance. Happy dance- no more mud!!!

being silly after a long day of work.

Are You an M&M?

Umm...that would be an Angry Bird:)

Today was Halloween and I was happy to see that the upper elementary team was down with dressing up for the day.

Lemme tell you- that costume was heavy, but it was worth the heat, the lack of vision ( I ran into anything and everything today) and the weight of two heavy couch pillows.

And towards the end of the day, it was fun to see all the kids that dressed up along with their teachers walk through the school hallways and into the gym for the community to see.

Note the angry bird shirt.

Strawberry shortcake:)

Those of us that dressed up.

It was a good day. Kids did their best to tackle their work without being distracted by their costumes of their freakishly dressed teacher and for that they were rewarded. A parent came in with treats and the owner of the NYC store brought in candy canes for the the kids to take home.

And the treat at the end of the day for me? A beautifully hand made green beanie from Dawn's aunt Joan. It's snug, and soft, and it was a nice feeling to be included in Dawne's care package! Many thanks for being included-cause I love my new beanie:)

Festive Pumpkins

 Carving pumpkins is something I enjoy doing when I have the energy and the time. That really is not the case this time around- so thankfully Dawne's aide carved it for me.

Festive, right?

 And here is Dawne's- something more Halloweeny:) There's nothing Gordon, the aide, can't recreate! I am impressed.

Any idea what the carving is supposed to be on this one?

The first thing that popped into my mind was Aztec- something Aztec.

Not the case. It's one of these guys- a minion. At least the kids saw it- I must be getting old;)

Just Another Manic Monday...Wait

Not this week. This Monday was a breeze compared to others. My students did much better today knowing that Fall Festival is once again underway- as long as they try their hardest to meet our expectations. My mind and body were at ease with the long fun weekend in Kasigluk. My mailbox overfloweth with packages from family!

Thank you for my Starbucks, Water filter & Bogart's bones...as you can see- he was a happy boy!

And NANA! Many thanks for the encouraging note and baked goodies. I was able to share with my roommate and we are so grateful for sweets to snack on after long hard days at work. Your package made my day!!!

Being able to sit with a cup of hot chocolate and have some cookies - that's a great way to end the evening! Thanks for sending me your love, especially in the form of your great cooking skills!

So here's to a great Monday, and with hope, a great week!

Rolling Blackouts!

In the classroom at 8 o'clock and it is pitch black. It's a rather eerie feeling to look out and see absolutely nothing when I look out the window. Thankfully things are back on and working:)

Kasigluk and Back Again

 Arrival on Friday afternoon.

Someone's boat needs Triple A.

Friday night games. Guess who dominated? 

Waking up Saturday morn' to head to class.

 Natalie's housing is right across from the school entrance. Just a hop, skip, and jump away. Apparently that red overhand in the top right corner of the picture has knocked everyone on their bottoms at some point---it's hard to spot when it's snowing.

 Bath time. While we were in class, Usavi was out rolling around in fish guts.

 Natalie's a beautician, and an adventurous one at that- so we went the colorful route and added some pink and purple highlights to our hair. And talking about color, take a look at this "studio" apartment down the hall. This is what happens when you request the help of students to paint.

 Tony was apparently not to disappointed by their efforts.

 My sleeping buddy.

 Getting our drinking water for the day. Pipes are a little too corroded, and so there is a hose that is connected to the water plant outside.

 School entrance as seen from Natalie's window.

 Natalie's humble abode.

 Trip home:)

It was a good weekend all together. I got some good ideas from some of the teachers that visited from other sites. I was able to chill without the pressure of lesson plans. And I laughed so hard at the stories that were shared in the evenings. It doesn't get any better than that!

Getaway

I am here in Kasigluk for the weekend chillin' with a friend that is not only a teacher in LKSD, but also in my co-hort for a Masters Program through UAF. It was a crazy flight out of Toksook yesterday and even though it was a short flight to Bethel and then to Kasigluk, it was BUMPY. I was grateful for the fact that I ate a little bit of my lunch as I was afraid I would lose it on the plane.

But thankfully I didn't, and I arrived in one piece:)

The administrator and my friend Natalie picking me up  to take me across the river. 

Nunapitchuk across the river.

I will post more pics tomorrow of my weekend in Kasigluk, but I wanted to share the ones below of what it looked like it Toksook Bay when I left. These were taken from a community member in the village where I teach and I wanted to share his pics from yesterday: