The Northern Lights, called ᐊᖅᓴᕐᕆᖅ (aqsarniq), are out just about every night. I never get tired of them, although long-term residents sometimes say, "Oh yeah...I didn't notice..." I guess I may get used to them. (But I hope not!)
Rainbows are far more elliptical in the north. And much wider, too. There was a gorgeous one today as I was walking home, in a little puddle of sunshine nestled between two stormy gray clouds. With a hand held out arms' length, it took most of my palm to cover the band. Amazing!
You learn to roll with life's hiccups that would send others into a tizzy. Monday we ran out of water. Tuesday the town had a major power outage and no water got delivered. Can we possibly say how important toilets become in your thoughts when you cannot flush one? Well, the Northern has a water machine that was fortunately in service so we bought a few jugs for emergency flushes. Failing that, it would have been a jog to the creek or the bay to fill jugs. Yep, a regular day. Today, yippee! water is here. I am squeaky clean and rejoicing in flushability.
Light also doubles as an alarm clock (and I am thankful this was not December!) The power was off again during the night. I woke up to a lightening shade of gray, looked at the clock which read 3:42, and didn't believe it. I jumped out of bed to find it was really 6:30 am and I had only overslept by 30 minutes. I will have to buy a wind-up clock for reserve when I have my trip out in November. No students were marked late because, well, how can you blame them?
I leave work and go to the Co-op and meet many of my students who hold down part-time jobs. One reason I do not assign a lot of homework. Many teens do extra duty at home or earn extra to help their families. I'll actually be doing a bit of double duty myself this year. I am doing some part-time guarding at the jail. Should be interesting (as long as I can stay awake!) I will take the Honda to school tomorrow as I am working tomorrow night.
And finally, food mail days are better than Christmas! You never know what you'll get from the store, as sometimes they substitute or run out, so every box is a surprise. Today I was delighted buy the arrival of the Highliner Pan Sear lime and chili tilapia. Oh yummmmm! I will be in heaven for the next while. And I got my Renee's dressing for my broccoli slaw salad...but alas, no broccoli slaw. Guess I'll order coleslaw and broccoli, and then make my own.
Off to chill, and take an aspirin for a headache associated with my first caught-from-the-kids cold of the year. Sigh....(sniffle...sniff....hack....)
TTFN!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
A fond farewell to summer and a return for three more years to Sanikiluaq,
It was a marvelous summer, full of all that makes summer wonderful: lots of sunshine, hot days, friends and family, and a trip to Disney World in Florida. The only regret is that summer only lasts for two months and winter seems to last forever!
My return was ALMOST uneventful. The plane ride to Montreal was smooth, the hotel was nice, and while Tigger was upset and whined all night I knew I could catch up on my sleep later. The check-in at the Air Inuit desk went smoothly, and they did not even charge for the 9 kg overweight in my luggage. However, when I got to Sanikiluaq and picked up my luggage there was no cat carrier! In a panic, I called to the crew who searched the cargo hold...no Tigger! When I finally got through to the desk at the Dorval airport they told me thta Tigger had been held back as their security scanners were not working. ARGH!!! Did they discover he had clandestine meetings with Bin Laden or something? I could have held him while they scanned his crate through the oversize luggage machine had they said anything. But no...so he went on a multi-plane hop across the north on a later flight to catch Air Inuit on return to Sani while I paced in a tizzy.
Tim (my principal) picked me up when we heard the plane go over at 5:00 pm and thankfully, Tigger and carrier emerged unscathed. He was rather upset and has not left my side, and he was rather hungry and thirsty, but otherwise he was okay. He has been getting settled into the place again, peeking into every nook and cranny. Sadly, the windows are still boarded up until housing can get over this afternoon, so his favorite perch no longer provides the outdoor view that he craves, but he'll live.
I did get to the Northern to pick up my Honda. Yay! It is a riot to drive, and I am learning how to shift smoothly. I had a whole contingent of my kids from last year join me for a test drive and we had a good laugh together as I hiccupped the Honda down the road. I'm much smoother today but still struggling to get it into reverse from time to time. Have to work on that one. Here's a shot of my new toy...
