Houston...we've landed!

Well, we've been in Houston for a couple days now. The conference is great! Houston is great! The weather is great! The hotel is great! Just wanted to let everyone know! :)

Just Desserts

This post is a long time coming...On Saturday, November 1st, we had a concert series here in Bethel called 'Just Desserts'. It was hosted by the Bethel Arts Council as a fund raiser for the Council activities, especially Camaii. All of the artists were local and most were musical entertainment, although there was a smattering of poetry mixed in. They also sold and raffled some pretty impressive desserts. I had some pumpkin spice cheese cake the was terrific! A group of about 20 or so teachers(some Bethel teachers and some in from the villages) went together and we took up a pretty big table by ourselves. We had a great time eating desserts, listening to music, and chatting amongst ourselves. Here are some of the pics from the concert...

This is Traci Buckle, who is a teacher from Eek, who came in to town and played some songs for us. She was very good and had a great voice. She has a couple of albums available for purchase on the iTunes store. This band includes one of the teachers aids at our school as well as many of the Jesuit Volunteers here in Bethel. They were a country band and had a "fiddle dance" feel/sound to their music that was very upbeat and alot of fun.
These were the girls from the local dance studio preforming.
These two boys were graduated last year and they performed a couple of rock/heavy metal songs and were pretty good.
This guy recited the poem The Cremation of Sam McGee and he did a fantastic job, complete with a dog sled prop and everything. The poem was really interesting and I had never heard it before. It is a poem based in Alaska and very much reflective of Alaska and its culture. Take the time to click the link and read it if you are interested.
After leaving the 'Just Desserts' Concert, all of us teachers got together after the concert and had drinks and conversation and a great time getting together and blowing off some steam. Thank goodness for all of the other teachers and the fact that we have each other to hang out with. Without a peer group, I think I would go crazy out here.

For how small Bethel is, there are actually quite alot of things to do and many diverse options for things to be involved in here in town. I am off to Houston tonight and I think I'll be able to find plenty of things to do there!

Bad Luck Truck Strikes Again

This is the view of the student parking lot at school a couple days ago. You can see that it's mostly trucks with some SUV's thrown in and the classic four wheeler. Seeing fourwheelers and snow machines in parking lots around town in a pretty common sight, but whenever I see it, it is always a reminder of where I am. I'm living my Alaska dream!

I've been having problems with my truck already this year, pretty much from the moment that I got back. So, it was due for an oil change and I took it in. When I dropped it off, I also described the trouble that I've been having with it lately. While my truck was in the shop, I went to breakfast with some friends and hung out at their place for awhile. A few hours later, I went in to pick it up and was, of course, shocked by the bill...$274! For an oil change! OUCH! They also put the truck on the computer and ran the codes that it's been throwing...basically a bunch of misfires. Four out of 8 cylinders are misfiring. No wonder it's running like crap. They said the wires that connect the coil to the spark plug are bad and that some of the spark plugs themselves might also be bad. Man...we just replaced those spark plugs earlier this year. I've only been driving on those plugs for about 5 months. So, we're going to change the wires and hope that helps, then if we have to we will change the spark plugs too. I'm so sick of this truck and the trouble that I've been having with it. I hope this work does the trick cause I'd really like it to run better. I think I need to buy an extended warranty so when I take it back to the lower 48 in a couple years, it will still be under warranty. What a pain!

Maybe I need to start driving a four wheeler instead. Or just ride the snow machine more often. We did take the snow machine out for a ride yesterday. I let Avery drive it and he did really good. He drove it around by himself in the tundra behind our house and then he rode me on it over to the gas station across town so we could fill up. A friend of ours was with us and Avery followed him over to the gas station so that he would know where he was going. He did really good and he was so happy and excited to ride it. We were thinking yesterday that we need to put together a survival kit for when we are out riding...just in case!

In other news...
Weather update...It's blowing snow right now. The wind is fierce right now and although it is snowing, none of it will stick because the wind blows it away before it has a chance. It is 16 degrees but the wind makes it feel like -1.

Sunlight update...We're down to 7hours and 48 minutes with the sun rising at 9:35 and setting at 5:43. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 6 seconds shorter. It seems like the light is sticking around longer this year although I know that that's not the case. I just remember feeling like it was really dark for a really long time last year, but I guess it's really not as long as I thought. Although the darkness is coming. We lose about an hour every 10days or so, so by the time November is over, we'll be down to about 5 hours.

