Getting Neutered

I had originally thought that I would wait until summer to get Ryder neutered.  My plan was to take him with me to the Lower 48 for the summer.  I didnt really want to wait that long because by June he would be 8 months old, but the cost for vet services here is prohibitive.  Getting neutered in North Carolina would be about $40. Here in Bethel, it was $292!!!!  The decision was finally made to go ahead and leave Ryder in Bethel with a dog sitter for the summer. This meant that he had to get neutered here after all.  So I sucked it up, paid the obnoxious fee, and took Ryder in to the vet last week right around his 7 month old birthday.

Since we were studying the reproductive system in my Medical Terminology class and had just dissected the testis of our cats the week before, I thought I would try to ask the vet if he would let me keep Ryders testicles to show to my MedTerm students.  When I went to pick Ryder up, the vet had put his testicles in a little jar with some preservative fluid for me to take home.  How cool is that???

Number 32: Renew my passport

Out with the old, in with the new.  It's kind of hard to believe that I've had to renew my passport.  It makes me feel old.  Been 10 years since I travelled to Spain for my summer classes.  I was 22 then.  My last passport was used to go to Spain in 2002 and France and Belgium in 2010/2011.  Visas were not required for any of those destinations.  Hopefully my new passport will see a bit more action!!!

*It's a terrible photo booth picture, I know*

Hey Girl! Inservice day.

Back in January when we were supposed to be going back to school after Christmas break, the school had a major sewer pipe that was frozen and we couldnt return to school on time.  We have had a very rough winter with more that 6 weeks of -30 degree ambient temps.  The school tried and tried to fix the frozen pipe but just couldnt do it while the temps continued to dip so low.  Day after day, school was cancelled and we ended up with nearly a month off for Christmas break.

All of these days off, however, mean that we have had to add make up days to the school calendar.  Today is one of them.  Today's site inservice day was originally scheduled for a weekday, but in an effort to avoid adding days to the end of the year, we made the original day a student day and moved our site inservice to a Saturday.  Saturday, May 5th to be exact.  Today.

This morning I woke up begrudgingly from the sound of the alarm clock on a Saturday morning.  Adding insult to injury, I looked out of the window to see big huge fluffy flakes of snow falling down. We had a light dusting of snow on the ground by the time I left for work.  I had to get out the snow brush and brush off the windows of the truck.  Did I mention that it is May 5th?  Yes.  Today.  May 5th, we had MORE snow.

Some days (like today), you just need a little light humor to make fun of your own situation.  A few months ago, I found this website called Hey Girl! This site uses pictures of hot guys and teaching lingo in a funny way that takes the edge off some days.  Anyone can submit picture/quotes to the site and it is managed by a girl who is a future teacher.  Sometimes when I'm having a bad day or I'm just a little bogged down by the demands of teaching, I go to this site and it eases the pain just a little.  If you're a teacher, check it out and you might get a little giggle just when you needed it :)

First fast

On Sunday, the pastor at church announced that May 1st would be a day of prayer and fasting for suicide prevention.  The idea is that we would fast together as a congregation and that our grumbling stomachs would serve as a reminder to pray for people who have been affected by suicide.  Suicide is a major issue in our region, there are multiple suicides each year.  Some villages have lost 15-20 young people in the last few years alone.  Pretty much everyone here has been affected by suicide.  A few friends and I decided to go ahead with this day of fasting.  Coincidently we are all also involved with the biggest loser challenge where we are trying to lose weight.  We thought the day of fasting would also help us with our weight loss goals.  So, today, the 4 of us together and the congregation of the church as a whole fasted together.

I've never fasted before so I didn't really know what to expect.  I expected to be hungry and tired.  I was excited about the possibility of completing a fast.  I was unsure if I would be able to finish it.  I told myself that if I couldnt take it any more that I would allow myself to have juice only.  That last time I ate was at around 8pm last night.  My stomach was a little grumbly around breakfast this morning.  It reminded me to pray.  At work today I was a little hungry, but nothing major.  I kept myself busy at work and got alot done.  I was pretty focused on getting work done.  I really didnt get an hunger pains. I took Ryder for a 4.5 mile walk after work before going to weigh in.  I lost 4 pounds and won this week's weigh in...yay!  During my walk, I felt a little tired and irritable and my stomach had a dull roar to it, but still no hunger pains.  Tonight, I've been drinking alot of water and I'm still very surprised that I havent had any hunger pains.  Still just a dull roar in my stomach, but it reminds me to pray every now and then.  I haven't even drank any juice and it's almost time for bed.

The funny thing is that Ryder is not allowed to eat anything either because he's getting clipped tomorrow morning.

Signs of spring

 It's still below freezing every night and there was snow on the ground this morning, but even though winter is still rearing it's ugly head, there are sure signs of summer around town.  I found a couple of them at my friend Sadie's house a few nights ago.  Steaks and asparagus on the grill...yum!

Do you think it would be possible to cook dinner every night on the grill this summer?  I just might try!!!