And so begins another year and another adventure. I wonder what this one will bring? I guess as long as it brings my boxes of supplies that I mailed from Toronto I'll be happy, LOL!
TTFN!
My return was ALMOST uneventful. The plane ride to Montreal was smooth, the hotel was nice, and while Tigger was upset and whined all night I knew I could catch up on my sleep later. The check-in at the Air Inuit desk went smoothly, and they did not even charge for the 9 kg overweight in my luggage. However, when I got to Sanikiluaq and picked up my luggage there was no cat carrier! In a panic, I called to the crew who searched the cargo hold...no Tigger! When I finally got through to the desk at the Dorval airport they told me thta Tigger had been held back as their security scanners were not working. ARGH!!! Did they discover he had clandestine meetings with Bin Laden or something? I could have held him while they scanned his crate through the oversize luggage machine had they said anything. But no...so he went on a multi-plane hop across the north on a later flight to catch Air Inuit on return to Sani while I paced in a tizzy.
Tim (my principal) picked me up when we heard the plane go over at 5:00 pm and thankfully, Tigger and carrier emerged unscathed. He was rather upset and has not left my side, and he was rather hungry and thirsty, but otherwise he was okay. He has been getting settled into the place again, peeking into every nook and cranny. Sadly, the windows are still boarded up until housing can get over this afternoon, so his favorite perch no longer provides the outdoor view that he craves, but he'll live.
I did get to the Northern to pick up my Honda. Yay! It is a riot to drive, and I am learning how to shift smoothly. I had a whole contingent of my kids from last year join me for a test drive and we had a good laugh together as I hiccupped the Honda down the road. I'm much smoother today but still struggling to get it into reverse from time to time. Have to work on that one. Here's a shot of my new toy...
And so begins another year and another adventure. I wonder what this one will bring? I guess as long as it brings my boxes of supplies that I mailed from Toronto I'll be happy, LOL!
TTFN!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Wrapping it up for this school year...
It's hard to believe that the school year is almost at an end. We have our awards assembly this afternoon, clean-up tomorrow morning, and then two half-days for teachers to finish their last-minute work. Friday we are done at 11:45 am and off on our planes at 3:45 pm!
It has been a wild and crazy year. There were times I was certain that I would not return, there were times I was certain that I could stay here forever. As of now, I have signed another contract for three years and we shall deal with events as they come. My main worry is my family, and my parents. Do I come home to help physically, without a job or a penny? Or do I stay far from home and help financially? Tough choice. And I miss my kids terribly. But again, from here I can help financially moreso than if I was back home.
I also like the fact that I will be teaching high school, and in a brand-new room to myself in a brand-new building. That is a big plus right there. I know the students, I know the administration, and I really like the community. The people are so friendly and generous. Plus I will be picking up my brand-new Honda ATV upon my return, so I will have fun tootling all over the countryside, LOL!
We had our farewell staff picnic on Monday. We all hopped onto four-wheelers and went out to a cove on the east shore. It had been such a lovely day but the warm air created an onshore wind that pulled in a heavy ice fog from Hudson Bay...with mitts, hoodie, snow pants and a winter coat, I was still frozen! And the kids were climbing the few snow piles left...Ah, summer in Sanikiluaq when you can still have a snowball fight...
Tuesday was a half-day as we had report cards. Few surprises with the marks, but it was nice to see so many parents and have them happy to know that I am returning. They all appreciate the stability that consisten staff brings to teh community. So different from my last teaching position where the thought seemed to be that if we left, they could have ten people to replace us by the next day. No wait, that really wasn't a thought...it was actually said, LOL! Way to feel appreciated, hmmm?
So here I am, packing for teh summer and loving the fact that I have a very well-paid government job, FINALLY, with all the attendant benefits. It's just a shame that it is so far away. So for now, I shall sign off for the summer as I head home to my parents' place and then off to Florida with the family as Grandma's treat to visit Disney World. Yep, there are DEFINITE benefits to a good job!
TTFN! TTYL!
