Back to the Grind

My Christmas vacation this year was a short one, not that I am complaining so much as just remarking! I spent the first week and a bit pretty sick with the flu but still managed to fit in tons of time with friends and family and lots of catch up on sleep!  Christmas was quiet and lovely and I was spoiled by friends and family. It was nice to sit around the dinner table with those I love and laugh and share stories. Being so far away for long periods makes you really value the short time you do get to spend with family so for that I am grateful!

I've gotten almost all my shopping done, Costco was yesterday and I can't even whisper how much I spent or it becomes a real number and I have to acknowledge it. When it comes to shopping and preparing, its hard to explain to people why you need so much of this or that, I think most have a hard time understanding that when you say "I can't get it up there," you really mean "I can't get it up there!!!"  In an age of easy accessibility and a 2 minute drive to the nearest store and being able to buy whatever it is your heart (or classroom) desires or needs, it's hard for most to imagine why it is necessary to stock up on 3 containers of Ring Pops because you can't buy them in the grocery store and they are your student's favorite prize to pick from the treasure chest! 

My mom is gearing up for the trip, packing all sorts of things. I now see where I might have inherited my ability to collect, pack and overpack. I used to think it was a highly sought-after skill, honed through years of moving from one place to another, but now seeing my van packed up and we still haven't put in clothes, regular grocery store items OR Bobo, I'm beginning to see it more as a bit of a curse. 

Tonight I have some plans for a quiet New Years with good old friends. I feel lucky to have a core group of childhood friends that I can rely on and always come back to. You don't need to explain yourself to these friends, they have seen you at your best and worst, know most of your secrets and still accept you for who you are. I feel lucky that even though I made the choice to go so far away for a career, they still welcome me back with open arms as if no time has passed!

Anyways, this new year is going to be an interesting one! I don't necessarily want to set "New Years Resolutions" but I do want to set some goals for myself this new year. I hope to spend more time in the classroom working on more effective differentiation, coming up with some neat and expressive creative arts experiences for my students and getting better at detailed long-range planning. I want to try and become a more patient and positive person (although I've always said gossip, complaining and spite are the rich spices of life so we'll see how far I get with that). Of course there are the typical health and fitness goals so wish me luck on that too!

So my mom, Bobo, Carmonika, Nick and Mary and I will be taking off on Friday morning and heading back to Wemindji to start a new year and a new adventure! There is no possible way I will slide off the icy roads on this trip due to the intense amount of crap I have currently in my van. I may explode all my tires with the sheer weight of all the toilet paper and lemon juice I have acquired and in that case I will be quietly murdering my mother and collecting my inheritance early to cover the cost of repairs. 

So Happy New Year to you and yours and thank you for indulging my ego and reading faithfully!

My Mom has a blog!

http://pipinwemindji.blogspot.ca/2013/12/preparations-for-road-trip-to-wemindji.html

Enjoy!

Crappy Christmas

Excuse me if I sound a little jaded with my title up there. It's just that I have had a very stressful couple of days and am currently laying in bed wishing for a quick death. 

Lets start from the beginning shall we? After the Christmas concert, stress levels at school were considerably lower, with only the afternoon class parties on Wednesday and packing up for Christmas break looming in the distance. Wednesday after school I went to Marsha's for a delicious dinner of fajitas which in typical Aidan style I spilled numerous times on my favorite shirt, staining it forever. It was there I began to feel a little "coughy". Nothing big but taking a deep breath made my chest hurt a little. No biggie. When I got home later that night the cough had gotten worse and I didn't feel so good. Flash forward to the next morning. I have a fever, my cough is much, much worse and I sound like a wheezing donkey. I have aches, pains, chills, headache and a wicked cough. I have...THE FLU. Yes, I like to exaggerate, we know this as a fact. HOWEVER I am not fooling around this time. I did, and still do have the real flu. Sick as a low down dirty dog. Just in time for my beloved, much anticipated and well-deserved Christmas Break!! Remember when I said I had the karma of a kitten killer? Lets take that up a notch (especially when you hear my next story). I have now graduated from kitten killer karma to karma of one who pulls the legs off spiders or someone who scams old people out of their life savings.  That's me! Okay so I caught the flu (which was going around school, bound to happen) and was looking forward to a very long and uncomfortable drive. I could deal with that. At least all I had to do was sit in the same position and keep my eyes open for that one. I had some good company for part of the drive so that made things a little easier. The drive itself was pretty good all things considered. The James Bay Highway was predictably icy but the skies were clear and as long as we kept to a reasonable speed we didn't fishtail or run into any trouble. Not the case for a few of our other traveling comrades! Anyways, we saw a ton of caribou (who to be honest are pretty dumb seeming animals) which was really cool!

