Ha ha, we made it!

It tried to huff and puff, and blow our flight down, but we made it anyhow! Although we almost left without last-minute Louie...

We sat through several delayed departures from 1:00-3:00 pm, many anxious faces waiting at the window...

Our flight finally arrived and we went to Kuujjuarapik

There, we sat and watched as the fog rolled in (and thankfully out) and then the flurries blew in, and then out, and finally we were off. The people in Rouyn-Noranda, the scheduled stop, were unlucky this time. A computer malfunction at their terminal had us bypassing them and we got into Montreal just after 8:30 pm.

Checked into our hotel and now ready to prowl along Ste Catherines Street to see what's what.

Woot!

PS The hotel rooms are REALLY tiny but everyone has their own bed, hurray!

TTFN!

Terri and the troops

Day Zero-and-a-half

Wind gusts 70-90 km, rain and very low ceiling. Will the Twin Otter arrive at 2:00 pm? There is a very realistic chance that the answer is "No". Boo Hiss!

The entire trip may have to be cancelled and rescheduled later...major sadness here amongst us all.

Terri

The Next trip that STILL isn't...

What can I say? Day ZERO of the Running Club trip. We were fogged in. Again. GRRRRR!

Terri

The trip that nearly wasn't...

Well...what a rigamarole trying to get out for our PD training! On Wednesday, our plane was delayed leaving Salluit on its return flight. At 4:00 pm, when it SHOULD have been here, it was clear. At 4:30, the fog began to roll in and at 6:30, we were so covered in that the plane skipped right past us. Sigh. Call hotels, cancel bookings, rearrange all appointments. We got out by Twin Otter Thursday afternoon and got into Montreal at about 10:00 pm, enough time to go to bed. No shopping...

We had an uneventful flight to Iqaluit, for which we were thankful. My laugh came on the airplane. A young mom was trying to manage three very active young ones, one of whom was hysterical during the take-off and landing. The other two bounced all through the plane, and the steward stopped the older of the two. "What's YOUR name?" he asked. "You look like trouble!" The little one pondered this. "I do?" he asked, and then turned to his mom. "I thought you said I looked like Daddy!" I was still chuckling when we landed.

Our conference was good, and I managed to get in a couple of runs. Good news: my average running speed has increased from 4 mph to 4.7 mph, thanks to the hills here in Sanikiluaq! I'm looking forward to the big run coming up, and am contemplating taking on training for a half-marathon with my core runners. And what can I say about the lovely prime rib dinner we had other than YUMMMMMMMmmmmmmm!!!!!!

Then we tried to leave...we got as far as Kuujjuaq, where we found out (after waiting over an hour for a 20-min stop) that our cargo door was damaged and not shutting properly. YIKES! We could have been sucked out over the Frobisher Strait! We waited, and waited, and waited...finally got sent for dinner around 7:30, and when we got back to the airport we found out that the flight was cancelled and we were stuck for the night. Sigh...Call hotels, cancel bookings AGAIN, cancel appointments again, goodbye shopping and our one rest day...

I did get to Montreal about 2:00 pm, had a massage, ran out to Walmart and got my Halloween candy, hit the bank to deposit my travel expense cheque, and got to Staples to exchange my printer ink for the right kind. And the three gals did have a wonderful dinner together with a glass of wine or two...

And the Running Club takes flight again on Wednesday night to Montreal for the 10K run. We are all very excited, and I will post pictures and the events of the day as we take the Nunavut flag to yet another province and show off our dedicated students! YAY!

TTFN!

Terrt

Running to stand still....

We're in full swing now with the running club, and in the last two weeks of training before the big trip. Today we did what one student calls the "One-dump run"...a loop out to the dump, which is uphill for 2.5 km, then back and all around the outskirts of town (uphill another km) then back to the school. A total of 8.2 km...wow! My hip is sore, which is why I, standing still tonight as much as possible, LOL! At least I am not limping as much as I used to, and the cane is still resting unused for now.

Movie nights are back on, and the kids going out on the trip are doing a great job looking after the canteen and supervising for me. I manage the minutiae, such as any kids causing a ruckus. We have had a full crowd and it is nice to have something for them to do on a regular basis. Our recess canteen is also doing well, and we had a cakewalk on Friday after school. Music night will be on October 5th and that will be our last fundraising until after the trip on October 10th. The only disappointment, there won't be a chance to take the kids to a Canadiens hockey game. The boys are crushed...but we will at least take in some movies and play laser tag, so they will have lots to do along with the Science Centre, Montreal Tower, and the Insectarium!

