Dirty underneath

It warmed to just above freezing yesterday, which was enough to melt all of the snow off of my truck (and other vehicles around town). Underneath all of the snow and ice, is a thoroughly disgusting layer of filth. I would estimate that I have washed my truck MAYBE 10 times since we moved here almost three years ago. Which is a big switch because my truck had a bath faithfully once per week when we lived down states. There really is no point in washing it here. In the winter, you just cant because there is nowhere with 1) a hose, 2) indoor were its not below freezing, 3)unlimited water. Then during the four months that encompass spring, summer, and fall, there is so much mud that even if you wash it, it's just dirty again in five minutes. Also, the dirt here is mostly sand, so when you wash your car/truck, it's like giving it a nice sanding job. It puts tons of little scratches in the paint. So last year I had decided that I wasnt going to wash it again until I moved out of here. Then I would get it washed, buffed, polished, or whatever it took to get the paintjob restored. Well, since then, I've decided to stay for 4 more year, so that plan isnt really feasible anymore. Maybe I'll just sell it...the blue book value on it is more than I even paid for it brand new....I've seriously been considering it. What do you think?

1 done, 29 to go

I completed Number 13 on my birthday list. I had to wait for the website administrator to add my name to the alumni list because technically i didnt graduate from the high school that I went to for almost 4 years. I ended up moving the last nine weeks of school. It was awful, but necessary at the time. Now that my name is on the list, I went on and created my profile. Chaparral High School class of '98! Maybe I'll be able to make some connections with long lost friends....although, to be honest, there are only a handful of people on the 98 alumni list that I even remember. It's weird to think that I spent 4 years of my life with these people and dont even remember them. I had so much going on in HS. I worked a full time job and had a brand new baby brother in the house to help with. Then in my Junior year, I moved out on my own and had an apartment to take care of. For me, school was just a way to move up in the world. I went there, did what needed done, and left. I really dont remember anything much or many of the people. It's also hard to believe that I graduated almost 12 years ago!

Feeling better = Productive

1 eye doc appt with avery +
2 donuts and chocolate milks for our breakfast +
2 weekly lesson plans written +
5 phone calls made +
31 kids signed up for brown bag lunch+
120 papers graded+
20+emails written+
1 positive action lesson taught+
55 kids finished with a microbiology lab+
2 gallons of water hauled home+
1 trip to the post office+
1 trip to the grocery store+
24 new science tables ordered (by my principal) +
1 great possibility for a summer science camp job+
1 SIOP observation+
20 copies made for tomorrow+
50 bacteria cultures prepared for incineration+
1.5 hours spent in a SIOP class with colleagues+
1 preconference with my boss for my formal evaluation+
30 minutes jogging+
20 minutes workout+
5 blogs read+
1 hour reading profiles on my HS alumni website+
1 new to do list created for tomorrow+
1 chapter of golden compass read aloud with avery+
2 blog posts written+
______________________________
Equals
1 really productive day


It's amazing how much a person can get done when they're feeling better! I felt like I had accomplished more in the first 2 hours of my day today than the 4 days prior! My stomach isnt all the way back to normal, but it's MUCH better today.

Year 2 in the life of a clustermap

The map above is my archived map, while the map below is the map with all of the individual dots and has more detail.

Last year I was just under 4000 readers, so there are alot more people out there who are reading. And lots of people who are reading everyday. And it's fun to see where they are all from.


Current Country Totals
From 8 Feb 2009 to 9 Feb 2010

United States (US)	4,737
Japan (JP)	98
Canada (CA)	54
United Kingdom (GB)	50
Australia (AU)	23
India (IN)	22
Brazil (BR)	19
Malaysia (MY)	14
Germany (DE)	13
Spain (ES)	11
Korea, Republic of (KR)	10
Romania (RO)	9
Italy (IT)	8
Russian Federation (RU)	8
Indonesia (ID)	7
New Zealand (NZ)	6
Singapore (SG)	5
Netherlands (NL)	5
United Arab Emirates (AE)	5
Philippines (PH)	5
Pakistan (PK)	4
Poland (PL)	4
Sweden (SE)	4
South Africa (ZA)	3
Argentina (AR)	3
Belgium (BE)	3
Portugal (PT)	3
Turkey (TR)	3
Taiwan (TW)	3
Vietnam (VN)	3
Mexico (MX)	3
Saudi Arabia (SA)	3
Egypt (EG)	3
Guatemala (GT)	2
Norway (NO)	2
Ukraine (UA)	2
Thailand (TH)	2
Denmark (DK)	2
Colombia (CO)	2
Costa Rica (CR)	2
Hungary (HU)	2
China (CN)	2
France (FR)	2
Ireland (IE)	1
Peru (PE)	1
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (LY)	1
Iran, Islamic Republic of (IR)	1
Finland (FI)	1
Israel (IL)	1
Estonia (EE)	1
Greece (GR)	1
Saint Lucia (LC)	1
Nepal (NP)	1
Chile (CL)	1
Macedonia (MK)	1
Slovakia (SK)	1
Czech Republic (CZ)	1
Austria (AT)	1
Hong Kong (HK)	1

Word verification

The blog has been getting hit lately by alot of spam comments....advertisements, jibberish, and such. Apparently this is happening more and more to alot of people's blogs, so it's a wide spread problem. I have always gotten spam comments, but before it was maybe one or two every few weeks and I would just go in and find the comment and delete it. Now I'm getting more spam comments than real comments and it seems to be happening on a daily basis. To try to reduce this problem, I have enabled word verification on the comments section of my blog. This just means that after you write a comment, you will just have to type in some random series of letters so that the blog knows you are a real person, not just a spam generating computer. I hope this small step doesnt deter anyone from commenting.