This brings me to the second part of my version of "A Series of Unfortunate Events". I woke up in the glorious Amosphere Hotel early Friday morning after a restless night. I packed my car up with the hammies and we were on the road. I was visibly on death's door but ready to get home!! Lots of snow and icy rain was predicted along our route home so we (Brandi, Carmen and I) wanted to get a move on. The drive to Amos the day before had already taken a couple hours longer due to the reduced speeds (for safety). All was going well until we left North Bay. About 20 minutes south of the city my low tire pressure light came on and at the exact same time a rock chipped my windshield. I was like WHAT!!!!  Then I heard what sounded like a rock getting stuck in my wheel well. I kept driving for a minute until it got kind of bumpy and a little hard to steer. I texted Brandi and Carmen and told them I needed to pull over because I suspected I had a flat. And oh a flat I did have. Like, "flat-driving-on-the-rim" kind of flat. Soooooo awesome. Brandi, being the awesome person she is told me to get my jack out and to find the spare. Well I immediately shot her down and told her that there was no way in this frosty hell I was LIFTING MY MINIVAN and changing a tire on the side of Highway 11 in the snow. So I rolled up my sleeves and did the next best thing which was call CAA. 

CAA came within half an hour which was awesome and advised me that given the weather conditions, it would not be safe for me to drive with a donut tire all the way back to the GTA. They suggested they lead me back to North Bay to a tire shop where they could repair or replace my tire given the severity of the damage. They pumped up my tire enough to drive on and we stopped about every 5 minutes to refill it until we got to the tire place. I have to tell you, these CAA guys were so helpful and reassuring, I felt totally safe and very well taken care of. Anyways turns out the tire was beyond repair and I had to buy a new $200 winter tire. So there I am, -$200, deathly ill with the real life flu, and ready to punch the next person who looks at me sideways. I had sent Carmen and Brandi on their way earlier, knowing they needed to get home and avoid bad weather. I have the route home and back pretty much burned into my memory so I was cool with driving the rest by myself. At least now I was in civilization and if anything else happened I would be able to get help quickly. 

So I took off from North Bay at around 5:30 and made pretty good time back to Oakville! Making only one stop for the ladies room and gas, I got home around 10ish. There was only some medium-to-heavy snow between North Bay and Gravenhurst, no icy roads and very little traffic which made my travel much less stressful, and I made good time despite not going over the speed limit! 

So I got home, crashed and have been trying to nurse myself back to health ever since. Having my mother home and able to take care of me has been exceptionally wonderful and I have been basically in bed for the last 2 days with Bobo and bowls of hot homemade chicken soup (my mother!) and homemade vegetable soup (Katherine!) keeping me company the whole time. Lets hope I beat this before Christmas so I can really enjoy the day! 

Enjoy some photos from my trip etc. Caribou photo cred goes to Shauna!

Oh PS crazy ice storm happened last night and while it has left Oakville in a beautiful frozen state, many are without power and tons of branches are down. Crazy! 

               Breaking all the rules!!

                 How I felt on Friday 

    Amazing soup made by an amazing friend, Katherine!

Christmas Break is ALMOST HERE!

The title says it all people.  Tomorrow afternoon at 12 (20 minutes after the bell rings) I will be hitting the icy road and making my way back to Ontario to spend the holidays with my friends and family!  I am so excited to see everyone, I definitely didn't get to see enough people in my short time back in November so it will be really nice to catch up.

It has been INSANELY busy lately with all the Christmas, travel and school preparations.  I have been busy preparing for the academic new year by getting materials, lessons and homework packages ready.  Now it is just teaching, marking and dealing with the long 4 month stretch between January and Goose Break that sends both students and teachers up the wall.  My mom will be joining me in teaching Grade 2 in the new year so I wanted to get as much of the little things done so I could be as much of a help to her as possible when she takes on the class next door.

