March 29th

This was taken Saturday night at the high school dance. Our rockin' DJ was Big G, otherwise known as Gus. His trusty sidekick was Drew, our Science teacher. Between the two, they kicked out some pretty decent jams... at least for the half hour I was there. ha ha



Just another sunset picture... I really am a sucker for sunsets! The sun is coming up about 7 am and setting about 9:30ish. The days are getting longer and a bit warmer as well.



Whale Island is on the right and Bisquit on the left. This is the frozen Norton Sound. It really is beautiful out there right now. The rocks are all ice covered and the sun glistens on them. Kind of takes your breath away.

Things here in SMK continue to go well. We are starting the Steve Otten Memorial basketball tournament tonight. Believe it or not... I am playing...well let's say, I am on a team. Should be a blast... will probably have some pictures later from that as Joe has insisted on being the official team photographer.

Until next time....

Humpty, humpy, whatever it is....

Whatever it was called... here we are! Memories, memories... isn't that what life is all about... making memories!

The Yoopers - alive and well in Alaska!

Here we are on the Iditarod trail!


Melanie and I at her camp. It was beautiful out there. Oh yea, the snow was deeper than it first appeared. lol

Well it's 11:22 am on Saturday, March 25th. We have a workday today so of course I am working diligently. I actually just finished my progress reports. Progress reports go out at the end of the quarter, which means the end of another quarter down! It is hard to believe we only have two months before the school year is over.

We are still without water/sewer at 906 Yooper Heights Drive. We continue to survive and deal with this situation like true Yoopers. Rumor has it that the village water tank, that is currently supplying the school and few homes with water, is running low on water. Normally, it would last the winter, however, when the crews were working on the frozen pipes, they used a lot of water, heating it and trying to thaw pipes. This whole experiment left the reserve lower than normal. There... did that make any sense at all? Anyway, the short of it all... the whole village could run dry.

March 21st continued...

This is one of the hills in UNK that the kids sled down. We couldn't resist it. Patty toe-picked her way up about 3/4 of the way. I climbed up the end of the hill. It was pretty rough climbing but not near what she was doing. When I got to the top, Patty looked up and cried out for help. I really wasn't in a position to assist her so, of course, I laughed... she lost her toe grip and down she went. It was an awesome slide down!!! Just like being a kid all over again!


This is mile 698 of the Iditarod trail. This is the route we took on snowmobiles Sunday afternoon.


Here's Patty... on her new sled. She collected stakes, booties, and other memos from the trail.

We're home again...

Tuesday, March 21st
We are now back at home in St. Michael. We flew to Unalakleet on Wednesday, March 15th. We spent time there working at the district office doing file reviews. We learned a ton about the files and got many helpful tips! Thanks to Taz and Lunnie! Of course it wasn't all work... we were able to catch some of the Iditarod action.


This is the Unalakleet checkpoint for the race. The mushers leave the dogs here to get some rest and food, while the mushers head indoors to do the same. Our buddy Mel lives literally right next to the checkpoint so we had front row seats. (The majority of teams had been through but better late than never.)



This is one of the teams that had just come in. The dogs were over in the hay and the vets are on the location to check them all over.



These were some of the sleds that were being shipped "home". The mushers change sleds at, I believe, two predetermined locations. These mushers picked up their new sleds and were blazing the trail again. It really is amazing how much they cram into these little sleds. (That is Patty in the picture and Mel's house just to her right.)

More amazing photos from UNK to follow!

March 14th, 2006

It's Tuesday morning and I know I haven't posted anything in a long time. So I decided before Nancy and Jack send me an email reminder, I better get something on here. ha ha
It's back to work today after being off since Thursday. The teachers last year decided to split up the spring break into long weekends. This past weekend being the first. It really was nice but I still think I'd like the entire week off. Anyway, it was a nice, restful weekend. I caught up on some laundry and cleaning. Patty was out of town with the last of the basketball games for the year. Our boys ended up 4th for Regionals. They played some great games and had a terrific season.
Patty and I fly out tomorrow for Unalakleet. We will be going to the District Office to do some files. While we are there, we will be able to see some of the Iditarod! I am pretty pumped about that! Just think on that one Nancy... the next time I post, I should have pictures of that for you! 8) We'll be in UNK until Monday, March 20th.
Everything continues to go well here in St. Michael. Still no sewer, still no water, but still loving life!

Welcome to Monday morning...

It's Monday, March 6th. What a weekend! Pretty busy life here on Yooper Heights Drive. We had boy's basketball home games with Teller. (Storm defeated those Grizzly bears.) We also had Potlatch going on in Stebbins. Friday night I headed to the Potlatch to watch Kristy, one of my students, do her first dance.

This is Kristy. She did a great job!


The above picture is of Kristy's family passing out her gifts. The family presents the elders with a variety of gifts. Kristy's niece, 2 nephews, and 2 cousins did their first dance with her. Each dancer has personal gifts on their arms to begin their dance. I was honored to receive some of Kristy's gifts. I plan to make my kuspuk from the material she gave me.

Jeannie, Patty and I went to Stebbins after the ball game Saturday. We had been invited over to Grandma Pete's house. I was introduced to the family by my new Eskimo name, given to me by Rosina. We then went to watch ball games and then off to the dances.


This photo was taken Saturday night. Once a person has done their first dance, they are allowed to dance any of the dances they know. It is against custom to dance before you have performed your first dance. Kristy is in yellow, her mom, Rosina, in blue beside her, grandma, Gertie, next on left, and sister, Bobbi, is in the white.

Needless to say, Sunday was our day of rest!

March already...

I really have a hard time believing it is the first of March. It is absolutely amazing how fast the year is going. We now have less than 3 months of school left.
Well winter has hit Alaska once again. We are currently under a blizzard warning. It's about -2 with the winds blowing and snow is in the air. Ahhhh... the joys of living in Alaska... not so unlike Michigan mind you.
906 Yooper Heights Drive is still without water and sewer. Dealing with this situation is almost becoming routine now. The honeybucket, sorry Roger, duties are not so foreign and hauling water is just part of the daily life. Laundry night has become my Saturday evening entertainment at Jeannie's. The latest word is that it will be spring before things return to "normal". I'm not sure if I've discussed this before, but the people of St. Michael are not strangers to this type of living. They have only had running water and sewer since June of 05.
Life is good...