It has been a wild and crazy year. There were times I was certain that I would not return, there were times I was certain that I could stay here forever. As of now, I have signed another contract for three years and we shall deal with events as they come. My main worry is my family, and my parents. Do I come home to help physically, without a job or a penny? Or do I stay far from home and help financially? Tough choice. And I miss my kids terribly. But again, from here I can help financially moreso than if I was back home.
I also like the fact that I will be teaching high school, and in a brand-new room to myself in a brand-new building. That is a big plus right there. I know the students, I know the administration, and I really like the community. The people are so friendly and generous. Plus I will be picking up my brand-new Honda ATV upon my return, so I will have fun tootling all over the countryside, LOL!
We had our farewell staff picnic on Monday. We all hopped onto four-wheelers and went out to a cove on the east shore. It had been such a lovely day but the warm air created an onshore wind that pulled in a heavy ice fog from Hudson Bay...with mitts, hoodie, snow pants and a winter coat, I was still frozen! And the kids were climbing the few snow piles left...Ah, summer in Sanikiluaq when you can still have a snowball fight...
Tuesday was a half-day as we had report cards. Few surprises with the marks, but it was nice to see so many parents and have them happy to know that I am returning. They all appreciate the stability that consisten staff brings to teh community. So different from my last teaching position where the thought seemed to be that if we left, they could have ten people to replace us by the next day. No wait, that really wasn't a thought...it was actually said, LOL! Way to feel appreciated, hmmm?
So here I am, packing for teh summer and loving the fact that I have a very well-paid government job, FINALLY, with all the attendant benefits. It's just a shame that it is so far away. So for now, I shall sign off for the summer as I head home to my parents' place and then off to Florida with the family as Grandma's treat to visit Disney World. Yep, there are DEFINITE benefits to a good job!
TTFN! TTYL!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Science + Fair = FUN!
It's official, there's a new Math formula in Sanikiluaq, and it is Science + Fair = FUN! The Science Fair was held on Friday and was a huge success. It took literally hundreds of hours to plan and set up, but worth every minute! The kids had a fantastic time touching, discovering, playing, and learning about science.
We loaded tables and boxes of supplies into the gym during the day Thursday, which was an in-service day for the teachers. Most of them went on the land fishing, which gave Kathy, the student volunteers and me time to set up.
During the week, I had made up some display signs for the tables. I think they were lost on the students, but I cracked myself up! :-D The round bubbles and one little square guy, muttering "What the heck?" Hee hee! We DID make square bubbles, of course!
The students in grade 7 and high school made huge banners that wrapped around the walls of the gym. My grade 7's, a grade 6 and a couple of high school students helped to hang them up.
And of course, I tried to explain some basic science principles with the aid of visual presentations. The two similar magnets have angry scowls while the opposite poles are running happily toward each other to demonstrate that opposite poles attract, similar poles repel.
Yep, gotta love those signs, LOL! Poor little density blob...
I had a "Bed of Nails" that we used to demonstrate spreading pressure over a larger area results in lower pressure, and would not pop the balloon. So I had to draw a balloon sucking in his belly to avoid the nail, and of course, cracked myself up again! My sister will understand...hee hee!
While I got the science stuff ready, Kathy looked after the kitchen to feed our small army of volunteers. It was fun to sit and relax with them in the hall while we ate. And surprisingly enough, I was able to get off the floor on the first try, LOL!
Despite accidentally sleeping through my alarm on Friday morning, and getting to school with less time than I had wanted to get ready, we were set to go at 8:30 am.
I donned my lab coat, again decorated with help from my students, and we were off!
Discovering magnets, and making a colour-changing solution in our magnetic stirrer.
Demonstrating the Air Zooka, and knocking over a stack of cups with a blast of air.
Despite poor Meena hiding her ears, the balloon never popped on the bed of nails.
The surprise over a cup of instant "snow".
We had a huge bubble pool and "wrapped" kids in bubbles. Along with making square bubbles, of course!
The table where the kids made "slime" was very popular.
I was careful to warn the kids NOT to try the sound experiments at 5:00 am! LOL!
Everything on the sound table made noise. Lots of noise. And it was a wild and hairy time with all of the kids swinging the sound hoses all at the same time! But that was the whole point of the fair! Is it the fun of science or the science of fun? The jury is still out...