IN OTHER NEWS...
I'm sick. On Saturday, I spent my whole day wrapped around the toilet vomiting violently. My whole body was sore on Sunday and I had lost almost 3 pounds (now I see why people turn bulimic) . On Sunday I felt better and was able to eat, but still wasnt back to normal. Then this morning I was back to vomiting again. So, I stayed home. And the time I'm not spending in the bathroom hugging the toilet, I spent in bed sleeping. I honestly dont thing I've ever slept so much (and that's saying something, cause I love to sleep). I tried to go to work this morning. I got up and dressed and tried to convince myself that I could do it and that I would be fine, but I was miserable. I have so much happening at school right now that I just didnt want to be absent. I felt terrible about not being there. I usually dont feel that way, but today I did.

We had our 2nd annual ThanksSuperBowl party on Sunday. Since all of us friends here usually are traveling around the holidays, we dont get a chance to do anything together. So on the day of the SuperBowl, everyone cooks a Thanksgiving type of dish and we all get together. My stomach was still pretty uncertain yesterday, so I did not get to enjoy the gorging to its fullest. However, seeing the Saints win made up for it! We had fun! And its has now become a yearly tradition.

Tax time is here. I am again doing taxes for a bunch of people. I havent started yet, but the idea of adding another thing to my insanely long list of things to do is daunting.

Avery is doing so awesome. These last couple of months he has really matured alot. Many of the ideas and concepts that I've been trying to teach him are finally coming together...taking responsibility for you actions, being nice to people if you want them to be nice to you, having an attitude just makes life that much harder. It has been fun to watch him grow and mature right in front of my eyes....and it makes all the struggles worth it.

Avery school pictures are in and I got a bunch of the Alaska bird calendars for people. I know it's late in the year for a calendar, but they were free and I've sent them out every year that I've been here. So I'll be sending out calendars and school pictures soon.

I know there are lots of other things going on, but this is all the energy can muster for blog writing today. I'm going to go back to the groove that I've carved out in the couch now.

I just dont feel like it

I know I should post something new and I have lots of ideas about things I want to say, but I havent been feeling well these last couple of days and I just dont feel like doing much of anything. I'll get it together soon.

30 things to do before I turn 31

1. Vacation in another country (complete)
2. Get a summer job (complete)
   
3. Touch a glacier (complete) (complete better)
   
4. Pay off my credit cards or truck (complete)
   
5. Read at least 5 books from Newsweek's Top 100 Books:The Meta List (complete)
6. Lose another 20 pounds
7. Take a family photo (complete)
8. Finish my Rubicon curriculum maps
9. Take an exercise class
10. Use my cookbooks to create a dish once per month (February) (March) (April) (May)
    
11. Read Charles Darwin's On the Origins of Species
12. Spend (most of) the summer in Alaska (complete)
13. Create a profile on my HS alumni website (complete)
    
14. Ship more of my belongings from Ohio to Alaska (complete)
    
15. Update my resume
16. Filet, cook, and eat a salmon that I caught (complete)
    
17. Start (and contribute regularly to) a vacation fund (complete)
    
18. Host a girls spa night or a game night (complete)
    
19. Plan a Bingo get together with as many people as I can get (complete)
    
20. Finish playing Zelda: Twilight Princess (complete)
    
21. Read the Golden Compass Trilogy aloud with Avery (complete)
22. Ban (almost) all Christmas spending this year (complete)
23. Take enough credits(12) to move over a column on the pay scale (complete)
    
24. Find a new favorite drink (complete)
    
25. Visit/volunteer at the local senior center
26. Update my photo albums
27. Attend a city council meeting
28. Give an anonymous gift (complete)
    
29. Play in the snow/build a snow cave (complete)
30. Visit at least 3 Alaskan villages/towns/cities that I've never been to (complete) (Nome) (Whittier) (Juneau)
    

The first four on the list are goals that I did not get completed on my last birthday list and the rest are new. I wanted to focus on goals that I can definitely accomplish and stay away from goals that I have no control over. I also focused on goals that have a definite end so that I can write about them as they get completed. I'm looking forward to a whole new year of fun and excitement!

Happy Birthday to me!

I had a great day today. Some of the kids found out it was my birthday and hung a sign on my door. I had kids coming in all morning wishing me "Happy Birthday" before I finally realized why. My friend baked me the most amazing cookies and Avery baked me a cake. That's all great and everything, but the problem is that I actually ate all that stuff. Way too many calories!

The big 30...

Unaccomplished goals

Seeing as how I turn 30 in about an hour, I thought I'd better wrap up the old birthday list so that I can start working on the new one...

There are 6 goals on my previous birthday list that I did not get accomplished. I did get 23 out of 29 completed though, so I'm pretty happy with that. Some of these goals were things that I could not control.

3. See the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)
4. Pay off my credit cards or truck
8. Vacation in a different country
9. Get a summer job
18. Fall in love
23. Touch a glacier

I'm really close to having Number 4 completed. Probably only a few more months until my truck is paid off. I would still like to accomplish all of these things, so I've been debating with myself about what I should do with these goals. I could just leave them alone on this birthday list and go back and check them off if I do get them completed OR I could make them the first 6 goals for my new birthday list. What do you think readers? I'm posting a survey on the sidebar where you can vote, but you better hurry up...I'm hoping to post my new birthday list soon!

Tuntutuliak and back

Here are the pics...I'll write about it as soon as I get a chance.