Stuck at a Retreat....

Happy December to everybody!

I had a very uneventful Thanksgiving. I didn't do much that day, but it was exactly what I was hoping to do. So mission accomplished! I ended up invited to a Thanksgiving/birthday feast for one of the elders in Akiak a few days later, so I felt the family love even if it wasn't with my family.

This past weekend I spent in Bethel. At a work retreat. Although, I thought work retreats were supposed to be fun & relaxing....albeit, I did have some fun, but we were talking about RTI (response to instruction OR response to interventions) and we had meetings for two days. Not very relaxing if you ask me!

On top of that, we were supposed to leave yesterday, however some fog rolled in and we were stuck in Bethel one more night. While we were waiting to hear about the planes flying, I had accidentally fallen asleep on one of the couches in the lobby of the dorm rooms we were staying at. Actually, I slept through the announcement that we were staying one more night. So I was a tad bit confused when I awoken for a few reasons.

But I did have some really good dinners, great conversations, watched some good movies...so it wasn't all bad. Some of my Facebook friends saw that there was one unpleasant incident though. Since it doesn't involve me really, it's not my story to tell. Let it be known that a woman felt very rejected & hurt. She's probably my mother's age. I talked to her and tried to cheer her up, but it was very heartbreaking to see someone so upset. I will say that the next day was a different story and the woman ended the trip feeling very much a part of things. Okay, I will also say that I ended up letting some people aware of the situation and they helped correct it right away. I just couldn't stand aside and do nothing.

I never used to be so outspoken. I was asked how I was feeling on a certain work topic at the meeting. Okay, really.....I was asked to show my feelings by picking options 1, 2, or 3. And since I didn't agree with those options, I made up my own option 4. Very publicly. I tried to be nice about it but that's how I felt.

Which is funny....in staff meetings at the start of my career, I would always be pretty quiet and taken my notes...nod my head. I never stirred the pot. I never brought any attention to myself. But Alaska has woken up my inner Woman Warrior or something. Because now, if I have an opinion you'll be the first to know it. Okay, I'm not that bad. I do keep one or two thoughts to myself. I'm making a name for myself. I just hope it's the name I want!

Another thing that was kinda funny was when I met some of the newer teachers from the different village. "Are you the teacher with the really big dog?" one of them asked. My friend, Owen, moved there and has told a few Dakota stories it seems! I'm telling you that dog is legendary!!

Still, I was very happy to get home this morning. I'm very tired and a bit sad that I missed out on my weekend. I had a paper to write and my research articles wouldn't open, so I didn't get my paper written. But it's not due until Tuesday....let's see what magic I can create. I really did try.

And so now it's December....which means I'm going to do a Inbox/Outbox of my books!!

Inbox:

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
A Dangerous Inheritance: A novel of Tudor Rivals and the Secret of the Tower by Alison Weir
Days of Blood & Starlight (Sequel to Daughter of Smoke & Bone) by Laini Taylor
Order of Darkness by Philippa Gregory
Bitterblue (Graceling Series) by Kristin Cashore

Outbox

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter ~ I liked this book. It goes back and forth between settings and times. One of the settings in Italy during the filming of Cleopatra. To be honest though, if the story was told using a linear timeline, it wouldn't be much of a story. Basically, a mysterious, beautiful actress shows up at a Italian wannabe resort and affects the people around her and those decades later. Richard Burton is a major player in the story, which made me wonder if there was any bit of truth to the novel....

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi ~ Another YA (young adult) dystopian story. This story is about a girl from a society who's brains are all wired on an internet. They spend their lives in virtual reality. When one girl is released to die outside, she meets a "savage" (an outsider who hunts, fishes, and lives without technology) on a mission of his own, and they have to work together to both find what they are looking for. One nice thing about this book is a lack of a love triangle. I'm getting kind of sick of those.

Sadly, I've only read two books since my last Inbox/Outbox. The holidays are coming up though. Hopefully, I will be able to get a lot of reading done then!!