"A mind once stretched by a new idea can never regain its original dimensions." ~Oliver Wendall Holmes

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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

3 years ago...


I legally became a parent...not a mother, but a parent. I was awarded full legal custody of my brother, Avery, after a long drawn out court battle in which my mother was proven "unsuitable". Avery had lived with me for almost a year by then, so really its been almost 4 years that he's lived with me permanently. Four years has flown by and its amazing to think about how much he has grown and achieved since then. As I sat at the kitchen table helping him with his Pre-algebra homework, I remembered the kid that used to hide in the closet if you mentioned reading a book. That same kid reads for his own pleasure now and (usually) doesnt even need to be asked to do his reading. The kid that didnt know how to tie his shoes in the 3rd grade is now cooking dinner once a week. The kid that used to be jacked up on ADHD meds like a zombie, but still couldnt sit still because he was so nervous is now a responsible drug free Junior High Schooler who enjoys school, has all A's and B's, is a first place wrestler, and plays sax in the band. The kid that used to miss almost a day of school each week had perfect attendance for the entire school year last year. We certainly arent the perfect family, but I think we've done some pretty good things! I'm proud of how far he's (we've) come!

Bound to happen

I wish I could say it wasnt bound to happen, but it was. And it did. I got sick. After months of summer in great health, I am pretty unhappy about being sick. I feel like crap and cant stop coughing. I think all the hard work just starts to catch up with me...the extra hours and long days...the being constantly busy. I stayed home sick today and couldnt believe my eyes when I woke up and the clock read 2:30pm! WOW! That's like 16 hours of sleep. Even for me...that's alot. But I feel a ton better (except for this darn cough). It's the kind of cough that tickles your throat and keeps you up at night.

Avery came home from camping all worn out and Chandra's not feeling very well either. Even the dogs seem to have something....Rocky threw up a bunch of times yesterday and Taboo woke me up at all hours of the night last night to go out because he had diarrhea. I think it must just be a cold bug that Jack Frost brought with him when he came for a visit.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Jack Frost was here!

I woke up this morning to a white tundra...It just doesnt seem like it should be so cool so soon. I feels like it should be almost October, not almost September. It seems like I should be going to Fairbanks for Thanksgiving in only a month, not two.
I already have that sleepy, chilled feeling that fall brings. The feeling that all you want to do is go curl up in your warm bed and nap the day away.

I got up at 9am this morning to watch the Green Bay game. It just the end of the 3rd quarter now. GB played well during the first quarter, then not so good in the second, but in the 3rd they've started playing well again. We'll see what the 4th quarter brings.

Avery went camping with the Boy Scouts last night, so he's not home and I've skipped church to stay home and watch the game. I'm enjoying my quiet football morning. If only I didnt have to get up at 9am to watch the game.

Smart kid!

Avery had a friend over on Friday night. They were sitting around the kitchen table eating a snack and drinking cool-aid, when his friend asked him...."if you could be any animal, what would you want to be?" Avery's response..."Whatevers next highest on the food chain."

Friday, September 26, 2008

Rocky meets the Sax Monster!



Avery busted out his tenor sax at home for the first time last night and this is the reaction we got from Rocky. Can you just imagine what happened when he started PLAYING it?

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Fall

Fall is officially here. The autumnal equinox has passed. It actually came a few days late here with yesterday having 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. The sun rose today at about 8:30 and set at about 8:30. The days are getting shorter and colder. We're still losing about 5minutes and 35 seconds each day. This morning it was dark for the first time that I remember when leaving for school in the morning. The days of midnight sunsets are long gone. And that means no more midnight sunset berry picking either, I suppose. It has frosted most nights this week and the daytime temp has been only in the 40's. While everyone who lives in the northern hemisphere get the joy of living with shorter days now, ours will get much shorter, much faster. A month from now we'll have lost about 4 hours.

