Sunday, August 18, 2013

And we begin year 2

After a summer in Minnesota, I am back in Nome, Alaska for another school year. I had a great time at home with my family and my friends. I didn't enjoy the heat so much, but I kept busy and that was great. I went to four Twins games and did lots of shopping. I did the Relay for Life with my team and I happily did not do 26 miles again. It was a great trip home, but I am glad to be back in Nome. My flights were great and I made it back in just under 12 hours. Since being back it has been beautiful most days. August, as usual, is a bit rainy and wet in Alaska. The ocean and mountains are as wonderful as when I left! 



I've already made a trip to Teller and the Pilgrim Hot Springs since I've gotten back at the end of July. The road to Teller was a bit muddy because it was raining, but I managed to pick berries for the first time! I got about a gallon of salmon berries in the hour I was galavanting around the tundra. The hot springs were way to hot! 120 degrees is to hot to get into, but I happily did some exploring in the areas around the hot springs. I was covered in mosquito bites at the end of that 7 hour trip, but it was a great trip! 


Salmon berries from my trip to Teller

We had our inservice last week at school and it was terribly boring. I am not good at sitting and listening to other people talk for 8 hours. I did a lot of doodling and brought some stuff I wanted to get done in prep for my kids to come to school. My room is mostly ready. It is the cleanest looking kindergarten classroom at our school right now. It actually looks like a classroom and not a storage space. My bulletin boards are up and beautifully decorated. All my name tags and cubby labels are made and ready to be laminated. I was being a nice person and helping a new teacher put up a bulletin board, she had never put one up before, when I hurt myself. I jumped off the counter as I always do, but this time I landed less than gracefully and twisted my ankle pretty bad. I thought I had broken it because it still hurt like crazy and I couldn't walk two hours after so I went to the ER. I had X-rays done and there were no visible fractures so that is good. I got an air cast and crutches to use. After a few days I gave up on the crutches but I am still wearing my air cast. I am just glad I got most of my hard work done before I hurt myself. 

Our staff went swimming in the Bering Sea on Friday and it was so great! Last year when we swam it was overcast and misting and the water was very cold. This year the sun was shining and the water was much warmer. I swam for quite a while out in the Bering. The cool water felt great on my ankle, getting out of the water was a different story. The waves pull you back in and the sand crumbles beneath your feet so it was a bit difficult for me to gimp out. We had hot dogs and brats afterward on the beach and a great big fire too. It was a beautiful day and I was happy to finally be able to go swimming. 


 Beautiful sunset in Nome, AK
 Musk ox super close to my apartment

First walrus I see is dead and headless on the beach@

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