Houston update...I leave tomorrow night on the evening jet and get to Houston at noon on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to the trip and think it will be a great experience. I think I will really be able to learn some useful things at the conference, not to mention get to see a city I've never been to before. I hope to get over to the NASA space center while I'm there. Exciting! It has consistently been about 75 degrees in Houston this last week. That's like summer weather! I am so looking forward to not having to wear a ton of clothes every time I go out. I have read that it rains alot though, so I guess I'll be taking an umbrella.

Packer update...After how well they played against the undefeated Titans last week, I am really disappointed by how crappy they are playing today. I cant even remember the last time I've seen a safety and GB has gotten two just in the first half today. Aaron Rodgers is not playing well and the team as a whole has had an unbelievable amount of penalties. They are going to try a fieldgoal now...it's good! Now it's halftime. Hopefully McCarthy can whip them into shape during halftime.

OK...i think that's enough for now...I have to do some cooking and packing and lesson planning and finish reading my book so that I can take a new one with me on the long flight to HOUSTON! I'll try to write while I'm there, but if you dont hear much in the next week, you know why.

BRHS Haunted House

The 10th grade class do the haunted house every year and it just so happens that last year I was randomly assigned as a class advisor to the 10th grade class. That meant I got to help with the haunted house...and help I DID! I loved it so much that I voluntarily stayed with the 10th grade class again this year and took on the haunted house again. Even though it is an insane amount of work, it is so worth it to see the kids get the daylights scared out of them.

This year, the 10th graders decided to use scary movies as their theme, so check out these pictures and see if you can think of the scary movie that they go with.




We made a bunch of little kids (and even some big ones) cry again this year. For some reason, that gives me immense satisfaction! :)

The 10th graders were really proud of the job that they did and I heard nothing but rave reviews about the haunted house. It made about $1500 in 3 hours! The actors played their parts well and we had so much fun!

I'll post edits later with some more descriptions with each picture. Can you name those scary movies?

PTC

stands for Parent Teacher Conferences. They were last night and tonight. They make for really long nights when, after teaching all day, you have to talk to parents from 5-8:30. This is what happens after two long days and nights of work...
All of my conferences went well. I am still amazed by the number of parents that attend conferences. I love to get this chance to talk to parents.

After conferences, I got together with a couple of other teachers to have a glass of wine (or two, or four) and talk. It was a really good time! I needed some down time to have a little fun and good conversation with some other adults. So much of my day is spent talking to teenagers. Avery cooked quesadilla's for dinner(Thursday is his night to cook) and I kicked back and relaxed and had some fun for a change. Now these next few days will be pretty busy. We dont have school tomorrow, so I have robotics instead and then I have to pack for Houston!

Hope you are all doing well!

Just do it!

I usually dont like this kind of thing and certainly wouldnt pass it along or post it, but I thought this version of the typical quiz was pretty interesting. Answer the questions on your own first, then click on the comments section for instructions on how to interpret your answers. I've posted my answers below...

1. What is your favorite animal?
Frog

2. Four adjectives that describe why you like that animal:
Diverse, resilient, interesting, colorful

3. What is your favorite color?
Purple

4. Four adjectives that describe why you like that color:
Bold, exciting, rich, smooth

5. What is the last book you read completely?
Brisingr

6. Four adjectives to describe why you liked this book:
Adventurous, Exciting, Fun, Growth (of the author)

7. What is your favorite movie?
GATTACA

8. Four adjectives to to describe why you like this movie:
Complex, Deep thinking, Powerful , Strong spirited

Ok...no copying my answers...write down your own answers and then check the comments section. BTW...I took this from another Such is Life blogger...thought it was interesting.

Hope Prevails!

I would trade this whole town of Bethel for a small piece of Grant park right now. Today has been an exciting day! More later...

I thought John McCain did a very good job with his concession speech. Everyone keeps using the words gracious and graciousness... I can't agree more! I also have to give it up for McCain in the amount of votes that he actually got. Right now he is only 3% lower in the popular vote than Obama and I have to say that I expected it to be a much higher discrepancy than this.

I went and voted after school today at my polling place. I got right in to vote without having a line or crowd, although we broke records all over the states today for the numbers of voters who turned out at polling places. As I was walking out of the building, I heard someone say that they wanted to cast their vote before the new president was elected. Because Alaska is 4 hours behind Eastern time, most of the polls in the other states were already closed by the time many Alaskans cast their ballot.It was only about an hour after I got home that Obama had been announced as winning the election by breaking the 270 electoral vote barrier.

