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

The Running Club's Run!

We did it! I am sooooo proud of my girls! And we were the talk of the race with our Nunavut Flag...

People all stopped and asked if we came all that way just for the run. 

We were proud to say, "Yes!"

We all made it across the finish line, and none of us were last! Woohoo!

But we did look a little tired. (Or at least some of us did, no old people's names mentioned...)

Here's a shot of Diane crossing the finish line...

Lunch "on the land" so to speak, LOL!

The girls all got a free foot-and-leg massage. Then we headed back to the hotel for clean-up. 

Off to Value Village to shop. Dinner at Red Lobster to celebrate. A movie before bed.

And home tomorrow. It has been a fantastic trip!

TTFN!

Terri and the Pirates.

To the Zoo with the animals...er, the girls...LOL!

Today was a perfect weather day! Not too hot, gentle breeze, bright sun and blue sky. We took a taxi over to the Assiniboine Zoo after breakfast and walked around for our exercise in the fresh air.

The gift shop is always a good spot, and Diane models the latest in fashion accessories for us.

There were a fair range of animals, and tons of peafowl who made the loudest screeches I have ever heard from a bird. I tried stumping my cane at them, and the girls tried chasing them, but we couldn't get them to fan their tails out for us.

After lunch, we tottered around a bit more and then came back to the hotel for a rest.

We walked up for a quick bit of shopping to the Portage Place Mall where we ate dinner. I got my second chance to have sushi...omigosh I am in heaven!!!! The girls seem to be enjoying A&W.

We had tickets to the movie, "To The Arctic" in 3D at the IMAX.

And it was a good film. But the fun of the night was apparently to be had in the lobby, where they had a small "Hurricane Simulator". Basically, you pay $2.00 and let gentle breezes (in Sanikiluaq terms) waft over you. Of course, it had to be tried out...

Yes, it was fun!

We are back in our rooms now, the girls are visiting with some folks from home who are out on medical for check-ups. I thought I would be creative and write in syllabics on my run shirt to advertise our community. So I carefully wrote out "Paatsaali, Sanikiluaq, Nunavut" on a slip of paper and asked if it was correct. I guess Diane was distracted because she did nod, but the laughter started after I had drawn, in permanent marker, that I am representing "Paatsaal-ah" school. D'Oh! Oh well. At least I got the Sanikiluaq and Nunavut right. Two out of three ain't bad!

An early night, for the big event is tomorrow! Wish us luck! 

TTFN!

Terri and the troops.

Day 2-1/2 of the Running Club Trip

So, another busy day has come and is winding down. We started off walking down to the West Broadway Youth Centre on Furby Street to collect our running kits and t-shirts. The girls are very excited and keep swearing that they will kick my proverbial behind in the run. ha ha, we shall see!

From the run centre, we took a taxi to the Polo Place shopping mall, and had a good day of shopping and browsing. The girls were able to get most of what they wanted, so that was good. And best, there was a Black's camera shop and they charged my camera battery for a small fee. It felt good to be able to capture our trip on film once again! It had begun to rain as we left but we hoped it would clear for the ball game, We ordered in KFC for dinner...yummy but so not good for the diet, LOL!

We walked in sunshine (yay!) to Shaw Park for the game.

The girls wanted their photo with the mascot of the Winnipeg Goldeyes, Goldie himself. He was very happy to oblige us with some shots. And I had them announce a welcome to the Paatsaali Running Club from Nunavut during the game.

I gave the girls a little bit of spending splurge money so they could get a souvenir. I had "helping hands" to spare, LOL! My sillies, pictured below! :-D 

They were the happiest at the end of the game because (a) we won!, and (b) they got autographs and photos from almost all of the players, who were great sports and very patiently signed everything from tickets to iPods to foam hands as mementos for the girls. 

They were certainly happy! 

A walk home, cheering back to the cars full of fans that passed us. I know I'll be in bed early tonight, LOL! 

All in all, a great second full day. The Assiniboine Zoo tomorrow and our run on Sunday!

TTFN!

Terri and the gang.

Our Running Club Trip...Day 1-1/2

Well, first off let me explain the 1-12...we left about 3:00 pm on Wednesday and arrived in the Peg around 6:00 pm Winnipeg time after having to land in La Grande to refuel, and then were too busy to post. Long story about the fuel, the short form is Sanikiluaq and Kuujjuarapik are short on jet fuel so have to divert to La Grande for a couple of weeks until the Hercules arrives with more. Now THAT will be a big town event! Anyhow, here's a shot of us gathering prior to departure...

...and all ready for take-off! Woohoo, our first official Sports Club Trip!!!!

And our refuel wait in La Grande...

It was beautiful in Winnipeg, just like summer. I looked awfully funny getting off the plane in my parka...

Anyhow, we got to the hotel without any major incidents and went out in search of dinner. Well, for a big area like the downtown core, you'd have thought we would see restaurants everywhere...

Nope.

We did finally find a Subway after walking about 20 blocks, so we got in some 

good exercise after the long trip. Then we went to see "The Hunger Games" at 10:30 pm. Late night!

This morning, we donned our runners at 8:30, after breakfast, and went walking in search of Mulvey School to see where the run will take place. Never found the school, but we found the corner we needed to turn down. I called it on account of us already being well past the time allotted. I had guesstimated a mile, it was closer to two, so we walked almost 4 miles. Then we were off to the Manitoba Museum of Man with a planetarium and a science centre as well. Cool! 