Last weekend was really nice, Cycle 1 (grade 1 and 2) had our Christmas dinner of Pad Thai at my house followed by an awesome gift exchange, I was totally spoiled by my friends with really generous and thoughtful gifts!  The next night it was a Triplex Girls dinner with Monika and Carmen which was really nice.  Earlier in the week we had the Staff Christmas dinner which was delicious and quite fun, I won a $100 gift card to the Community Store (which will buy me approximately 2 boxes of strawberries and a carton of milk!!).  I got a hilarious and awesome Secret Santa gift which not many would understand but it was amazing and quite meaningful.  Lots of laughs!

Otherwise I have been busy at school with lots of Christmas activities and practice for the concert which took place last night!  Although Stacy had to leave the community early yesterday afternoon it went off without a hitch!  Almost all of the 25 students showed up and the performance was AWESOME!  I was sooo proud of my kids, they worked so hard, dressed to the nines and sung their hearts out!  We sang "Rudolph" and a Cree culturally-infused version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".  A busy, stressful but very fun night.  That being said I will probably never sign up for Christmas Concert Committee again given the amount of coordination and planning that is necessary along with all the regular craziness that accompanies the season!

Okay so here is the meat and potatoes of today's blog.  Something very bad happened last week. So bad I considered not even writing about it and putting out on the Internet for fear of it finding it's way into a future employer's hands.  However I have decided to throw caution to the wind for your entertainment!  You may see me homeless on the streets of Ontario one day.  Here goes..

Last Thursday Monika and I were preparing breakfast with some help from Carmen.  We were doing everything we usually do, but the stars aligned and we managed to set the kitchen on fire.  Okay well, what I think happened was that a box filled with breakfast was set on the stove that we use often as counter space (big mistake).  Somehow the burner got turned on and the box set fire once we left.  Another teacher discovered the fire not long after and took care of it with the expertise of a seasoned fire fighter, but the damage was done!  The stove was a write-off and because of the smoke and fumes, the school was cancelled for the day!  Monika and I wanted to DIE from shame and embarrassment.  I was depressed, sure I had lost my job (right before the holidays too) but we were thanked profusely by most teachers for the unexpected day off, so it was alright I guess.  We were forgiven for our silly mistake and were able to keep our jobs and Christmas was saved!

Anyways, as you can imagine I am exhausted from the past week's events and am really looking forward to some sleep, socializing and time with the family!  Wish me a safe drive tomorrow as I put on my trucker hat and take on the role of an ice road trucker!

Happy Holidays!

 Oh hi Carmonika.

 I was greeted by this the other night. Instantly enraged and depressed.  That snowpile is about 2 feet high, made of pure ice and there are 2 boulders the size of yoga balls made of similarly densely packed snow and ice.  It took me an hour just to clear the bottom of my driveway in -36!!

 Me during shovelling...

 My driveway after!! Beautiful!

 So happy to be done shovelling.  Sooooo pretty.

 The damage.

 Ugh.

 UGH!

 Staff dinner!

 Marsha not impressed.

 Yum!

 Cycle 1 Christmas haul.

 Trying for hours to get a "Christmas Family Photo" with no luck. 

Stacy's Tupperware Christmas tape.  HILARIOUS. They sing about Tupperware.  I died.

100 Posts/Crazy Snow Day!

WOWIE 100 posts. I either have no life or such an exciting one that I can't stop writing (typing?) about it! Anyways, so much has happened I feel over this past year and a bit, I am glad that I am able to share the little and big things with friends, family and even strangers! 

