The End

The last day of November. The last day of mom's visit. Last day of NaBloPoMo. Last week of robotics. I'm looking forward to the end of all of these things. Looking forward to having a few extra hours in my week to relax. To start focusing more of my attention on my teaching. To give Avery some more of my time. To start making some real solid plans for my vacation.

Mom goes for a ride

My friend came over with his brand new snowmachine today to give mom a ride. We got her all bundled up before she went out so that she would be warm. They were gone for over two hours. He took her out to some of the villages around Bethel. He took her to Oscarville and Napakiak. He took her around the city of Bethel and over to see one of the dog sled yards here in town. When she got home, her face was bright red and she could stop sneezing. That's right...she cant stop sneezing. I think she has sneezed about 100 times in the last 2 hours. Weird.

She said that she had a good time and she was glad that she got to go out. When she got back, she said that she wasnt even cold the whole time. I told her that that is because she was wearing the right gear. I know that going snowmachining was one of the things she really wanted to do while she was here, but our snowmachine isnt quite fixed yet. Almost, but not quite. I cant wait until it is fixed. I want to go out for a ride.

Still here

She's still here. I havent been able to connect with the lady who is going to be her new mommy. So, she's still here. She gets better and better each day. She is totally, completely house trained now. She barks and jumps on the door when she needs to go out. She's been here for a week...and she's totally house trained. What puppy does that?
She has stopped chewing things except her toys. She knows she's not allowed on the couch. She sleeps through the night without doing anything bad. She's an absolutely GREAT puppy. But I still dont want her. I dont feel any kind of connection with her. I think I've intentionally kept myself from forming that connection knowing that I'm not planning to keep her.

I just wish she wasnt so DAMN cute...

:)

Thanks Birthday

My brother and sister both share birthdays on or near Thanksgiving. Adrian's birthday is today. She's 26. Avery's birthday is on Monday. He's 14.
Over the years, we have frequently celebrated their birthdays on Thanksgiving. Yesterday, we put a few candles on a piece of pumpkin pie and sang the Happy Birthday song.


Avery opened his presents without thanks or appreciation whatsoever. The joys of raising a teenager... One day is great, filled with awe and happiness. The next is filled with disrespect and apathy.In other news...
I found a home for the dog, but we havent been able to connect yet so she's still here. She's in the habit of running away now and mom and avery just let her every day, multiple times a day. So annoying.

Thanksgiving was good. I ate way too much food and havent come anywhere near the scaled for two days. I need to fast for two days now.

Mom is really starting to get on my nerves. Nothing bad, we havent gotten into any fights or anything. She's just really annoying. 3 more days....

I worked the church supper club tonight. We serve a free hot meal to anyone who wants it every friday night through the entire winter. It was fun.

I've really enjoyed all the comments ever since I gave you guys a hard time about not commenting. Thanks! It makes writing so much more fun.

Giving thanks

What am I thankful for? I've been thinking about this question. It's actually kind of nice to think about this question. To actually spend some time focusing only on the positives of life. Here are some things that I've come up with...

Really great friends near and far
Heat-good heating that warms our apt from the neg temps outside
Good food and my ability to cook well
A great job with awesome students and a fully supportive administration
Professional football, especially the Packers---Go Pack!
Airplanes and the freedom of travel that they bring
The happiness that comes from watching Avery grow into a young man
The Wii and the people who designed it
My blog, the outlet it gives me, and the connection with friends that it allows
A vehicle that starts
Snow and the beauty that it brings to Bethel
Slippers and wool socks
Box wine
Wireless internet
Really great books
Puppy kisses (while they last)

Torn

I found a mommy for this little girl. She's a lady that lives out in a village close to here. I just dont know if I want to give her up. I'm torn. Torn between keeping her and letting her go.

Reasons that I want to keep her...

1. She's so sweet
2. Well behaved
3. smart
4. already knows the words no and down
   
5. nice looking dog
6. Avery likes playing with her
7. we love her already
8. she's already become a part of our house/life
   
9. She has NEVER peed on the floor
10. It's fate? She found me
11. companionship
    
12. I miss having a dog
13. only puppy I've ever had to sleep through the night
14. She's just such a good dog
    
15. I'm not sure about this lady that wants her, I KNOW she'll be well cared for with me
    

Reasons I want to let her go...

