A bit of insomnia?

I woke up at about 4am last night and came out into the living room for a drink of water. All the blinds were closed, which is unusual. It really weirded me out at first, but I figured it must have been Avery that closed them. When I went back to bed, I couldnt sleep. I tossed and turned. I tried reading. I got up and paced the floor. I finally fell back to sleep at about 5am. This morning, I asked Avery if he closed the blinds in the living room. He replied, "Yes, it was too bright, I couldnt sleep."

We're up to 16hours13minutes of daylight with 18hours5minutes of visible light. The actual time of sunrise is 6:37am and sunset is at 10:50pm, but civil twilight is at 5:41am and 11:47, so really this is the time that it gets light and stays light. It makes it SUPER hard to get to bed at night. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes 25 seconds longer.

Everything is melting. The days arent as warm as they were about two weeks ago, but the sun is shining bright enough now that it still melts the snow. Our house apparently sits in the middle of a flood area. We have water on three sides of our house, but the land that the house is built on is about 5 feet or so higher than the flood area.

This is the view from Avery's bedroom window (the back yard). We saw two ducks out near that red house and were trying to take their picture, but I couldnt zoom far enough. You can still see how much water there is though. There is land under the water, it is not a pond. It is not deep water and has already gone down quite a bit, but I heard that during river breakup that this area will be majorly flooded.
Here is a picture of my driveway. Lovely isnt it? I put my mud boots to good use everyday. It is a bit dryer now because the temps lately have stayed below freezing, but the minute it starts to warm up, it turns to a gooey mess again. You can see the water out in the tundra past the driveway. That is the flood area again. That is not a pond, there is land under all that water.
In other news...
The school year is almost over. We have regular classes next week and then finals week and then one more day after that. 11 school days left after tomorrow. I cant believe my first year of teaching in bush Alaska is over already. It has been interesting to say the least. I have so much to do in the next couple of weeks.

I will be home in 23 DAYS! I am really looking forward to being back in the lower 48. I'm looking forward to warm temps, grass, my garden, beer, barstools, paved roads, pretty much anything that is preceeded by the words go or going (such as...I'm going swimming. OR do you want to go up to the sports bar for some wings and a beer? OR I'm going for a drive. OR I'm going to the movies. OR I'm going skating, bowling, to the mall, to play laser tag, miniature golfing, frisbee golfing, to the park, to take the dog for a walk, to the ice cream place. OR I'm going to visit some friends in ______town. OR going to a baseball game, hockey game, anything), and my friends. Cant wait to see everybody. At my place on the 25th and 26th.

I have to honestly admit that as much as I'm looking forward to coming home, I'm also looking forward to coming back here in the fall. I think next year will be so much better than this year. I have made some good friends and gotten to know alot of people. I have gotten to know the town and how things work around here. We bought a snow machine to play with next winter. I have one year of teaching here under my belt (I felt like a first year teacher all over again). Avery has made some friends and will be at the high school next year. He's involved in some community activities and has signed up for band. I've connected with the school and the kids. We will be sharing a place with my friend Chandra next year to hopefully ease the cost of living and be able to do more fun stuff and travel more. I want to pick a bunch of berries when we get back in August to put in the freezer for the winter. of these things and more, make me look forward to having a really great year next year.

Lastest read... The Bonesetters Daughter by Amy Tan.
This book is by the same author that wrote the famous book, The Joy Luck Club. I enjoyed this second book quite a bit more than the JLC. It was more enjoyable to read because the story flowed seemlessly and focused on two main characters, unlike the JLC that had many characters and story lines to keep track of. The writing and themes of the two books were very similar...about the legacy left behind by people who move to America and how they try to pass on their heritage while at the same time assimilate into the new culture. It is very interesting reading.

That's all for now. It's after 11 and the sun is still shining. I have to write a paper for my college class...last one, then I'm done with the worst class I've ever taken in the history of my college career. I still have to take an Alaska history course, so that I can get my teaching license in Alaska. I think I'll sign up for that when the rebate money comes in from the irs and then get most of it done over the summer. It's an online course, so I can do most of it from Ohio and then I'll just finish it when I get back. That way I dont have to worry about taking another class during the school year...I can focus on my teaching.