What a week

Ok so can I just say how disappointed I am in the IRS?? I sent my taxes in a gazillion years ago (ok end of March) and still don't have anything! Plus the rebate checks are supposed to be out this week...I haven't seen mine yet which just makes me worry more! But seriously I want that money!! Ok I'm over it...well kind of...but at least I can pretend!

So this week has been absolutely insane! Between the "trying to pack" and all the chaos in the world it's been crazy! The weekend was great and I actually got a ton of stuff done but man...Monday I'm at Danielle's watching "How I Met Your Mother" and she mentions there were tornadoes in VA!! Ok so one touched down at my favorite Target!! So I spent Monday night and Tuesday trying to get a hold of people! But thank goodness everyone is fine and doing well! There's just a mess to clean up in some places. (Ok so that's not true for EVERYONE but at least it is for everyone I know.)

And then the rest of Tuesday happened where I borrowed a drill and now it won't work anymore, my DVD player wouldn't play DVDs last night and neither would my Dell. So I picked up a book and went to bed...oh well life goes on!

Ok so there is a tradition of taking bets as to when Break Up will occur...in Anchorage this ends up being like a $100000 award (or higher...I forget). And by the way my new bet is June 1st at the rate it's going!!

So I should go get something done now!! I'll add pictures again eventually...13 school days left (including today!)

Seafood

What can I say this week has been crazy busy! Friday was definitely weird because it's the weekend of Russian Orthodox Easter so we only had like 20 kids in grades K-12 because the rest were in church in the morning. I'm not even sure we're going to have any on Monday but we'll see. (Last night they started church at 11 pm and go until like 6 am so the village is pretty quiet right now!)

And have I mentioned that it's light until almost 11:30 pm?? Talk about crazy! So I'm trying to get some good sleep because of having my schedule off but due to the light you forget to look at the time and then you're like crap it can't be that late! But such is life in Alaska! (Plus sunrise is like 6 am which is just as crazy!) Oh well...gotta luv spring!

Speaking of Spring we had a couple of beautiful days last week where it was mid to high 40s and then just when you think it's going to really start to melt and thaw out...it snowed again! But not like it did in Anchorage! It's been crazy weather around there! Oh well, life goes on...ya gotta luv that it's been interesting!

I think that's about it for the last week. I keep saying I'm going to start packing but I was waiting for an address to send it all too...well I have that now...so now we'll work on the whole packing thing. It shouldn't take long as I don't have NEARLY as much as I did last year!

As for the pictures I'm adding...the one is me eating King Crab last week when we were in Anchorage...such good stuff!! I loved it!! It was fabulous!! Have I mentioned how much I love Seafood??? Like to the point I may go home and take some salmon out of the freezer and have that for dinner later....hmmmm..that's an idea...oh well we'll see. The others are just pictures of Anchorage on one of the days we were there! It was beautiful and a great time!

Back to Stu

So I have to admit since last week was so busy it's really nice being home but now there is so much to do! But have no fear as always, it's never boring coming home. When I returned to Stu, I of course called Staci as she was the one who got my mail and stuff which was awesome! But she came over and asked if I had looked in my freezer yet...when I said no...she said I may want to. So I opened the door and well...the picture explains it all. What can I say it's never boring being home!

Anchorage Pentathlon!

Ok so the week has been insane! But all in a good way! We went to get the kids' hair done on Tuesday then shopped the day away! Wednesday we drove to Wasilla and Palmer and the kids were able to tour the Job Corps which was a great experience for them! Went to lunch and shopping again! Thursday we were able to compete and meet the other teams! It was great plus they were able to meet all the other students. Plus we placed 3 students in the speech finals! Friday the kids did the speech finals in front of everyone and then did the current event quizzes. I'm sooo proud! We placed in a ton of areas which was awesome! (I'll put the list together later!) Today is Saturday and our last day in Anchorage...what a day! We went shopping, went to the movies and then did dinner at the Crow's Nest which is a fabulous restaurant on the top floor of the Captain Cook Hotel in downtown Anchorage. You could see the entire city and the kids were able to enjoy a fancy dinner. (There were multiple forks and knives!) I can't believe we go back tomorrow! I'll add more pictures and stories but here's a start!

Anchorage!

Ok so this has to be quick but I thought I'd drop a line anyway! I'll add pics tomorrow! So Monday we headed out to Imaginarium and the kids were able to touch some reptiles and then we went shopping! I can honestly say that I have now figured out how to keep from shopping...go with 5 middle school girls who need dress clothes! My brain still hurts!!

So after shopping ALL day it we were exhausted but were still able to go ice skating! There's a rink in one of the malls we were in! A couple of the kids had never been ice skating so it was so much fun! And they all did really well! I was so proud of me!