Although I would love to be standing in the midst of Grant Park tonight, I am grateful for the time zone that I live in right now. It is still early here and I am able to watch the speeches and election updates without staying up too late. I think about people who may already be in bed right now (I dont know how anyone could go to bed without knowing) and wont find out about the presidential results until morning. I cant imagine missing all of this excitement.

Barack Obama gave a very moving and compelling speech. As I saw his family walk on to the stage and watched the way he interacted with them and with Biden's family, I couldnt help but feel a bit of relief wash over me. I felt like I was watching a real family. Real people handling real life. It heartens me to think that we will have someone in office who can relate to real people and their real problems and make decisions based on real life.

It makes me happy that both Ohio and Nevada voted for Barack, esp Ohio since they voted for Bush last time. I am anxious to see how Indiana will go, mostly because of some heated debates I had this summer with friends who live there. I am also interested to see which way Alaska will go, even though it is highly unlikely that they will vote against their governor.

Looks like Democrats are also gaining seats in the Senate and House! Until this year, I have not professed to be a Democrat or Republican. I always tried to vote for the candidate that supported the issues that were important for me. This year as I filled the bubbles in on my ballot, I couldnt help but notice that I was voting for Democrats. Aside from the Presidential election, I hadnt paid attention to which party the other candidates belonged to. Based on that, I have to conclude that I should probably change my political from Undeclared to Democrat.

We are making history, America! I am looking forward to what the next few years hold. Can we make some positive changes in our country? Yes...WE CAN! Let's make this country a place I/we can be proud to call home! Yes...WE CAN!

Jealous, aren't you?

The new exciting thing that everyone is raving about in Bethel is this stretched Hummer limo. Of course, I could care less as it doesnt really affect my life any, but it seems to be drawing alot of attention. So now we actually have two limo in town, this one and another "regular" black one. It seems quite stupid and excessive to me, but many people have been having fun with it. It also seems to be staying quite busy, I always see it driving around town with people/kids hanging out of the sunroof. With the payout of the largest PFD checks in history, weighing in at approx. $3200 with the energy rebate included, it appears that people needed a way to blow all that cash and the company that runs this limo service made an investment to cash in on some of that money floating around.

See all the little white dots floating in the pic? That is freezing fog. The flash on the camera reflected off all the little droplets in the air. We've had alot of it this year. It looks pretty cool and also makes things seem sort of eerie.

Birthday Voting Surprise!

Today is my grandmother's birthday. She's 76 and doing well. I called her today to wish her a Happy Birthday. We talked about lots of things, mostly mundane day to day stuff, but eventually the conversation led to politics. My grandmother asked if I would be voting and I said yes. Then she asked if I thought McCain had a chance. I was surprised when she asked me this because we had many heated debated this summer while I was home which involved her saying their was no way in hell (her words) that she would vote for Obama and me supporting Obama. By the end of the summer, we had settled on not talking about it anymore as we were both pretty firm in our opinions.

So, when she asked me this I responded by saying that no, I do not think McCain has a chance. Then she proceeded to let me know that she voted for the Vantage levi(the school that I worked for before moving to Alaska), which I thanked her for. I had called her awhile back and asked her if she would please vote for Vantage since I cannot and I am the one paying the property taxes. Anyhow, she then told me that she had voted for Obama. I WAS/AM SHOCKED!

She said that she didnt really want to vote for Obama (a black man), but couldnt bring herself to vote for McCain because he was just like Bush and that Palin is a stupid idiot (now you guys know where I get my candidness from). I think McCain's campaign is counting on the elderly people to vote for him and if my grandmother didn't, well, I think McCain is in some seriously trouble. I think that this somewhat small piece of data that just proves that Obama has this campaign pretty much in the bag.

I have read a few things here and there recently about a phenomena known as the Bradley effect. The basic gist of this is that even if a Black candidate is leading in the popular poll that they may lose in the actual voting because white people will say that they are voting for the Black candidate when they are polled because they do not want to be accused of racism, but then they actually vote for the white candidate. According to CNN, Obama is leading McCain in the polls by about 8%, but the Bradley effect could account for a 6% discrepancy. I think that my grandmothers vote may also show that the Bradley effect may not be an issue for Obama.

I just can't believe it! Go Nan!

Boys will be boys

I loaded these pics a couple of days ago, but never posted them so I thought I should do that. Kale came in to Bethel last weekend for an inservice at the district office. Having him in town is always fun and Avery just loves having him around. They like to talk a bunch of smack...And play Madden football...
Thanks for hanging out, Kale! What did you end up being for Halloween?