Okay on to business. Basically I had the most traumatic Friday in a long time this last week. Thursday night we got hit with a pretty epic storm. High winds of over 90km, snow and gigantic drifts everywhere and very low visibility. I came home to AWFUL drifts in my driveway (I am dreading the rest of winter now) and attempted to shovel myself in. After half an hour of hardcore cardio I gave up and parked on the street, knowing I would be at school before the plow made its rounds in the morning so I wasn't too worried about being in the way. So the storm raged all night, not letting up one bit. When I left in the morning I still could not see A THING in front of me. I drove out and immediately got stuck. With some highly evolved skill (turning the wheel frantically from side to side) I was able to unstuck myself and was on my merry way. Tra la la and 30 seconds later I hit one of those "pop up" drifts you hear about in the middle of the road.... I was stuck. And by "stuck" I mean "CALL-A-TOW TRUCK-STUCK".  There was no reversing or plowing through. I immediately alerted my friends (some of whom needed to clarify that I was actually stuck due to my flare for the dramatics) and they (Brandi, Carmen, Monika and Sam!! <3) came to my rescue! 4 friends, 1 me and an HOUR later I was free! Oh did I mention that during this time (90km/hr + winds, icy snow stinging your face, shoveling snow from beneath a behemoth van) that I got a NOSEBLEED?! Yes. I have the karma of kitten murderer. 

So, in between digging out my car, tending to my hemmoraging nose, freezing to death and texting my principal warning I may be a *little* late, a snow day was finally called and we could dig my van out with a little less hysteria. Once my van was dug out (BIG props to Brandi who expertly maneuvered my van out of the drift) I pranced (still snow storming) down the street to say hi to Karen who had just dropped a student off who had come to school without knowing about the snow day. As I warned her not to go up the street I had just gotten unstuck from, she backed up and immediately became stuck in another snow drift!! SERIOUSLY. So I grabbed my shovel and myself and another teacher began digging HER out! All while this was happening, the SCHOOL BUS got stuck on the corner of my street with KIDS on it. I am actually laughing as I reminisce about these events. Honestly, what else! So the police showed up and blocked off the street for a few minutes while a caterpillar machine with a plow attached came an freed the bus. Insane. At this point my jeans were frozen to my legs (my mother, upon hearing these events immediately bought me a pair of snow pants and priced snow blowers at Canadian Tire) and I went inside to nurse my frost bitten legs back to health. Did you know frozen jeans act as a great hair removal system? Try it. 

After lunch the snowplow finally came by   and the kindest most wonderful gentleman in the plow cleared my entire driveway so I could move my car off the street (one of two visits that day. I have a renewed faith in humanity)! He cleared my driveway in about 30 seconds, something that would have taken me literally hours and the end result being me dead in a snowbank. In between cups of hot green tea and baths, I was outside maintaining my driveway and watching movies, a perfect a snow day! 

This post might have a "Part 2" as I was told today we are expecting another wicked storm at the end of the week. HOORAY. Wish me luck!

Quiz Time!

1. Do you have any pets?
... you know the answer to that one.

2. Name 3 things that are physically close to you.
My phone, a tall glass of fake lemonade, a hundred hamsters.

3. What's the weather like right now?
Too cold.

4. Do you drive? If so have you crashed?
I drive, have not crashed. I have been rear-ended once but not badly.

5. What time did you wake up this morning?
6:30 - devil's hour.

6. When was the last time you showered?
This morning you pervs.

7. What was the last movie you saw?
Captain Philips - RIVETING.

8. What does your last text message say?
"Maybe I'll come for cake and the rager? Would that be rude?" - story of my life.

9. What's your ringtone?
An old-fashioned phone ring.  I WISH I knew how to make music ringtones on my phone, I'd have The Hamster Dance or The Fox.

10. Have you ever been to a different country?
Mexico, the US (does Wemindji count?)

11. Do you like sushi?
LOVE sushi.  Just ate my first salmon sushi and was pleasantly surprised.  Can't do eel or that freaky stuff yet.

12. Where do you buy your groceries?
The Wemindji Community Store - prices comparable to Whole Foods or a country whose roads are paved with gold.

13. Have you ever taken medication to help you fall asleep faster?
Being a teacher of 12 7/8 year olds I funnily enough have NO problem falling asleep.  But when I do, I love me some melatonin.

14. How many siblings do you have?
2 sisters- Eryl and Hilary

15. Do you have a desktop computer or a laptop?
Desktop!  The only person on planet earth who still does apparently!

16. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
Too old.