1. My allergies are going crazy
2. It's expensive to own a dog here (flight fees, vet is outrageous, shipping food in)
3. too busy, not enough time, she'll be in the cage alot
   
4. have to find someone to dog sit when leaving town (and we're leaving for c-mas soon)
5. she's a chewer
6. avery and I both dont really want to do the raising a puppy thing...we're used to having an old, lazy dog
7. not over losing Taboo yet
8. no yard to let her run in
   
9. not even sure that I can have a dog in this apt
10. I dont want to responsibility right now, i've got so much other stuff going on
11. Her light color means that i'll have light hair on my dark clothes and I wear alot of black
12. raising a puppy is alot of work
13. I like the idea of being 'free'...not having to always worry about going home to take care of the dog
    

I dont know...these are all of the things that pop into my head right now. Now that i've written this pro and con list, the number of items is about equal, but the pro list seems pretty superficial and unimportant. the con list seems like some pretty major important stuff. Basically, my heart wants to keep her and love her, but my head knows that logically that's not really a good idea. I think I'll make arrangements to go ahead and ship her to the village. Bummer.

Stuck

I'm stuck at 30. I lost those 30 pounds and really had plans to lose more, but I'm stuck. In all honesty, I havent been working out quite as much or watching what I'm eating quite as much, so it isnt surprising that I'm stuck. I guess with the holiday season here and the fact that I have been crazy busy, it is a good thing that I havent gained back some of that. At least I'm staying even, not gaining any back, which I think also says something about the fact that I am really planning to keep the weight off. I got the new Wii fit plus game when I was in Anchorage and have used in a couple times since. I still weigh myself every morning, so that helps me keep tabs on how I'm doing. I need to get back into the groove of working out everyday and really being careful about eating habits. I will...soon...I promise.

Winter morning

I took this picture on my flight out of town on Tuesday morning. The colorful sunrise in the distance, the snow scattered around the houses, and the glowing lights of the sleepy town all make it look as though it is a part of a dream world. It makes me think of winter and Christmas.

The Head and Arm

The big Bethel wrestling tournament was this weekend. It was a long, busy tournament. It involved so many schools this year that the tournament was divided up so that the 4-8th grade portion was at the new Gladys Jung elementary and the HS portion was at BRHS.
Here's Avery pinning his first opponent. This is a kid that he has wrestled numerous times this season. Avery says that the kid gets better every time they wrestle.
Below is Avery getting ready for the championship round. He has become such a great wrestler.

Here is a video of Avery wrestling the championship round. The match didnt last long. You can hear me at the end say, "uhoh, head and arm...it's over". As soon as Avery put the kid in that move, I knew it was over. That's Avery's favorite move.



In other news...

The puppy is doing good. No one has claimed her yet. We have named her Bristol. She's teething. She gets more and more playful everyday. She has claimed the couch as her own. She really doesnt like to go outside in the cold and snow.

Mom's visit is also doing good. She doesnt really want to do much except lay around which has been a little disappointing, but Avery is enjoying having her here and we have been getting along just fine.

I'm almost done with my christmas shopping. Only a couple more items that I want to get from the local crafts people. I have all my christmas stuff laid out on the living room floor ready to be wrapped. I worked on wrapping some of it today.

She is soooooo cute!

We really like her alot. She is so sweet and loving and playful and well behaved. No one has claimed her yet, but many people have emailed me telling me that we should keep her. Someone even said that they thought they knew who she belonged to...Avery! :) Funny.

She followed me from school

Avery had a wrestling tournament over at the elementary school today. As mom and I were leaving the tournament to walk back over to the HS, this puppy came up to me and started whining for my attention.
I bent down and petted it for a minute. Then, she followed me (us) all the way back over to the high school. She was cold and scared. It was -15 today (-35 with windchill) and I just couldnt leave her outside. I brought her home to get her fed and warm.
I am going to post some pictures of her on the lksd email system and hope that I can find her owner. She looks as though she has been well taken care of...she is well fed and had a dark ring around her neck where it looked as though she used to be on a leash or chain of some sort. I think she is about 5 months old. She is really good about going potty outside and hasnt had any accidents in the house yet.
I gave her a bone and a bowl of dog food, but she never did eat any of it. I have really enjoyed having her around today. I got out some of Taboo's old toys and food dishes and stuff to help take care of her. I miss Taboo so much, but this little girl is absolutely adorable.
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3 day weekend, right?