I leave Wednesday on another 7-day travel jaunt to attend two days of training in Iqaluit. I leave on Friday for Iqaluit and return on Monday to Montreal, then home to Sani on Wednesday again. I have a day lay-over in Montreal each side, so hurray for time to shop for Halloween candy! I have a great costume idea, thanks to Katie, and the kids will be SOOOOOOOO grossed out, ha ha! We're having a Halloween costume dance with a music night, and I plan to wear it then.

Hee hee, I can't wait!

Anyhow, a short post today, and I will fill everyone in on details of my trip when I arrive in Iqaluit.

TTFN!

Terri the trekkin' traveller.

Home again, home again, Lickety-SPLAT!

So, some of you have heard the adventure, and seen the gruesome photo story, but let me retell it anyhow. It gets funnier as I picture it, but it sure was not so much of a thrill at the time!

Packed up after a great summer in Ontario. Went to clean the cat's litter box and I knew it was going to be trouble...there were no new "additives" in the pan. Tigger got packed into his carrier anyhow, and off we went. He left a puddle in the back seat of the cab. I mopped it up. He puddled when we got into the plane. I tried to mop it up but had few paper towels. He pooped. I apologized to all the passengers near us. Then he really let loose...ick! Stinky stress ball. So, out of the goodness of my heart, I thought it would be good to clean him and the carrier out when we got to Montreal. Into the bathroom we went.

I opened up his carrier and took him out, fully harnessed and safe (I thought). I pick up his carrier and start to shake out the droppings into the toilet, and Tigger managed to wiggle out of his harness and ran out of the stall into the bathroom. I quickly threw open the stall door and lunged for him. Before I got him, I managed to step into one of his poopy paw prints, and slid full-speed into the edge of the door (I had thought it was the toilet paper dispenser, but I realized after that I hit metal full-force). I did manage to grab him, and washed him off in the bathroom sink. Then I realized how tilted my glasses looked, and took them off. That's when I saw the goose egg on the side of my forehead where I had slammed into the metal door...OUCH! Ergo the "splat" in the title for today's post...

Over the course of the next two days, the bruising migrated across my face and eye, giving me one heck of a glorious technicolour shiner.

Lovely, ain't it? The bruise goes from my eyebrows to the bottom of my nose, and from the side of my nose across to my hairline. At least I got even with the poor fur-ball. As soon as we got into our hotel room I put his carrier right into the tub and started to run warm water. Poor Tigger...he tried so hard to back up away from the water but there was nowhere to go once he got to the end of the carrier, LOL! So he got scrubbed, then I dried him off, cleaned the tub, and scrubbed myself off! He was so stressed by the ordeal that he meowed all night long. Quietly, luckily for other hotel customers, but non-stop...I slept a lot on the plane from Montreal to Sanikiluaq! That flight was completely uneventful, for which I was eternally grateful!

I am busy at school, cleaning cupboards and trying to find where I put the work I had prepared in June. I took time to do some brief running yesterday and today. I had forgotten how persistent the wind is here...today, I ran in the rain (which was a surprise as the sun was shining when I left!) and uphill into a 40k wind...I must be (a) completely nuts, (b) very dedicated, or (c) bit of both and TOTALLY scary! LOL!

Well, I'm heading into the staff room now to nuke a bit of soup for lunch. Then back to the grind for another year at Paatsaali.

TTFN from the far north!

Terri

Would you believe...3 teaching days left!

Wow...another year has come and is almost gone! And what a year it has been.

Therre are only 3 actual days left of the academic year. Report card marks are in as of Wednesday. We have a Sports Day on Thursday, school clean-up on Friday morning and a picnic on the land in the afternoon. Monday is class clean-up and graduation. Tuesday is awards in the morning and report cards in the afternoon. And Wednesday is a PD Day and then a race to the airport to make the 4:00 pm flight. Home for the summer!

I am already working toward next term. I have my first few days planned. I have my first term's fundraisers booked. I have booked the four senior running club boys and I in for a 10K run...YIKES! I need to bump up my training!  I've ordered them to stay at the finish line until I finally get there, LOL! We're headed to Montreal on October 10th and will take part in the Wishmaker Run with the Children's Wish Foundation. And coincidence of coincidences, they are sponsoring 5 kids from Nunavut this year! What an amazing tie-in! And of course, we hope ot take in a Canadiens game while there...I have no shortage of hopefuls for the trip. And we are going to do a Ghost Walk through Old Montreal as well. Very cool just before Halloween...

Anyhow, this will likely be my last post until the start of the new term, unless something very noteworthy occurs. So have a safe and healthy summer all, and I will be back to you in the fall from the Belcher Islands in the middle of Hudson Bay.

TTFN!

Terri