I've Been Schooled....

So I'm taking a class and we have to identify animals, plants, trees, & flowers. And I have been looking at my field guide and I just can't find out what this is:

unknown flower....

I took this picture sometime between July & August.....but if you can tell me what this is, then please let me know. I'm going to turn in my homework anyways, so I'm not cheating....now, it's a mission of curiosity. 

On another, yet school related note: I've decided to go back to school. I realized that I really enjoy early literacy and working with kids on their reading skills. So I thought, "Why don't I take some reading classes?" After looking at some programs, I decided to try for a second master's in Education: Reading Specialist. I've applied to the University of Alaska Southeast and I've taken the first step. We shall see what comes next. 

This week was a pretty tame week....sure we had a snowstorm, but everything was fine. The weather was nice and Dakota and I had a nice long walk. Today I decided to take a path down by the riverbank. The snow was a tad, okay a lot, deeper than I had intended and I got quite the workout. 

I've decided to stay and teach in Akiak another year. Most of my friends are leaving and that makes me sad. But I'm not ready to leave just yet. I'll miss my friends, but I have learned that friendships don't end just because someone moves. If anything my friendships will just cover more land. 

I've made another goal for this year: my goal is to visit a new place in Alaska. I've only been to Anchorage, Girwood, Bethel, Akiachak, and Akiak. I've decided I need to see more. I'm feeling an adventure heading my way!! And since Alaska is so dog friendly....Dakota will be my co-pilot.

By the way, did you know that Chewbacca was inspired by George Lucas's Alaskan Malamute?? Okay, that's not why I got Dakota but how can this be coincidence?  So that makes me Han and Dakota's Chewie...

Here are some pictures of my co-pilot enjoying the snow:

Dakota and Spencer

Dakota, Stickeen, and I

My Baby Boy

Liar's Weekend

My spring break was spent in Anchorage.....and it was a lot of fun!

Here's the breakdown:

Wednesday~


*Rental car: So here's the thing why you should book online. Sometimes when you get to the rental counter, EVERY SINGLE CAR WILL HAVE BEEN RENTED OUT. I went to several counters. I had wanted to get a small SUV or something with some weight and trunk space. What I ended up getting was a Ford Fiesta. Which is neither heavy or has trunk space. And it was the first time I've ever had to drive on ice. I was scared as hell to drive.

*First stop: a clinic. I've had a horrible cough and was waking up choking the past few nights. I wanted either some incredibly awesome cough medicine OR an inhaler. Plus, I got winded while walking through the airport. BUT I got the inhaler and was put on antibiotics. Maybe not the greatest start to a weekend, but I was on the road to feeling better.

*Hotel: The Puffin Inn. Michelle and her daughter Jessica brought their two yorkies (Lulu was due to get spayed & BooBoo needed her rabies shot) and the Puffin is very pet friendly. So, Michelle, Jessica, another teacher Hope, and I got the jacuzzi suite. Granted, the jacuzzi tub was right in the bedroom outside of the bathroom....but that was par for the course of our trip thus far.

*Dinner: Red Robin....now this is where the fun begins. Not only was dinner totally awesome but Michelle had forgotten her driver's license. So while she stepped out, Hope told the lady that it was Michelle's birthday. So Michelle was surprised with everyone gathered around the table singing her happy birthday. To top it off, she got a birthday sundae. Hope had her camera ready and took some fabulous pics of the moment.

*Shopping: Walmart.....need I say more??? ;)

*Sleeping: my first night away from Dakota.....poor baby!!!

Thursday~

*First stop: Anchorage DMV.....My goal was to get my Alaskan Driver's license....And there was hardly any wait time. I took my test and I passed! Yay! HOWEVER, my mother had "laminated" my social security card 20 years ago, which the state of Alaska refused to accept. I was told to go the Social Security office to get a letter of verification.

*Second stop: Anchorage Social Security Office.....where my ticket said the estimated wait time was 10 minutes. Awesome! 50 minutes later, I was in the same seat watching Patty Duke and George Takei tell me about all the things you can do on the website. Some crazy lady sat down next to me and started talking to herself.....I checked to see if she had a blue tooth in her ear....nope, just crazy. I was sure I was mistaken and there HAD to be a phone. I still didn't see one and she started saying something about a "nosey b**ch" so I decided to ignore her. FINALLY, my number was called.