Not really. Although parent teacher conferences are over (and went well) and we dont have to go to work tomorrow, I have robotics practice from 11-4 tomorrow. So, I have a day off tomorrow, but not really. And Avery has a wrestling tournament tomorrow night as well. And then I've been invited to dinner at a friends tomorrow night, which i'm looking forward to and should be fun. I am looking forward to doing something fun. But what I really want is just a day off. Like really OFF, completely OFF...nothing to do but sleep in. THAT'S what i want.

That's what I need.

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Yes...one of THOSE days. It seems that I have one each year since I've lived year. One of those days when everything piles up and you crack (if only for a minute). I'll give you a run down of all the things that made my day a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

12am...still packing the groceries that I bought in the lobby of the hotel
12:10am...pass a group of rowdy drunk people in the hallway to our room...clearly not a good sign that this is going to be a peaceful night
12:15am...get into the room and have to open the window and let in the -10 degree air because it is so hot in there
12:30am...eat a banana from the grocery stash because I havent eaten since noon
12:45...finally peel off the clothes I've been wearing for 17 hours and fall into bed
12:50...cant relax because my body has been go go go all day
1am...people in the next room banging around
1:10am...cant stop coughing long enough to fall asleep
1:15am...I try a cough drop and nod off breifly
1:30am...mom lights a cigarette, further aggravating my cough
1:40am..room is blazing hot, open window
2am...still coughing
2:10am room is cold, close window
3:30am...mom is smoking again
3:40...mom runs a bath and starts turning on light, although I have just FINALLY fallen asleep
4am...mom's blow drying her air now, not a chance of further sleep, might as well get up
4:10am...shower has a broken faucet that no matter what either goes too hot or too cold, nothing in between
4:15am...mom opens bathroom door and is curling her hair, letting all of the warmth out of the bathroom
4:30am...wake up call...this is when I had planned on waking up
5am...go out to start rental car...it's -8 outside...brrr
5:30am...get to the airport, drop all the bags and mother off at check in, go drop off rental car
5:40am...weighing bags and rearranging a few things, run out of tape
6am...checked in
6:20am...having breakfast, mom spills coffee down my coat
6:35am...boarding plane
7:10am...take off
8:10am...arrive in bethel, -11 outside
8:15am...truck wont start, not surprised should have left it home plugged in and taken a cab
8:40am...call school and explain situation to principal/boss, she sends someone to pick us up
9am...dropped off at apartment, putting away groceries, make coffee in attempt to help me make it through the day
9:40am...cant take it anymore, make an appt to go to the doctor for this cough
9:50am...take a cab to school
10:45am...grant assessor comes to observe me teaching positive active lesson in homeroom, but I've put it off until tomorrow to try to set up for lab for BIO classes, feel like a bad teacher for not doing what I'm supposed to be doing
3:00pm...get a ride to try to jump truck, doesnt work, it needs plugged in
4:00pm...get dropped off at the doctor
4:05pm...call about getting truck towed, thawed, and charged, they want $225
4:30pm...still waiting for doctor even though I told them that I had to be out of there quick for parent teacher conferences and they assured me it would be fast
4:35pm...doctor is new and kind of weird, i explain that I havent had a good nights sleep for about 5 night because everytime I lay down, I just start coughing and If I have to go through one more night without sleep, I'm gonna crack
4:40pm...decides I need cough syrup (duh) with codeine
4:45pm...take a cab back to school, but dont have my wallet on me, so have to run in to get money when we get there and get side tracked and forget and piss off the cabbie because he has to wait for me, tip him $5 extra
4:50pm...parent teacher conferences start in 10 minutes and i have nothing ready, printer is acting up and wont print my student grade reports
4:55pm...have minor break down and sit at my desk and cry for a few minutes, then pull it together
5:00pm...finally get reports to print
5:10pm...finally get down to conferences, I'm late, further proving how terrible I am
5:15pm...vice principal whose car also wont start and is stuck at the airport begins talking to me about towing car and what am i going to do and the tow guy is coming and am i going to give him my keys and he wants payment, etc, etc, causes me to start thinking about everything again and I have to walk away and excuse myself to the bathroom for another minor breakdown, i hate the fact that i feel so dependent upon the help of other people
5:250pm...tow guy is here and wants my keys and wants to know what to do, I tell him to just tow it to my house and I'll figure it out from there (100, rather than 225), is asking me if there will be enough room outside my apt to back it in my space, but I cant know that because i havent been there all day and have no idea how many cars/trucks are parked there and knowing that my neighbor still refuses to give me any extra space at all, it stresses me out more
5:30pm...tow guy sees that I'm clearly stressed out and lets me know not to worry, he'll get it there, tells me i can pay him when he comes back with vice principals car
5:35pm...finally make it down to parent conferences, further feel like an awful person/teacher
5:45pm...see teacher next to me eating pizza and realize that I missed dinner again today, i'm drained, i'm hungry, i'm tired, i'm completely empty, and now i have to talk to parents about their kids (which goes very well and actually makes me feel better-i have some really amazing students)
8pm...talk to the auto shop teacher about my truck...he (and a couple other people i've talked with throughout the day) tells me that I need a new battery, i'm looking at probably $200
8:30pm...another teacher offers their battery charger for my use, i accept
8:35pm...i have thanked and apologized to more people than I care to count today
8:45pm...I catch a ride with a colleague
8:50pm...gross, mud room smells like cigarettes, which is better than in the house and what we agreed on for moms visit
9pm...plug in truck and battery charger, almost slip on ice multiple times
10pm...unpacking some of the other bags that I brought home from anchorage, tsa took something because they said it was hazardous material (must have been some cleaner) and the powdered laundry detergent spilled all over the content of one of my entire bags
10:10pm...i swear, mom cant be quiet for more than 2 minutes, she talks constantly
10:15pm...we watch an episode of Kyle XY, then Avery goes to bed, I've hardly seen him for two days, he's being very pleasant, helpful, and appreciative, which is nice
11pm...Avery goes to bed and I sit down to blog, I know this may be a little much for some readers, but hey, this blog is my release
12am...I'm going to bed and i'm going to sleep like a rock, although i'm sure the alarm clock will ring before i know it

