13 done, 17 to go

Number 12 on the birthday list in complete. I stayed in the state of Alaska for the entire summer this year. It's actually kind of weird to think back on the summer and realize that I never left...not even once...not even for a minute. Here's a recap of my super insanely fast paced summer...

weeks 1/2- took a class in bethel

week 3- prep for summer science camp

week 4/5-taught summer science camp

week 6-travelled around alaska with Kass

weeks 7/8-taught summer science camp

week 9- half relaxing in bethel, half having fun in juneau

weeks 10/11-art institute in Juneau

Summer seemed ridiculously short this year, but I think it was because I was so busy. When I look back on it, I actually did quite alot! Now it's time to start making plans for next summer!

12 done, 18 to go

Number 30 on the birthday list is complete. The goal was to visit at least 3 Alaskan villages/towns/cities that I've never been to before. First, I visited Nome back in April with the music kids. Second, I fell in love with Whittier back in July when my friend Kassia was here visiting. Third, I attended the art institute in Juneau and caught two huge halibut that I will spend the rest of the winter eating.

I have plans to visit several more places this winter once the ground freezes up and we can snow machine again.

Tundra Plants

A couple of friends and I went on a flower walk. We collected many different kinds of tundra plants. Then we came home and pressed the flowers while having a glass of wine. It was a really good time. Some of you might remember this summer, when Sadie and I took a papermaking class. The class was fun and the paper that we made was really neat. So, we ordered a couple of papermaking kits and are waiting for them to come in the mail.

We collected a lot of tundra cotton to use in our homemade paper. The cotton gives the paper an interesting texture. We also collected many different kinds of tundra grasses to use in our homemade paper as well. I'm looking forward to the kits getting here. I have a couple of projects in mind involving pressed flower and homemade paper. I think they will turn out nice!

Just what I needed...another hobby!

Through the Tunnel

This summer, I took the trip through the tunnel that leads to Whittier, Alaska. Kassia and I only spent one night there, but I fell in love with the quirky little town with less than 200 permanent residents. According to the locals, the population swells in the summer during fishing season.
While in town, we stayed the night at The Inn at Whittier. It was a cute little place that was comfortable and nice with plush towels and bedding. The view out of our window was amazing, as were all of the views from anywhere in town. The town is nestled into a beautiful little nook in the mountains on the edge of the ocean. According to Wikipedia...

After we finished our day cruise around Prince William Sound, we walked around the town, checked out all of the little shops, and had dinner at a quaint little family fish fry restaurant. We sat on the patio over looking the harbor and cloud covered mountains. In the peacefulness and serenity, my rolling rock seemed to taste better. And the fresh fried halibut was pretty yummy too.
I could really see myself having a boat in this harbor someday. I could live and teach on the road system north of Whittier and keep a boat in the harbor for fishing in the summer. I think this little fishing town would be an interesting place to spend the summers.
Being there just felt so peaceful. And the town was kindy quirky. And the people all seemed really great...just felt like my kind of place.

Future Politician

I have a deal with Avery...I will support him in all of the sports that he would like to participate in as long as he also participates in at least one academic club at some point in the school year. Our school has a decent number of choices including academic decathlon, speech meet, battle of the books, yearbook, science fair, student newspaper, student government, pep band, and robotics. I even suggested AWANA as being an option. AWANA is the church youth program.

Of course, as we were going through the list of choices, none of them appealed to him at all. Eventually, it become of a conversation about which choice was the least unappealing. He had settled on academic decathlon. Student government was the one I was trying to talk him into because I think he would enjoy it. Avery loves to debate/argue for how things should/shouldnt be or things he should be able to do. I think being in student government would have him to see that there are more sides of the argument than just his own.

A funny related story... the other night, we were having dinner and he told me that he was thinking about being a lawyer when he grows up. I asked him why and this was his response..."Because I like to argue about things, even sometimes when I dont even agree with them myself." Yes, that's what lawyers do...and politicians. Student government could help you refine your debate skills. But he still refused to consider student government even though several of his friends are in it.

So, today was the day for the kids to nominate people for class officers during class meetings. As I stood in the 10th grade class meeting and watched the chaos of nominations and seconds unfurl, I knew there was going to be NO WAY that Avery would escape from his 9th grade meeting without having been nominated for something. And knowing how susceptible to peer pressure he is, I knew he wouldnt decline his nomination. Sometimes peer pressure can be a good thing :)

With a few minutes of the school day left, he tracked me down and told me that he was running for 9th grade class representative. He then proceeded to describe his plans for his campaign posters and asked if he could go over to a friends house to work on them. Sure. About an hour later, I got a call from him asking if I would drive him out to the sand pit so that he could do a photo op for his campaign poster. Sure. And could I bring him a laptop from school to work on it? Sure.

By the time he went to bed last night, he had used the picture above to create a champaign poster to hang around the 9th grade hallway. He worked on it for several hours. Elections are next week, but given the competition he's pretty confident that he'll win. Joining student government also means that he'll have STUCO homeroom, which I think will be another good opportunity for him.