...but either way, it was still worth the work!
At the friction table, we had a Jello race. One set of cubes were just as they came out of the pan. The other set was slathered in oil. Which ones were easier to grab and put into the bowl? Paper towel handy for oily fingers, of course!
The wind bags were fun...the kids were shown how to hold them about 10" from their face and blow. Bernoulli's Principle in action, the lower air pressure around the opening pulled in room air. The adults all put the bags to their mouth to blow, but the kids could inflate the 8' wind bag in one breath, winning the race each time. They loved it.
And of course, we had some projects on display.
At 4:00, all was shut down and the clean up began. It was an incredible amount of work, and again without my army of student volunteers, I would have spent the entire night in the school. As it was, we ate dinner at 5:30 and sent the tired helpers home with smiles and full stomachs. I mopped the floor at 6:00 and was done by 7:00 pm. Home to a hot bath that felt like the epitome of luxury!
It was a wonderful day. We got many compliments, and I am soooooo proud of my students who helped out! They are fantastic! Yay for them!
That's all for now, I am spending Sunday trying to organize the chaos in the Science room, where all the boxes of supplies went as we cleaned. Oi vey! Only three more years of Science Fairs to go, LOL!
TTFN!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Is it really May?
I look outside and realize that while the calendar says May, the temperature still reads March. It is -7 and we still have at least half of our snow left. Sigh...can someone remind me why exactly a summer-lover is working in Nunavut? LOL!
Plans are well underway for our Science Fair. It promises to be a great one. I brought a few of the "toys" into the staff meeting to talk about what we will be doing. The teaching staff could not put them down! So if the grown-ups had that much fun, think of the great times the kids will have!
We have the Air Zooka to blast cups off of kids' heads. We have the Zero-blaster gun the blow smoke rings. We have the Zeebees popping tops to show potential energy. We have the ever-popular potato gun. We'll make glue, snot, and hovercrafts. I'll demonstrate vanishing water and the instant clear-to-black iodine clock reaction. we'll have sound hoses that whistle when you swing them and palm pipes that make music when you bounce them on your hand. We'll have floating magnets, electro-magnets, and iron in your cereal. We'll have optical illusions and demonstrations of how to fool your brain. And that isn't half yet...
The older kids are volunteering to help demonstrate things for teh younger ones. They will also help to set up and take down the displays, and we'll feed them dinner for their efforts. They have made posters and wall banners, so it will be a memorable event. Holly, if you read this, I have borrowed a tip from Fort Albany and a few reluctant students were volun-told that they would help, LOL!
I will try to get someone to take pictures of the day's proceedings and will post on my blog and on a Facebook album. It will be worth the look-see!
And BTW, heading close to -90 pounds! I took three weeks off my diet to try a maintenance period, as I was struggling to defeat my cravings. Still lost 1-1/2 pounds, so I am certain that the weight is gone for good. Now, if the weather will improve outside, I can begin serious walking/jogging. Alas, it means that the 50-60 km winds will have to go away...please? LOL!
TTFN from the land of ice, snow, and VERY long days!
Plans are well underway for our Science Fair. It promises to be a great one. I brought a few of the "toys" into the staff meeting to talk about what we will be doing. The teaching staff could not put them down! So if the grown-ups had that much fun, think of the great times the kids will have!
We have the Air Zooka to blast cups off of kids' heads. We have the Zero-blaster gun the blow smoke rings. We have the Zeebees popping tops to show potential energy. We have the ever-popular potato gun. We'll make glue, snot, and hovercrafts. I'll demonstrate vanishing water and the instant clear-to-black iodine clock reaction. we'll have sound hoses that whistle when you swing them and palm pipes that make music when you bounce them on your hand. We'll have floating magnets, electro-magnets, and iron in your cereal. We'll have optical illusions and demonstrations of how to fool your brain. And that isn't half yet...
The older kids are volunteering to help demonstrate things for teh younger ones. They will also help to set up and take down the displays, and we'll feed them dinner for their efforts. They have made posters and wall banners, so it will be a memorable event. Holly, if you read this, I have borrowed a tip from Fort Albany and a few reluctant students were volun-told that they would help, LOL!