For those of you who know me, you will understand completely the significance of all that occurred. For those who do not know me, let me just say...I am not a crier. I very rarely fall apart, I am a strong, independent person. Today was a terrible, horrible, no good, really bad day. Surprisingly, mom wasnt a major factor in all of it, she's been pretty decent, actually. I know it was the truck trouble that overwhelmed me the most (mostly because i should have known better and it is going to end up costing me way too much moeny) and the lack of sleep that put it all over the top. In the end, it all worked out fairly well and, sometimes, having a quick cry session is just what is needed to get it all out. I just wish it could have been on a day that wasnt also parent teacher conferences.

anyway...tomorrow is a new day.

Anchorage today

I'm in the world of paved roads, radio stations, big stores, restaurants, tall mountains, and city life. I wont be able to write much more than this today. Wish me luck on fitting everything from my list into my baggage. I leave for the airport in a half hour. Mom flies into Anchorage tonight and then we fly to Bethel together in the morning.

It's -8 here this morning. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Have a great day!

The Anchorage List

It's an ongoing list. The Anchorage list is the list of things that want to pick up on the few occasions that I make it into the city. It's the list of things that I would NEVER pay Bethel prices for and, therefore, will wait to buy until I can pay reasonable prices for in Anchorage. The Anchorage grows and grows until it is finally massive and in actuality I end up not being able to buy everything because it wont all fit. The list in categorized into types of things to buy. Let me give you an idea of what I mean....

Grocery...
biscuits
jimmy dean sausage
green tea
peanut butter
sugar
hot chocolate
rice
trail mix
pickles
coffee mate
cocktail sauce
frozen shrimp
chicken breasts
miracle whip
cooking spray
pizza and pasta seasoning
sure-gel
craisins
coffee
hamburger/ground serloin
onion
durkie onions
fresh fruit
fresh veggies
meat
biscotti
cereal
2 cans whole tomatoes
parsley
chili powder
vanilla
cinnamon
cream cheese
bagels
italian dressing
rhubarb
strawberries
stir fry sauce
cocktail onions
chicken broth
pep. farm stuffing
stove top stuffing
celery
salted butter
creamed corn
plain bread crumbs
frozen cranberries
cran jello
walnuts
potatoes
sweet potatoes
pumpkin pie
whip cream
4 cans green beans

Liquor store...
beer
smirnoff ice
wine box
champagne
tequila
triple sec

Clothes...
Belt
jeans
flat black shoes
flat brown shoes
snowpants
wallet
bras
black socks

Target...
toaster
can opener with knife sharpener
cold/cough meds
light bulbs
erasers
muffin cups
lotion
hair clips
face wash
toilet paper
rolaids
face wipes
AV face wash
candles
rubbing alcohol
sandwich ziplocks
rechargable batteries
tide
fabric softener
black fabric soap
color bleach
oxiclean
lysol
comet
multicleaner
papertowels
long ice scraper
lunch box
watch battery
hairbrush
canning jars

Other...
zumies hat
new norah jones CD
wireless router
digital picture frame
wii fit plus
sand jars
12x18 frame
christmas gifts for various people

wow! that's one long list. Think I can fit it all in 5 fifty pound pieces of baggage? 250 pounds? Let's hope so. I've got two totes, one piece of luggage, and a duffle, plus I'll have one box and mom will have her suitcase. Insane!