It is jacket season for sure. We've been wearing them out of the house each morning. The truck is beginning to need a bit of a warm up each morning, but with $6 per gallon gas prices, that's pretty hard to swallow. Wrestling season, robotics season, and planning for the haunted house for the carnival are all upon us, and therefore, fall has come.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Exciting

We have bought our tickets and made hotel and car reservations! We're going to Fairbanks for Thanksgiving break and Avery's birthday. I'm really excited. I cant wait to go...too bad it's over 2 months away. We're making plans to go to Chena hot springs, North Pole, see the pipeline, and go skiing (isnt skiing a funny word?). I'm so excited! You can click on the map to see a bigger version and get an idea of how far away Fairbanks is from Bethel. The flight to Anchorage is an hour and the flight from anc to Fairbanks is another hour. I can't wait!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

A day at the Pit

So, after bundling up enough to withstand 33 degree cold, I headed out to the pit to help with the cross country meet. I had never been out to the pit when it wasnt frozen and snow covered, so this was new to me. I drove up and parked along this trail that led into the pit, where everyone was parked.
It was a beautiful sunny day. By the time I got there, the JH runners were already on the starting line getting ready to take off.
Here are the first group of JH kids running by. I tried to encourage Avery to get involved, especially after hearing that he WANTED to run track, but apparently he DOES NOT WANT TO. I think he would be good at it, but he just doesnt have any interest.
The sand pit is basically just that...a big sand pit. It is the place where they dig up all the sand to build roads and maintain level streets, houses; basically everything. If you need sand(dirt), it comes from here usually. During winter, it's a great place to do some sledding. And, apparently during summer, it's a great place to do some doughnuts.
Trail markers for the runners to know how far along they are on the trail. No sign...that's okay. In Alaska, everybody knows how to improvise.

Planes were flying by all morning. On such a nice sunny day, everyone had there planes out for a spin. Many people own their own planes here.
This was my post. I was a spotter. My duty was to make sure that they followed the trail and didnt cut corners. Kind of a boring job, esp in between races when there werent any kids running by.
The moon was still out and was really neat to look at though.
Here are the first of the HS girls running by. We had almost 150 kids in town for this event. It was said to be the largest cross country meet that we've had in Bethel!
It was cold enough to be wearing mittens for the first time. I found some mittens for a dollar per pair this summer at Big Lots, so I bought about 10 pair. We go through them pretty quickly once winter hits. I was a bit taken aback when I looked down and noticed this deformation. Apparently, people who shop at Big Lots have really long pinky fingers. Doesnt it look weird?
The fall colors of the tundra are just beautiful. It was nice to spend some times outdoors before it gets very much colder. I finally settled on wearing my long john's top and bottoms, jeans, a tshirt, a hooded fleece sweatshirt, regular socks, fleece socks, mud boots, mittens, and an ear warmer. That's alot of clothes for so early in the year.
I think this pic is neat. The track markers through the fall colored tundra bushes.
I dont know why, but I like the way that the doppler looks. I just think it's cool. So, there's our doppler in the distance. I'm not sure what that tower is for.
Here you can really see the colors of the fall tundra.Finally, here come the first group of HS boys. They ran so fast. I was amazed. The Bethel sand pit course is a pretty rough course with lots of hills. You can see all the boys in the background running up one of the hills. Remember that you can click on any pic to make it bigger.
After I left the pit, I headed over to work for a few hours. I finally got some more of my poster hung on my walls so that it doesnt look so bare. I still need another book shelf and two bulletin boards hung up before I finish all of my decorating. After that, I went to wash my car. Then I hung at home for awhile and made dinner. After that, I went to some friends to try to figure out our final plans for our Thanksgiving Fairbanks trip. I really had a long day and I'm so ready for bed

Say What?

I'm getting ready to leave to go volunteer out at the sand pit for the cross country meet. I have to be there in about a half hour. It's been pretty chilly in the mornings lately, so I new I would need to dress warm. I threw on my long john's and pulled my jeans over them, then went to check the weather to see just how many more clothes I would need to put on. Wasnt I surprised when I read this forcast...

Today
Mostly cloudy. Isolated rain or snow showers...mainly in the morning. Patchy fog. Highs in the mid to upper 40s. West wind 10 to 15 mph. Gusts to 25 mph along the coast in the morning.

It's 33 degrees right now. BRRRRRRRRR! I'm just not ready to wear my winter coat yet. More on the cross country meet and some other things later...

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Not Much

Not a whole lot new happening lately. Just been busy with lesson planning and trying to be a good teacher. I put some extra time into lesson planning this week and I really feel like it's paying off in the classroom. My kids really seem to be getting it and responding to it, so that's good. I really just dont have much to say lately. Hope you are all doing well. Anyone have an idea for a blog topic?