I will try to get someone to take pictures of the day's proceedings and will post on my blog and on a Facebook album. It will be worth the look-see!
And BTW, heading close to -90 pounds! I took three weeks off my diet to try a maintenance period, as I was struggling to defeat my cravings. Still lost 1-1/2 pounds, so I am certain that the weight is gone for good. Now, if the weather will improve outside, I can begin serious walking/jogging. Alas, it means that the 50-60 km winds will have to go away...please? LOL!
TTFN from the land of ice, snow, and VERY long days!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Interesting....
The grade 10 class was in the kitchen this morning. We were baking a cake as their final test in Imperial to Metric capacity conversion. They all came out okay although the proof will be in the tasting, LOL! I'll have to try all three to give them their final mark...oh darn, eh?
While we waited for teh cakes, the students sat in on cleaning some seals from the recent hunt. They love to eat fresh from the catch, and offered me some as well. I got to try fresh (as in raw) seal liver and meat. A new experience for me. Not bad, but I still prefer steak, LOL!
Anyhow, it led up to a discussion about Michaelle Jeanne and her eating the seal heart in her Arctic travels, and how outraged all of the southerners were. It surprised a lot of the kids, who were baffled as to why anyone would object. It has been their norm for thousands of years, after all. So just an interesting note from the other side into that whole discussion. Yay for my kids for standing up for their beliefs!
TTFN!
While we waited for teh cakes, the students sat in on cleaning some seals from the recent hunt. They love to eat fresh from the catch, and offered me some as well. I got to try fresh (as in raw) seal liver and meat. A new experience for me. Not bad, but I still prefer steak, LOL!
Anyhow, it led up to a discussion about Michaelle Jeanne and her eating the seal heart in her Arctic travels, and how outraged all of the southerners were. It surprised a lot of the kids, who were baffled as to why anyone would object. It has been their norm for thousands of years, after all. So just an interesting note from the other side into that whole discussion. Yay for my kids for standing up for their beliefs!
TTFN!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Just updating...not too much is new.
I realized that I had not posted for a little bit, so here I am again.
For my Dad, the sunrise/sunset is as follows:
Today (May 1st)
Sunrise: 5:32
Sunset: 20:56
It means waking up VERY early in the morning, before 5:00 am as the sky gets light. It means going to bed in the daylight, and not getting to see the gorgeous Northern Lights displays because the sky is still too bright! The light show has been fantastic this spring, with the sky filled almost nightly. They were out again last night, but hard to see with twilight still on the horizon at 10:00 pm.
Stephen and I went to cribbage on Friday night. I came in second and won $40.00, he came in 3rd and won $20.00. WOOHOO! It is a lot of fun, but a tough choice between Bingo and cards for an evening of entertainment each Friday.
We're still waiting for the high school to be finished so we likely won't be in this spring. That's okay. I wasn't looking forward to slogging all of the boxes over anyhow, and my one year term is almost done. Ha ha, escaped the heavy work! :-D
Not much else is new, except that teh tax man will be nice to me this year. He will be VERY nice to me. It will help pay for our family Disney World vacation. Yay!!!!
That's all for today, TTFN!
For my Dad, the sunrise/sunset is as follows:
It means waking up VERY early in the morning, before 5:00 am as the sky gets light. It means going to bed in the daylight, and not getting to see the gorgeous Northern Lights displays because the sky is still too bright! The light show has been fantastic this spring, with the sky filled almost nightly. They were out again last night, but hard to see with twilight still on the horizon at 10:00 pm.
Stephen and I went to cribbage on Friday night. I came in second and won $40.00, he came in 3rd and won $20.00. WOOHOO! It is a lot of fun, but a tough choice between Bingo and cards for an evening of entertainment each Friday.
We're still waiting for the high school to be finished so we likely won't be in this spring. That's okay. I wasn't looking forward to slogging all of the boxes over anyhow, and my one year term is almost done. Ha ha, escaped the heavy work! :-D
Not much else is new, except that teh tax man will be nice to me this year. He will be VERY nice to me. It will help pay for our family Disney World vacation. Yay!!!!
That's all for today, TTFN!
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