*Third stop: back to the Anchorage DMV....where I got my license. I had to surrender my California Driver's License....which was a big thing for me. I am now officially an Alaskan resident.

*Shopping: the DMV was right next to the downtown mall.....and I did some fun shopping! I bought shoes, earrings, socks, and went to the food court where I had some awesome fried won tons....yum! But the highlight was my first stop to Build a Bear.....where I made a Darth Vader teddy bear....it was a hard choice with all those cute little dresses, but c'mom, I couldn't pass up on Darth Vader....but he is wearing hello kitty panties....

Darth Teddy

*Vet's: Next it was time to pick up Lulu from her appointment....and it was Boo's time. Hope and I waited for them in the waiting room....not such a wonderful time.

*Dinner: Moose's Tooth....so we all had bought headbands at the mall for that night's dinner. Hope had a giant pink bow....Michelle & Jessica had cute little feather headbands....mine was the largest, most glamorous of the bunch....which should come as a surprise to all of you. Here's a pic:

bringing back the glamour

On the way to dinner, we decided that we had so much fun having a fake birthday, that we should make every dinner a fake event. So after tossing ideas back & forth, it was decided that this dinner would be in honor of my "Divorce Party". That's right folks, I was getting divorced. It wasn't as well played out as the other nights, BUT my ex-husband (K Dawg) and I had a mock phone fight in the middle of the bar at Moose's Tooth. People seriously freaked out when we started fight about custody of our "child". That part rocked. As for the pizza? I had heard it was the best in all of Alaska....but I think California can seriously challenged Alaska to a pizza off and win....

Friday~

*First stop: H & R Block. I spent two hours getting my 2010 and 2011 taxes done. Do I need to say more?

*Shopping: Walmart, different mall, & Pet Smart.....I bought groceries, a new outfit, Hello Kitty vans, Batgirl Converse, and more jewelry, toys & chew toys for Dakota, and some new stuff for my kitties. We shopped from 4:00 - 9:00 straight....

*Dinner: Tonight's dinner was going to be held at Humpy's (as seen on Man vs. Food). For dinner we were going to celebrate Jessica's bachelorette party. At first, she was going to marry my ex, but thing she decided on someone else. She had a sash to wear and we had bridesmaids pins to wear. Here's my pic for that night:

it's blurry but there I am..

I wasn't too impressed with Humpy's. We found a table in the back and there wasn't a lot of mingling or interacting with other people. The food wasn't fantastic, nor were the drinks. We ladies had a good time though. Older men kept coming up to us and giving us compliments. Older men, you may ask? One man had on his WWII veteran's hat....he's the one who said he heard there were former Miss America's sitting in the back. Overall, it was sweet and I felt flattered. I think I'd rather someone make me feel beautiful rather than just "hot". 

*Packing it all up: It was now 1:00 in the morning and our flight was leaving in 5 1/2 hours. And I still had to pack. I had: 1 tote, 1 duffel bag, and 1 trash can with a lid. I needed a new trash can and wasn't sure how to ship it back. So I packed it full of stuff and checked it in as luggage. Hands down the most off the wall thing I've ever checked in as luggage. I really wish I had taken a picture of all the stuff I needed to pack. But I didn't.....

*Can't forget the jacuzzi! It was now 2 in the morning....We were supposed to leave in 3 hours. Everyone went to bed but I had not yet used the jacuzzi tub. You don't pay for a jacuzzi tub and not use it. So, I took a bath in the bedroom while everyone else slept. I got too comfortable and wanted to fall asleep, so it wasn't a long bath....but it felt good!

Saturday~

*Rise and Shine: Hope woke me up @ 4:30 a.m. I had two hours of sleep and was ready to leave by 5. I dropped off Hope (not all of our stuff would fit in the Fiesta - shocker! So Michelle & Jess took a shuttle) and returned the rental car. I even had time to get some McDonald's before we had to board the plane.