Manic Monday Radio

A friend of mine posted a FB status update today that said something about it being a manic monday.  When I read it I thought, "That's be a fun pandora station to work out to."  So that's what I did...worked out to manic monday radio.  It did make my workout just a little better :)

Brand name boots

In Bethel, people dont wear designer clothes.  Nobody notices what kind of jeans you have on or what brand of tennis shoes you're wearing.  The types of brand names talked about around here are the brand names for gear...winter gear, rain gear, hunting gear, fishing gear, flying gear, etc.

In Bethel, we only have two seasons.  There's snow boot season and mud boot season. Above is a picture of the boots that I've collected over the years here in Bethel.  I've had other boots, but they havent been as good as these.  The boots on the right have been my winter boots for awhile.  They are boots that we originally bought for Avery when we first moved out here when he was in 6th grade.  When Avery grew out of them the following year, I claimed them as my own.  They are from Cabella's and supposedly rated to -60.  I was originally very unhappy with these boots because my feet were always cold in them, but I put a different liner in them from another pair of boots and they are much better now.  They are rubber on the bottom for any watery situations which is good for this area because we do get periodic melting throughout the winter.  These are the boots I wear when I'm snowmachining or out walking in the snow.  These are my winter boots.  Since then I've learned that I dont really like Cabella's gear.  Just not very good quality.  I also have a pair of Ugg type boots that I wear in the winter when I'm just doing my day to day stuff that mostly involves going from a building to the car and back.

The boots in the middle are just standard issue gardening mud boots from Target.  I wear these when I need to slide on a pair of mud boots quickly to go from the house to the car and from the car into work or some other quick place.  These are convenient, but dont have any insulation so they are cold.  They also dont have any support so I cant wear them if I'm going to walk for any amount of distance.

The boots on the left are the mud boots that I got a few years ago when I was planning on staying in Bethel for the summer.  They are the "real deal" mud boots.  They are LaCrosse boots with 800gm of Thinsulate for warmth.  I love these boots.  These are the boots that I wear whenever I go out fishing or berrypicking.  They are very warm so I can be safe and warm even on cold, rainy days. They also have a good amount of support, so I am comfortable wearing them if I'm going for a walk in the mud or on the tundra.  They are also knee high so they provide waterproof coverage even in the deep boggy parts on the tundra.  They fit snug on my calves and high a tightening strap across the top so that even if I were to get water above my boot, it wouldnt be able to get in.  I bought these boots from the Army Navy supply store in downtown Anchorage.  That place has definitely become my favorite place to buy gear in the last few years.

Tundra Skiing

While I was in Anchorage for spring break this year, I stopped by play it again sports to check out their skis. It just so happens that all their skis where 50% off that week. So, I purchased by first pair of cross country skis. In the last month, I've used them about 5 times. We had another 2 week's of -30 in April so I didnt get out much then, but since it's gotten a bit warmer, I've tried to ski pretty regularly. The picture above shows Sadie and I skiing on a day that was so warm, we ended up peeling off many of out layers. We didnt even have coats on and we were still sweating. It was about 30 degrees that day, but the sun was beating down pretty nicely and there was no wind so we felt really hot. There was sweat literally dripping off of my knees.

Thankfully many of my friends also have skis so there are lots of people to ski with. While my friend Erin was in town visiting, we went skiing on a day that was pretty cold and windy. It ended up being about-20 that day and I had on all my new ski gear for the first time. I ended up being pretty cold and Ryder ended up with a little frost bite on his pink little belly.

Poor guy was so cold that day. I really need to find a nice winter sweater for him that will cover the bare skin around his little peepee. His had icicles hanging down from his poor little penis. I ended up being a little colder than I would have liked, but not dangerously so. We skied a 5 mile loop that day and it was great to get out with Erin and Chris, especially since they were the ones that originally taught me how to ski.

Sourdough creations

It's been nearly two years now since I've bought a loaf of bread from the store. In addition to baking bread, I have now branched out to other things as well. It took a couple of tries, but I've gotten bagel making down now too. I made cheese onion bagels last month that were amazing. It took a couple tries to get bagels that were really good. The recipe I was following did not call for a rising period after rolling them out, but after the first batch turned out super dense, I decided that they have to rise for awhile and my next batch turned out wonderful.

I also finally put to use the dog bone shaped cookie cutter that my friend, Crystal, gave me about 10 years ago (literally). I made peanut butter bones and beef cheddar bones also from sourdough. I made a HUGE patch and ended up giving most of them away to my dog loving friends.

I have also spent some time perfecting my cinnamon roll skills. These are sooooooo easy and taste soooooo good. I baked up a whole bunch and shared them with the staff at school. I have been working to create a frosting recipe that tastes great too. In the past, every time I've made homemade frosting, it always kind of ends up tasting like liquid powered sugar, but NOT ANY MORE. My friend Erin gave me homemade vanilla extract for my birthday and WOW...it is good. I've been using that to work on make really good frosting and I think I'm almost there.

Skinning Wabbits

This year, for the first time, I got to try my hand at skinning and cooking a rabbit. Well, technically it's an Arctic Hare, not a rabbit. Chris has a snare line that he usually sets out at the beginning of the season. I've gone with him a few times to check the snare line and he always gets a couple. He let me help with skinning them and then I got to keep the meat. The plate below shows how much meat comes off of one Arctic Hare.

I seasoned it up real good with various herbs, then baked it in the oven. Apparently it was really good because Avery ate it all and I didnt even get to try it!