Oh yeah...and I almost forgot the TURKEY!

Dance Party

Last night, we had our dance party for the end of the season dance classes. All of the people from all of the different classes that our instructor teaches got together for a big dance party. The instructor taught some steps from some basic dances and then we had time to dance each dance. We learned the Bolera (sp?), west coast swing, and waltz. He played only one tango song for us to dance to. In the video, I am dancing (poorly) the tango with one of the guys from the class. You can occasionally see the instructor come in dancing with his partner. I was hoping to get some video of me dancing with the instructor so you could see how much I've learned. I dance very well with the instructor because he is the best leader. the person that I'm dancing with in the video is not as good of a leader as the instructor(but he's still good). On a side note...after the dance, i had a few people over for drinks, among them was a guy from Nigeria and a girl from Iran. I enjoy living in a place with such diversity.

I am hoping to take a different class next season. I am even hoping to get Avery to take a class with me. I am trying to convince him that every girl likes a guy that can dance.

Well, after a long night of dancing, I'm ready for a nap. Enjoy your Sunday!

Bath Time!

Crazy, right? Yes, that is really what our water looks like. I took a bath for the first time in our new apt last night. It was really difficult to climb into water that looked like that. I could barely see my feet at the bottom.

Bethel water has a TON of iron in it. The water supply comes from an aquifer in the ground. It is drawn up like a well. The city cleans and chemically treats its water before it gets distributed out to the residents. There are only a few places in town that have their own private wells. Our apt building is one of them. So, our water comes from the same source as all of the rest of the city water, but it is not cleaned or filtered or treated before coming out of my faucets. It comes through with all of the iron still in it. I can taste the metal in the water when I'm taking a shower every morning.

I have done some research about iron in water. It is not dangerous, in fact, you need iron in your diet for your health. I do use a Brita pitcher to filter our drinking water, but it is still pretty yellow even after going through the filter. Most places just take out the iron for aesthetic reason, not health reasons. I dont know what's worse, ugly water or chemically treated water? I could probably argue it either way, but for now we are going to have to put up with ugly water. I remember when we first moved in to this place. Every time I went into the bathroom, I would flush the toilet and yell at Avery for going pee and not flushing. It took about a day before I realized that the water is just YELLOW.

The iron in the water has already started staining our white clothes. And I'm pretty sure it is going to change the color of our hair. After living here for only a year AND being on city water, my stylist in Ohio asked me if we had alot of iron in our water. Now that we have THIS much iron in our water, the next time you see me, I'll probably be a red head. :)

My mother will be here in a few days and she is a regular bath taker. I cant wait to see the look on her face when she draws her first Bethel bath.

Busy with Robotics

My robotics team has been hard at work and I have been hard at work with them. We got our team t-shirts in the other day, the kids are wearing them in the picture above. We got alot of compliments about our shirts today.
Last weekend we worked the concession stand during the wrestling tournament. This is how we raise money for buying our t-shirts and everything else. The kids really enjoyed themselves.
Then on Tuesday night, we had a videoconference session with all of the other teams in the school district. It is kind of like a show-n-tell for the robotics teams.
The kids were excited to tell other teams about their progress. I ordered pizza and we had a great time. The team sure is keeping me busy. I think I've put in 70 hour weeks the last three weeks in a row easy. And those are just the hours that I work AT school. That doesnt even count the hours I put in planning and grading at home. GEESH!
I'm so happy to have a weekend without alot of school work to do. Now I can get to the other stuff I've been neglecting...housework, cooking, laundry, dance class, reading, a bath and a facial, maybe a couple movies. I better squeeze all that in pretty quick cause then, come Sunday, I'll need to get some more school work done again. Does it ever end? Maybe not, but I love it!

Enjoy your weekend!

Yesterday was an 8

Some days I'm more irritable than others. Yesterday was a high irritability day. Here are some of the things that caused my irritability yesterday...