We got to see the show, "To the Moon" in the planetarium and it was fun to reminisce about the landings and watching the moon walk at Auntie June's cottage. Then a bite of lunch and a trip through the Science exhibits...here the girls are in the pulley chairs, showing how the double and triple pulleys reduce the load and can lift a large load with ease. Yep, I tried it, too!

We followed that with a trip to the Inuit Centre and a visit with some of the people from Sanikiluaq who are in Winnipeg on medical trips. What a wonderful surprise...one of the nurses has a Nunavut flag and gave it to us to carry on our run! I will need to get MANY photos (see subsequent post on shopping trip reschedule). Dinner and back to the hotel to refresh and a run up to the Dollorama store, which I bought out. I may not fit all of my junk into a suitcase, LOL! I have an eye to expanding the canteen at recess and bought a LOT of junk to try...bubble gum, suckers, tootsie rolls, sour candies, different chocolate bars, and so on. It will sell well, especially as much of it will only be 25 cents.

Tomorrow we are changing from zoo to shopping as I have a dead camera battery. Had my charger in my hand and put it BESIDE the suitcase, not IN the suitcase...DERP! So off to Future Shop to get a new one. And shop, and shop, and shop, and eventually drop. We are then going to see a Winnipeg Goldeyes game which will be fun. More need for photos.

So I'm off to bed, and so are the charges in my care, and we are having a great time!

TTFN!

Terri

Where, oh where, is the nicer weather?

Today

• -1°C
• 60%
• Mon

• -2°C
• -4°C
• 30%

Tue

• 2°C
• -3°C
• 30%

Wed

• 2°C
• 0°C

Thu

• 3°C
• -2°C
• 60%

 

So, the reason for my rant is obvious...I am so heartily sick of cold, wet, windy weather. Sigh...

I am officially using a cane these days. The hip injury in January was a torn muscle that has not healed due to continuous use. The cane is helping, although the kids all tell me I look old now. Starting to feel that way too, LOL!

The girls and I are looking forward to our trip, with a scheduled departure set for 2:00 pm on Wednesday. I will post updates and photos. My senior boys are eagerly planning their trip in October. I am proud to say we ahve fundraised to the tune of nearly $7000 so far. Woohoo for us!

It seems strange to find the end of the year so close to us now. I am already planning for the first weeks back. I have my homeward tickets booked, am planning summer outings and so on, so it should feel close. But it has not felt like a full year here. It seems like just a couple of months have passed and yet it's almost time for year end! Strange thing, this fluidity and lack of continuity in the sensation of time passing. I remember how summers (and school years) were endless as a kid. Now they are just a brief flash in the pan and gone...

Anyhow, not much else is new, so I'll keep you posted on the Winnipeg happenings!

TTFN!

Terri

Finally!

The snow is about half melted, and I can now see the ice in the harbour peeking out from under its winter blanket. There are birds chirping and every sign that spring has not forgotten us up here in the tundra. My Honda and I are sporting the latest in designer fashion by wearing matching (mud)beige polka-dots on all our clothing, LOL! With the hills here, everything is melting and running down the roads, leaving puddles and small rivers everywhere. Needless to say, I splash through a lot of them riding back and forth, ergo the fashionable splatter-look. I am driving more this year as I think that is what kept the battery from keeping its charge last year. Ta-dum, I love my Honda!

The preparations for our 5K racing trip are well in hand. We have bought out the canteen, and are now running it daily. I am ordering in supplies and keeping my accounting records straight. Still waiting on the cheque from Sport Nunavut but we fortunately have raised enough to have been able to book our hotel and pay for our airline tickets out of our account. If all else fails, I will use one dedicated credit card for our expenses and simply sign out the cash to pay it off as soon as the cheque arrives (it's in the mail, natch!) We fly out on May 30th, and our itinerary includes a day at the Manitoba Museum, a day at the Assiniboine Zoo, a Goldeyes baseball game, some time exercising and scoping out the race course, and of course some quality shopping and movie time at Portage Place Mall. I am VERY excited, and so are the first four lucky runners! At least four more going to Montreal in October for a 10K, and maybe more if we can afford it. We now have 18 registered runners in the club and growing. I may have to break into Junior and Senior divisions...

Today I finally had my own first really good run in a long time. My hip is still bothering me, and I may have pulled or torn a ligament. I cannot lift my leg very well, and it is impossible to bend it to the side. I have to put my clothing on the floor to step into, and I find it challenging to put on socks or slippers. The left leg is fine, but the right one needs some TLC. Anyhow, after limping through a bare mile for the last few weeks I ran 4 miles today, a full hour, and felt like I could have gone much longer. I decided not to push it and left it feeling smugly content with myself.

Lots of fundraising ahead of us: Movie Nights every Saturday, two Music Nights, one Arctic Records concert night, and two cakewalk/yarn pull nights with another community showing of the film "People of a Feather" starring our own Mary Kavik's family here in Sanikiluaq. It will be coming with me for family showing this summer. Nice to be able to show others my town and community members!

We're also down to our last few weeks in the school calendar! Where has the year flown? I have my tickets home booked and paid, and my plans for several jaunts hither and yon made. I am most looking forward to my trip to Thailand. Now if only the price of the tickets would begin to drop...

Off to eat some lunch after my run...brought the fixings with me to work and I'll go get everything ready in the kitchen. The Jell-o and the monster cookies are made for tonight's movie, my canteen cart has been inventoried, pop is chilling in the fridge and we are set to roll.

TTFN!

Terri