Colder and darker 10/24/2014 pics

This is Barrow at 7:30 in the morning. It looks more like 8 or 9 pm at night. 

We have a heater that we plug into the car to clear our windshield. 

More snow today. This is a picture of the AC parking lot. The AC sells sausage, egg and cheese biscuits and bacon, egg and cheese english muffins. They sometimes have sausage gravy and other breakfast foods. They have several blends of coffees. I tried the coffee with a skeleton on the front. I was wired for the day. I did not sleep well that night. They have flavored coffees available, but I don't drink cream so I stay away from them. There is one blend that makes me giggle every time I see the package.... sorry.... 3 Peckered Goat. Yes, you read that correctly. There is a coffee named that. 

On the road again.... 

We had a lot of snow in our parking lot this morning. We were lucky that someone cleared a path to the shop. 

I remember complaining about the parking lot where I used to work. I was blessed to have asphalt and the occasional salting. There is deeper snow here and you have to plug your truck in or else it won't start. 

After school we went to the AC store. Why? Well its like the place to go if you want to walk around and talk to people. I saw a few of my students and Georgia found one of her friends. 

This week has been interesting for snow. The car blew a fuse and I couldn't find them. Toby was in Anchorage at a training session. I had to walk about 3-4 blocks to get to the Middle School for Parent-Teacher conferences. Normally walking that distance would not be a problem. Colder temperatures take a toll on exercise. I was out of breath by the time I got there.

Living in Barrow has been fun and quite the experience. I've learned so much about the culture and about myself. 

Today is Friday and its the end of my week. It's time for me to get down. 

Abi and me!

Abi and I went to the wrestling matches at the high school last Saturday. Here's some of our pics. The sun was not up when we left at 10am. 

Just need a light jacket....LOL!

Abi and me at the wrestling match. That's not highlights in the photo! I'm letting my hair go gray now. I like the streaks. 

Thursday and Friday!

Thursday was the official start of the fundraising activities for the Freshman class. I am their advisor and I love it! They have such great positive energy. 

We worked the student store at the Wrestling matches on Thursday from 5:30 to 9:30. It was so much fun!

I used my resources correctly and posted on the North Slope For Sale Market that we were selling. I got a great response from the community. Barrow supports its young people!

Warm ups!

Warm ups!

My first set of workers were eating more than working. We got busy after this picture and food went away. 

We were all wearing our swag and beads for the Whalers. I always try to wear blue and gold on Fridays with my beads. Go Whalers!

I was able to take a break and watch a quick match. One of my students beat a kid in 41s! Awesome job!

Its a bit expensive for sweatshirts. I'm saving up for one. I want to make sure I like it. The wrestling one is made with Under Armour. 

This looks hot! My class temp varies during the day. 

On my list to buy soon. Emily has been stealing my coffee cup in the morning. She found out that I had caramel mocha it and stole it! Time to buy her a cup. 

Lots to sell!

Friday we made cupcakes for the workers to enjoy. It smelled amazing in the Home Ec lab. 

We decided to start handing them out to the fans. There were too many for just 3 people. 

We were watching the snow go's doing tricks by the school and riding over the water. 

Georgia and her bff! They came to hang out at the wrestling match with Abi and I think they just wanted spicy cheeto's!

Warm ups!

This happy guy is the happiest boy in Barrow. He bought the absolutely last soda that will ever be sold at a Barrow event. Our school is soda free and we will not sell it or have it available at school. Congrats!

What was I thinking?

Today has been a crazy day! Wednesdays are early dismissal days so teachers can participate in Professional Learning Committees. I have been meeting with my science core and doing some great work. I'm learning lots of different resources that work in rural Alaskan schools. I'm thinking about observing the other science teachers' classrooms next week. Most freshman take Physical Science with a male teacher. Sophomores usually take Biology/Basic Biology. Juniors and Seniors are with me in Chemistry/Basic Chemistry or Physics. I have one class of freshman because there are 98 freshies this year! (I wonder if I get to teach Biology next year? That would be awesome!)

At the end of my meeting, I found out that my family is dog sitting a dog overnight. Mable is a beautiful dog with ice blue eyes. One night! That's all! I am not picking up any more poo. 

Then, the AC had a bunch of items half priced! I finally got some beef on sale! I was so happy. My favorite hotdogs were on sale and some stuffing mixes. My large box of instant oatmeal was in stock so I used my raincheck to get it at $16.49 per box. It normally runs at $24 per box and its about $16-$17 on Amazon. I will accept the 49 cent cost for convenience. 

Then, I came home to the girls and all their girl pals. We quickly fed everyone and got everyone home safely. Then I focused on Halloween costumes. (sorry no pics yet!) 