Sometimes getting want I want is pretty easy. Things have a way of working out just the way that they should.

Just busy and tired

School has started. So far it has been great. I did two really super fun science activities for the first two days and the kids enjoyed them very much. Things are moving fast again. I have so much to do and not enough time to do it. Once I get home, I am beat. I've tried to blog a couple of nights this week, but always end up nodding off at my computer. I'm working on building my teaching stamina back up again. Right now my stamina is still pretty low. I'm still getting into the swing of regular day to day life again. I'll try to get back on the blogging band wagon soon. I have alot of blog posts in mind. Lots to share, just to busy and tired to sit down and write.

3 years already

Such is Life! is 3 years old today. It's hard to believe I've been blogging that long and that I've been in Alaska even longer. Time does fly. The blog sure has morphed over the years, but it has been a constant throughout my Alaskan adventure. It will be interesting to see where the blog will go from here, especially now that I've joined facebook. If anyone has any ideas for the blog, let me know.

In 3 years, the blog has seen about 20,000 visitors from about 75 countries. It has 31 followers, but an average of about 45 readers each day. This will be my 748th post in 1095 days, which makes out to be an average of 1 post every 1.5 days.

Thanks for reading everyone!!!

(Sure would be nice if you started commenting again...I havent gotten a comment in the last 5 posts. If you are someone who reads regularly but doesnt comment, today is the day to come on outta the commenting closet :)

Bethel fun

I know I've been slacking at blogging these days (you guys wanted me to join facebook). The first week of school was hectic and I am enjoying the down time of my first weekend. It's 3pm and I'm still wearing my PJ's. I didnt have to wake up to an alarm clock this morning...it was great. I got up at about noon. Anyway...we have a BUNCH of new teachers at our school this year. And I have a BUNCH of halibut to cook up. And Sadie bought this dance game for the Wii. So....some of us got together last night, ate, drank, and danced on the Wii.
It's funny how things that wouldnt necessarily be fun or funny in the lower 48 become the friday night entertainment here in Bethel.
Oh yes...the dancing got a little bit intense for a little while. And a little bit competitive too.
It was great to see some friends that I havent seen all summer. It was also good to meet and get to know some of the new teachers in town, two of which are part of the science dept at my school and I'll be working closely with.
All in all we had a really fun friday night...Bethel style...just the way I like it.

Cold and Wet

	Public Information Statement
Statement as of 4:00 am AKDT on August 12, 2010 ... Cold and wet pattern continues for southcentral Alaska... The overall weather pattern for much of Alaska this Summer has been cool and wet. Alaska as well as portions of the western conus have been reporting below average temperatures for much of the Summer while upstream in eastern Siberia and downstream in the central and eastern US have been experiencing warmer than average temperatures. The abnormal weather is a result of a long wave pattern that has remained stagnant since early June. A large upper level trough has been positioned in the central and eastern Bering Sea. Areas of low pressure develop at the base of the trough... tap into the subtropical moisture... and move northeast toward the Gulf of Alaska. The result is increased cloud coverage and periods of rain. Similar patterns have occurred recently during the Summers of 2006 and 2008. Both Summers saw higher than average precipitation and temperatures below climatological norms. Here is how the Summer of 2010 is shaping up... June 1 through August 11 average high temperature ------------------------------------------------ 1. 1971 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 60.2 degrees 2. 2008 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 60.6 3. 1987 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61.0 4. 1917 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61.1 5. 1973 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61.3 6. 1982 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61.5 7. 1980 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61.7 8. 1970 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61.8 9. 1939 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61.9 10. 2010 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 62.0 (normal high temperature during this period is 64.3 degrees) July 1 through August 11 average high temperature ---------------------------------------------- 1. 1971 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61.6 degrees 2. 2008 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61.8 3. 2010 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 62.5 1959 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 62.5 5. 1970 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 62.6 (normal high temperature during this period is 65.5 degrees) Precipitation June 1 through August 11 ---------------------------------------------- 1. 1958 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 7.89 inches 2. 1981 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 7.24 3. 1980 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6.28 4. 1989 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6.18 5. 1979 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6.15 6. 2010 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5.98 (average precipitation during this period is 3.54 inches) Consecutive days with a trace or more of precipitation ------------------------------------------------------ 1. 1951 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 27 consecutive days 2. 2010 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25 (as of Aug 11) 1946 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25 4. 2008 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 1989 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 1950 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 7. 2008 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 23 8. 1947 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 22 Outlook... this pattern is expected to continue through this week... and possibly beyond. There is an indication that a ridge of high pressure will build from the northeastern Pacific late this week which will likely bring an end to our consecutive days with a trace or more of precipitation. Any break will be short lived as the large trough settles back over the eastern Bering Sea allowing the moisture to return to southcentral early next week.

Rain, rain...go away

Record Report

Statement as of 4:07 am AKDT on August 8, 2010


... Record rainfall...

Record rainfall of 0.82 inches yesterday August 7 2010 broke old
record of 0.47 inches in the year 2001.