My neighbor refuses to give me 6 more inches of parking room and I have to cram in between his truck and the bushes at the end of the lot. This requires me to turn my truck at an angle, drive into my parking space, and then straighten out. Normally this is not a huge issue, but this morning when it was VERY icy out, the wheels didnt want to cooperate. Is it really so much to ask to give me just a little more room?

The person who is supposed to be my (and about 10 other people's) SIOP coach, has never shown up to work. NEVER. They are going out to their other two sights and helping them, but not us. Today, all of the people who are supposed to have this person as a SIOP coach were told to get together for a quick meeting. How are we supposed to know if she's our SIOP coach, if she's NEVER come to our school and even done so much to introduce herself? And would it really be too difficult to come over to the school and introduce yourself?

I had to take my truck and drop it at the auto shop AGAIN. I took it over on Monday for an oil change and when I went to go pick it up at the end of the day it hadnt been done because they didnt have the parts they needed. Why would you schedule an oil change if you didnt have the parts that you needed?

The oil change was $210. Seriously?

My right big toe hurts. It's been hurting off an on for a few weeks and progressively getting worse. Doctor says that I either strained it or maybe over extended it while working out. He says just to lay off of it for awhile. How do you 'lay off' of a toe? I'm trying to lose weight here, doc, and you're telling me I cant workout for 4-6 weeks.

It drives me crazy when people start their sentences by saying they're not trying to do something that they are clearly doing. Like one person today at our inservice, "I'm not trying to point fingers, BUT". But you clearly ARE. Why start your sentence that way? It just puts everyone on the defensive.

Don't ask me a question and then disregard my answer. Or, worse yet, not even listen to my answer, by starting a conversation with someone else in the middle of my answer. If you didnt really want to know my answer, then WHY ASK?

Then there are other people to whom you ask a question, but they just go off on some other direction and dont even answer your question. Would it be so hard to just answer the question I asked?

I woke up with a sore throat that got worse as the day progressed. Seriously? I'm going to get sick again? I hope not.

So, when one of my colleagues dropped me off to go get my truck at the end of the day, he jokingly asked, "Do you want me to go in let them know that you're already an 8?"

Then, I went home and fell asleep on the couch for 4 hours. I didnt even eat dinner. I was so tired. I feel much better now, less irritable. I think I just needed some sleep.

Weather day!

School was cancelled today for weather. Yesterday it rained and then it all froze in the night, so we woke up this morning to frozen roads. So, you think that mean I get the day off, right? Wrong. I'm at work now, waiting for all of the teachers to get together to start the afternoon portion of our inservice day. It's still pretty nasty outside with high winds, some snow, some rain, and a whole lot of gloom. It is getting colder as the day progresses and there is snow in the forecast, which I'm looking forward to because all of our snow got rained on in the last couple of days. I WANT SNOW!

Forecast for Kuskokwim Delta

Updated: 9:40 am AKST on November 11, 2009
High surf advisory remains in effect from 9 am this morning to 9 PM akst this evening along the coast... Strong wind through tonight...
	Now Strong wind through tonight... Strong southwest to west wind gusting to 60 mph continues to pound areas of the Kuskokwim Delta mainly west of a Saint Marys to Bethel line. Peak gust at have reached 51 mph at Mekoryuk and Toksook Bay. Bethel has recorded a 49 mph peak gust in the past half-hour. Light snow continues over portions of the Delta. Around an inch of accumulation is expected. Temperatures slowly falling to near 30 degrees.
	Today Snow. Snow accumulation 1 to 2 inches. Temperatures dropping to the mid to upper 20s. West wind 30 to 40 mph except west 35 to 50 mph with gusts to 60 mph along the coast. »
	Tonight Mostly cloudy with scattered snow showers. Lows in the 20s. West wind 15 to 30 mph. Along the coast...west wind 35 to 50 mph decreasing to 15 to 30 mph after midnight.
	Thursday Scattered snow showers in the morning...then numerous snow showers in the afternoon. Snow accumulation up to 1 inch. Highs around 30. West wind 10 to 15 mph. »
	Thursday Night Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Lows 10 to 20 above...warmest along the coast. Variable wind 10 mph.
	Friday Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers. Highs in the lower to mid 20s. North wind 10 to 20 mph. »
	Friday Night Mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid teens.
	Saturday through Monday Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow. Highs 20 to 25. Lows in the mid teens.
	Monday Night and Tuesday Mostly cloudy. Lows 15 to 20. Highs 20 to 25.