Then for dinner we went to Bennihanna's which is a Japanese restaurant. We had so much fun! Some of the kids hadn't been there before so they were WAY excited! Then Danielle and kids "got" Lawrence and I as it was his birthday on Monday and they had gotten us balloons and a cake! It was soooo awesome! I was just shocked!

Then today a group went to get their hair done, which took most of the morning, the rest of us stayed at the hotel and chilled (ok so Nick and I napped but the boys chilled!) But the afternoon was fun, we headed to Red Robin for lunch where once again they sang to Lawrence and I (he gets WAY excited about this!) Then on to shopping..again! It was fabulous!

Finally our day ended with Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy. We started with a backstage tour and then the show! It was amazing! My heart rate went up like 100 beats due to the acts but overall they were great! Ok so I REALLY need to crash...I'll chat more later! (Did I mention I did get one more birthday present for myself??? You'll have to wait and see!)

Anchorage!

Wow! So we got in Friday....it's been sooo busy and crazy since! We didn't do much but go to Walmart on Friday night (that was crazy since we had to pick out swimsuits for the girls and wow!) So Saturday we ran around town, at least Gabby, Danielle and I did! Danielle got her taxes done, I got my Alaska driver's license, and Gabby got her first cup of real coffee! Overall a good day! Then the kids and I went to H2Oasis...wow I'm still tired and it's Monday! But we had a blast and we then went to Golden Carroll for dinner! The kids were famished!

Sunday was fabulous! We got up early and drove to Seward where we got on a cruise and looked at the marine life! It was wild! We saw Harbor Seals, the dall sheep, dall purpoises (look like mini orcas), sea lions, and then the whales we saw were Orcas! It was awesome!! Ok so things to do and places to go!!

28 days...

Ok so as of today we have 28 more work days to go in the school year! That just sounds crazy as we have snow on the ground still and spring hasn't officially sprung yet! But nevertheless tomorrow we leave for Anchorage. It's Danielle, Nick, 8 middle school students and myself! I can't believe the trip is here already! The kids are way past excited and we just keep adding to the excitement as we're getting ready to make sure things are done!

Of course since procrastination is my middle name...I have to clean my house, do laundry, and pack yet! Plus put together my shopping list and things to do while we're in Anchorage. I have all the paperwork now I just have to organize it! (Please wish me luck on that!)

But on to the scariest news of all. Currently our school and village is having an outbreak of scabies (it's like lice but smaller and embeds itself in your skin.) So we had a huge assembly this morning where the kids were spoken to about it. Oh did I also mention that we also have an outbreak of lice as well?? So after that assembly all I really want to do is go home and take a shower! Oh well, we learn something new everyday!

I think that's it! Look for new pictures throughout the next week and keep me in your prayers for passing the driver's test! (Don't ask I'm not happy with my pass rate at this point!)

NYO

NYO or Native Youth Olympics is in full swing this time of year! We held a meet this weekend with Kolignek, Aleganek, Dillingham, and Manatocuk. (I have no idea on the spellings!) NYO has a bunch of different events that the kids participate in. I would honestly say the one that impressed me the most was the one foot and two foot kicks. We had one of our guys (yep that would be a New Stu kid) did a one foot kick at 99 inches!!! Way above his head but it's awesome! I have a DVD from last year but I did take some pics...so enjoy!

Spring

Have I mentioned that the world is currently melting? Or at least it was until last night when it started to snow AGAIN. So now we have a layer of snow on top of a layer of frozen slush...But at least it's not as slick...I guess that's the positive!

So on to news...there was a plane crash last night between here and Kolignek. No one was fatally injured but the pilot is a bit bruised up. He was the only one on the plane. It's the first one by our villages in a very long time!

And on to more important news...we're in the middle of state testing and it sucks! It's ridiculously hard for our kids but they're pushing through it and I can honestly say I'm proud of them for working as hard as they are!

Plus we're on the countdown until we leave for Anchorage for Pentathlon! We have a busy week planned so I'll try to update daily! We leave after lunch on the 11th! Ok so now it's back to testing!!

Break Up

It's melting! It's melting! Ok so I feel like the Wicked Witch of the West at this point...we have officially hit spring as the entire village is beginning to melt. And when I say melt like there are HUGE puddles of water on top of the snow! But on the flip side we're starting to see the ground, like there's grass on the ground now! I'll try to get pictures but it's really kind of depressing at this point. Oh well it's the joy of spring in Alaska!

Other than that life is groovy! We're getting ready for the Anchorage trip with the Pentathlon team, I believe we're leaving on the 11th and coming back on the 20th so it'll be a busy week! But on the flip side of that hopefully I'll be able to pass my driver's test and get an Alaskan license! Wish me luck!