Emily is going to be Medusa. She is such a pretty girl but she wants to do it! We have a Roman dress (she calls it something in Latin), some rubber snakes and bobbie pins. Unfortunately, Em's dress had only 1 strap. She needed another strap to wear it to school. I was able to make another strap and take in the top a bit to give her some modesty. 

Abigale is going to be Dr. Who. Another large project for me to undertake. I will be painting a box to look like a Tardis. Then I have to strap it to her back with Abi still inside the box. She will have the ability to open the door and show off her sonic screwdriver. I cheated on costume and bought her a Dr. Who shirt with a bow tie printed on it. 

Georgia is going to be pink cotton candy! I have the cotton and the dye. I just need to make something to glue the cotton onto so Georgia can wear this at school and over her coat during trick or treating. Yes, we are going trick or treating! I can't wait to show pics of it!

Its almost 9 and I still have lots of work to finish. I left my cell phone by accident at school along with grading stack. I have no idea what I was thinking? 

10/14 pics!

Its getting colder in the morning. We started using a small heater that's in our truck to help melt the ice off of our windshield. 

Be you didn't plan on seeing one of these at the high school. Its used to keep the snow out of the way for the buses. This was taken at 7:30 in the morning. 

These are the 2 nice pairs of shoes that I leave at work because...

this is the pair of boots that I wear to work. 

I had tutoring tonight and decided to stay to hear the band. Abi and Georgia hopped in a cab to come hear the band too! Emily was in charge of taking pics for the yearbook. Abi won't have her first concert until December because she is in beginning band. She had to learn a new instrument, but she is loving the trumpet. 

Georgia with Emily's friends. 

Emily is against the wall in the back waiting for the high school band to start. 

Middle School has 3 bands. 

High School has 2 bands. 

This is the band that is is going to Carnegie Hall in NYC next year! 

What am I reading?

People always ask me what I'm reading or what I've read. I try to explain in the best way that I burned myself out of reading a few years back in college when I decided to take a literature class at the same time as my college writing and I had all my sciences to take with that. I read myself to death in one semester. I am slowly working my way back into reading because its important that my daughters see me as a lifelong learner. 

Tonight, I give you the picture of my night stand reading material. On top is Georgia's Junie B. Jones book. We are reading this one together. She gets to pick the location since I picked the book. She chose my bed of course. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella was left in my new apartment. I have plans to eventually read it. There's an ad for Fred Meyer so I can make my bush order. Span Alaska shopping guide for bush orders. I compare prices before I order anything. Yes, there is a giant Chemistry textbook on the bedside table because I'm working on my UbD unit and I can't decide if I want to work on Chemistry or Physics. The last piece is a Family Circle magazine because I am addicted to the magazine. It was given to me second hand. 

That's what I'm reading and not reading right now. 

Snowy Owl Sighting!

We were driving home and we noticed an owl sitting on a pole across the street from our house. We parked the car and grabbed our phones! 

I got too close so it flew away and landed on top of our neighbors house. 

Its on the roof towards the back. 

Where's the sun?

Every morning I wake up and do my normal routine. The last few days I've started noticing how truly dark it is when I'm leaving for work. I did a Google search for sunrise/sunset times and was shocked. I learned that today's sun was not coming up until 9:44! On Saturday the sun won't be up until 10:03 and it sets at 6:10. 

I ordered some vitamin D for all of us and set up a normal monthly shipment of vitamins. Em has been taking my Women's one a day and not gummies so I'm running out quick. I have started putting the girls in front of the happy light while they read a book. I really am worried about the vitamin D level since we aren't eating that much fruits and veggies up here. The happy light and the supplements should help. I will be setting up appointments to check our levels before and after starting supplements. There's a great nurse practioner in town and she recommends vitamin D for everyone that's new to Barrow. 

Sunday drive...

Saturday I attended Culture Camp so I only had one day to clean house, do laundry, finish lesson plans, finish grades and find materials. I was in need of some fresh air and a Honda ride. Its getting colder so we have to bundle up on the Honda. I really bundle up because I'm cold natured. 

Pictures from the back of the Honda

We saw a momma fox and her pup running on the beach. 

This is just a pup. 

The ocean water looks dirty. 

frozen tundra

Its dark over the ocean. These pictures were taken about 4pm. 

There's a frozen lake at the front of this picture. 

We stopped at Sam & Lee's for a quick soup to warm us up. This place wasn't used in the movie Big Miracle. All the scenes in the movie where they are eating at Sam & Lees isn't the real place. :( 

Soup and Ming's Beef! We couldn't resist sharing a plate.