No excuses!

Listen....just because I've made the commitment to write everyday for the next month, does not mean that you can just neglect your commenting duty. Usually I get at least one or two or three comments on each blog post, but for the last 8 posts, I've only gotten 2 comments....in 8 days. Come on! I need your comments. I need your support! Get it together out there!

:)

I know you're out there reading. Where have all the comments gone? I miss you guys!

1st place!

Avery competed in his first wrestling tournament of the season this weekend. It wasnt actually the first tournament, it was just the first one that he's competed in because he's had pink eye most of the season. He is wrestling the 125 weight class this year. He weighs in at around 121 right now, but started the season at 127. He lost weight just from training, not purposefully trying to cut weight.
The picture above shows Avery in his first match of Friday nights tournament. I think this picture is cool because I snapped it just as the ref blew his whistle and you can see that Avery was quicker than his opponent off the line to start. He won this match easily. The kid he is wrestling is a first year wrestler and one of my students. The boy is very antsy in class and I was the one who recommended wrestling to his parents as a possible outlet for some of his energy. So when this tournament come along, I told the boy to come and get me when it was time for him to wrestle and that I would cheer him on. Then I went out there and saw that he was wrestling against Avery. I told him that I'd have to cheer him on next time. :)
Avery wrestled a couple more matches with some more experienced wrestlers and had some really good matches. The second match, he was behind in points throughout the entire match and then in the last 10 seconds earned 3 points to win. In his third match, he fought hard the entire way through and was winning throughout the entire match, but not by much. Then in the third round, fatigue overcame his opponent and he won with a pin.
In the championship round on Saturday morning, he wrestled against a kid that he had already beaten (but almost lost to) in the second round. It was a tough match and Avery was losing for most of it. Then at some point, the other kid was on top of Avery trying to take him down and as Avery was trying to get out from under him, he accidentally elbowed him in the mouth. The kid's front tooth went through his bottom lip and there was a lengthy time out while the coaches and refs worked to get the kid patched up. They even had to clean some blood off of Avery's back. After that, the kid came back pretty strong and pulled out some more points, but Avery hung in there until the end and was able to tie it up. The match went into overtime, where Avery won with the first take down.
He was pretty proud of himself. He fought hard in every match and often it was just the fact that he stuck it out to the end and kept fighting that allowed him to win. I just wish another kid didnt have to have gotten hurt in the process, but that's just part of the sport.

Saturday night pie

I got a pie pumpkin in my veggie box last week and decided to use it to make a pumpkin pie (didnt see that coming, did you?). I found a recipe online that sounded like it had potential. I had a friend over for a couple drinks and she made pumpkin bread, while I baked pumpkin pie. It was a fun little Saturday night thing to do (Bethel style fun).
I made one with nuts and one without. I dont personally care for nuts, so I donated that one to the church supper club. Every friday night during the winter, the church provides one free hot meal to anyone in the community who needs it. The other pie I kept for us and tried a piece today. I was...alright. I really didnt taste very pumpkinny.
Pumpkinny or not, I can now say that I have baked a pumpkin pie truly from scratch. It was fun (Bethel fun) and turned out great. It's nice to have some free time again to do things I want to do in addition to the things I HAVE to do.

Happy Pumpkinny November!

Flu shot!

We got our flu shots today. Seasonal flu in the right arm, H1N1 in the left arm. I asked if we should still get the H1N1 vaccine, if we've already had the flu and they said yes. The woman that was fielding all the medical questions said that they have no way of knowing if it was really h1n1 and are just ASSuming that everyone who gets the flu is getting the h1n1 strain because that has been the pattern. She said that the only people who are being definitively tested for h1n1 are those who end up in the hospital.
They give the flu shots in a mass dispensing exercise, just as they have in previous years. It was pretty chaotic, but it was controlled chaos and we got in and out of there pretty quickly.

Happy flu season!

The Patch

Avery has had a true lazy eye since he was a little kid. A true lazy eye is when the vision in one eye is so bad and the other eye so good, that the brain decided to just ignore the signals coming from the bad eye in favor of the signals coming from the good eye. As he grew up, we worked hard on improving the vision in his bad eye. When he first came to live with me permanently when he was 8 years old, his vision in his bad eye was 20/200 (his good eye was 20/20 and still is). We worked on patching his good eye to force the brain to accept the signals coming from the bad eye. We also did atrophine drops in his good eye, which completely wipe out the eye's ability to focus, virtually wiping it out. Anyhow, we were able to get his vision in his bad eye down to around 20/80 by the time he was 10 years old.