*Welcome back to EXTREME cold: I was really glad to have my snow pants on. It was amazingly cold. It was seriously one of the coldest bush plane rides I've ever had....and I was all dressed up. Not everyone was.....

So now I'm back home to my babies. Spring break is over and tomorrow is back to work. My trip to Anchorage went by very fast but it was a good, productive one. I'm healthier, licensed, and my taxes are done......plus, I got to dress up and go shopping. Really: who could ask for anything more????

And now I leave you with Michelle showing off her puffin socks that happen to match the puffin wall decor....in the jacuzzi tube which is in the bedroom.....

Lock Downs, Puppies, and Other Things

 A couple of weeks ago, I was getting ready for work when I got a call from my friend Owen. He said not to leave the house because there was some major shooting going on outside and the principal had called a lock down. Parents were being called to keep their kids home until further notice.

The lock down went on for a couple of hours. I spend most of that time on the internet and on the phone with my colleagues. We all wanted the latest update. There was nothing really to do. But then I started thinking, "How am I going to spend the day with my kids? Will they be scared? Will they be shaken up? What kind of condition will they be in?"

As a teacher, I am expect to get results no matter what condition my students are in. It doesn't matter if a child is abused, neglected, scared, traumatized, hungry, tired, angry, etc. If that child doesn't show growth according to a standardized test, then I am a BAD TEACHER. I am not doing a good enough job. It doesn't even matter if they show even a little bit of growth. If it's not the predetermined score (which increases every year by the way), then again, I am a BAD TEACHER.

I had decided that my students would need to feel comfort and secure on that lock down day. I planned to have some cool activities and just take it easy with them. Almost all of my students entered the room shouting "There was shooting!" But aside from that, I found out they hadn't been scared. The shooting was outside the school where there aren't a lot of houses. But I still made sure I was extra gentle and patient. The rest of the day was uneventful.

The biggest change in my house has been Dakota leaving behind his puppy stage and entering his adolescent stage. This will be his stage for the next couple of years. I read a book by the Dog Whisperer, and he said that Dakota will be testing me. So far, he's been pretty annoying. Like today, we went on a long walk down the beach (it was -8 degrees) and he's had plenty of food & water. He's housebroken so I took him out when he needed to go....but darn if he didn't follow me all day barking at me. I pet him, walked him.....finally, I filled a kong with some peanut butter hoping for a few minutes peace. Two minutes. He had that thing cleaned out in two minutes.

He just went through a growth spurt. Which means he has to learn how to be gentle all over again. His body changes and he doesn't know his own strength. Right now, Daisy the cat won't leave the safety of her cat room and my arms have bruises. He'll relearn "gentle" just in time for his next growth spurt. I'm sure of it!

There has been some sad news in Laraland. It seems my dearest friends the Ms may not be coming back next year. I can't go into the specifics, but I really don't want to see them go. I wish things were different. I really do.

And now for something completely different......I am coming to the end of my first week on Weight Watchers. I don't like to go on about my weight challenges, but I thought some people might be interested to know that you can eat healthy and lose weight out in the bush. At least for one week! ;) I have heard a lot of people say that you can't eat healthy, lose weight, etc and I think if you really want to, it can happen. I had everything I needed to start thanks to last year's failed attempt. But this week went really well. I get fresh fruit & veggies delivered from Full Circle Farms and Weight Watchers will deliver out here as well. I also have a good internet connection, so I can look up the food points. That was a stumbling block last year. I ordered a points calculator, but it hasn't gotten here. So I needed some way to look up the information. And last year they were sold out of the calculators for a while. But like I said, so far, so good. I'll post big milestones if people are interested.

I am heading to Anchorage the weekend after next for a girl's weekend. I want to get my Alaskan Driver's License and I need to have H&R Block do my taxes. The coolest thing about the trip is I used my Alaskan Airlines miles I had saved up and instead of paying $400, I only had to pay $5. That's right! I got a $5 trip to Anchorage...well, the flight anyways....renting a car & hotels will cost extra.

I leave you with some recent pics of Dakota.....

The Mighty Dakota (it's a love seat)

He's getting so big!

I love his smile in this pic....