After that, the doctors said that the eye really doesnt change much and patching any further would be pointless, so we stopped. Additionally, putting a corrective lens on a true lazy eye does no good because the problem is not with the eye, but with the brain and its refusal to accept the signals. For the last three years, the vision is his eye has stayed the same...around 20/80...EXCEPT for this year! This year, the doctor tried a corrective lens and it actually made a difference. He was able to bring his vision down to around 20/60 with a corrective lens.

So, we decided to try out a contact is his bad eye for awhile and see if it helps. Additionally, the doctors said that there has been some research recently that suggests that the 10 year age is not a fast and hard rule, that there has been some evidence that patching can help in later years. Given that, and a consultation with Avery's long time optometrist in Ohio along with a consultation with the local optometrist, we decided to try patching again. The agreement was that we would give it a go through one box of contacts, which would be three months since he is only wearing them in 1 eye. Furthermore, we agreed that Avery would try patching for a couple hours a day while his contact is in and while he is doing something visually intensive such as watching tv or playing video games.

It was all going well until Avery got pink eye. Then he couldnt wear his contact, or his patch. And we had to throw away that contact. And he couldnt wrestle, which was awful for Avery. Then he got rid of his pink eye last week and everything was going good again until he woke up Monday morning with pink eye again. Seriously? So, he started his medicated drops again and we threw away another contact and we washed everything again and he missed wrestling practice again and couldnt travel again. It sucked. I was trying to figure out what we forgot to wash and it transferred back to him again. I thought maybe it was his coat, so I washed that. Then....Avery was sitting around wearing his patch the other night and he turned to me and says, "Maybe the patch has pink eye." And I said, "You know what, you're probably right." Now we've had to throw away his patch too.

Me quiz

I stole this from Tamara at Watching the Grass Grow and thought it would be fun for NaBloPoMo. Tamara, I still cant comment on your blog, but I'm reading and I would comment if I could.

1. Where is your cell phone? Coat pocket
2. Your hair? needs help
3. Your mother? going to be here in 13 days
4. Your father? never met
5. Your favorite food? hashbrowns
6. Your dream last night? teaching
7. Your favorite drink? iced tea-sweet with lemon
8. Your dream/goal? happily married with children
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? blogging (duh)
11. Your fear? that my hard work wont matter in the end
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? another country
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? lazy
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. Wish list item? new kitchen equipment...knives, dishes, pots and pans
17. Where did you grow up? las vegas
18. Last thing you did? plugged in truck
19. What are you wearing? pj's
20. Your TV? off
21. Your pets? none
22. Friends? far away
23. Your life? busy
24. Your mood? positive
25. Missing someone? everyone and no one
26. Vehicle? covered with snow
27. Something you're not wearing? makeup
28. Your favorite store? kohls
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? today, talking with my uncle
31. Last time you cried? Sunday
32. Your best friend? a great mom
33. One place that I go to over and over? school
34. One person who emails me regularly? kas
35. Favorite place to eat? humpy's in anchorage

Haunted House

The BRHS haunted house ROCKED as usual this year. It was a ton of work and for awhile I was not sure that it was going to happen, but it turned out great. The pictures are in the order of the path through the haunted house. The kid on the locker was warning people not to go in.
Then there was a spook to jump out of the closet. Then people got to choose to walk through a dark tunnel or crawl through a dark tunnel. And at the end there was a scary person to jump out and scare you. (below)
Next was a trip through the grave yard with the grim reaper.
Next up was the doll house with creepy dolls all around.
And a little girl getting killed and screaming alot.
Next up was a tortured person all chained up.
A trip through spider alley next.
Then the students set up a "sensations hallway". It had gooey stuff on the walls and bubble wrap on the floor and fishing line hung up so that it drags across your face.
Then was a tour through the hospital, starting with the crazy guy standing out front with his parasitic twin on his shoulder.
The dentist was willing to rip your teeth out.
And the surgeon was cutting people open.
To get out of the haunted house you had to walk through this crowd of clowns. What is it about clowns that freaks people out so much?
There was lots of screaming and a ton of (fake) blood. We definitely had our fair share of kids who came out crying and hugging their mommies, even kids clinging to the guides. FUN!