17. Do you wear contacts or glasses?
Neither!  I love glasses though.

18. Do you color your hair?
Yes I am a natural albino.

19. Tell me something you are planning to do today.
Sleep.  It is 8:51pm and I am going to bed.

20. When was the last time you cried?
Tom Hank's getting rescued and looked after by the doctors made me cry last night.

What is your perfect pizza topping?
Cheese, cheese and more cheese.  Mushrooms.  Recently, spinach and mini shrimps - DELISH

22. Which do you prefer-hamburgers or cheeseburgers?
WHAT?? You are making me choose?  French Cheeseburgers all the way.

23. Have you ever had an all-nighter?
Yes for school only once and I wanted to kill myself after.

24. What is your eye color?
Brown - like poop.

25. Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke?
YES. Coke makes my teeth insta-decompose.  Love the sweet, sweet nectar Diet Pepsi

The Countdown Is On

Well it is officially December and that means that I can officially begin Christmas festivities in the classroom!  I have lots planned (probably a little ambitious seeing as we only have 13.5 teaching days before the Christmas holidays start) and I spent a couple of hours in the classroom this weekend decorating and creating my new Christmas/Winter themed door!  I kept the hamsters with the kid's faces on them for later as I feel the hamster theme is one I will stick with throughout the year. 

With the Christmas concert, Staff Christmas dinner and Secret Santa gift exchange, Cycle 1 Christmas dinner, classroom parties and Christmas Tea, a trip to the pool for a Cycle 1 swim, Show and Tell AND all the curriculum I have to fit in, December is gearing up to be a busy but fun month. We will be writing letters to Santa tomorrow and starting a new Christmas-themed mini-unit on Positional Language as well as Christmas and Winter-themed unit on Data Management.  These units are fun to play around with which is something I am looking forward to. 

After another (glorious) afternoon power-out on Friday I am a little behind but will try my best to catch up.  Friday night was a celebratory pot-luck recognizing the publication of an article (page 30) about MES's upcoming trip to Nicaragua. We had some great food, a lot of laughs and decompressed after a long week!  On Saturday I enlisted the help of my good friends MoniKa, Carmen and Sam to help me seek out and chop down my second annual Wemindji Christmas Tree!  We were successful and I am now in full Christmas mode! My tree leaves a lot to be desired but it is small, cute and just what my house needed. 

I am STILL mother to 6 hamsters (if anyone knows someone who wants some hamsters I am rich in them).  Not much has changed there.  It seems Carmonika has taken the time to recover from what I can only assume was postpartum depression and she is back to her cute self.  We hung out on the couch the other night and cuddled.  It is what I have always wanted in a hamster.  The others aren't so friendly, especially the blind ones.  All of them are very jumpy still and pretty much hate me when I come near so I am just keeping my distance and trying to slowly win them over with treats.  I will keep you updated. 

Well there has been an exciting development! Stacy, my wonderful, generous, kind and did I mention beautiful? teaching partner is going on leave for a few months.  This kind of absence usually presents a bit of a problem in the school since we have essentially ZERO substitutes.  Well, we have a couple but they are working constantly with 2 parental-leaves happening at the school, a sick leave and daily teacher absences, so finding a long-term sub is near to impossible.  SO, with a lack of reliable, consistent long-term substitute teachers, the possibility of Stacy's class being covered by many different people was becoming a reality.  Then, as luck (for Stacy, not so much for my mom), my mother was laid off last week (Merry Christmas?!).  I told my mom about the need for a long-term substitute teacher and she jumped at the chance to cover for Stacy while Stacy was off.  I ran the idea past Stacy and she was QUITE excited let's say.  The idea of having a consistent, reliable, competent substitute teacher take your class for 3 months is a highly attractive option.  While my mother isn't a qualified teacher (or even a teacher at all) I am pretty confident in her ability to keep the ball rolling in Stacy's classroom.  She is fair and firm but also compassionate and caring.  Stacy has a nice small class of 12 with an educator for her student with Special Needs, tons of resources and a classroom that is already set up and ready to go.  Luckily, we are already planned for the year so my mom really only has to show up, make sure she teaches what is set out, maintain the routine and take care of Stacy's teacherly duties.  I will be in the room next door ready to help out at any time and help guide my mom along as we teach, assess, plan and coordinate.  I am really excited at the prospect of working alongside my mummy in such a unique situation!  My mother needed a change and she got one!  My mom will also be living with me for the term of her contract and will be bringing... you guessed it... BOBO with her!! She will be driving back up with me after Christmas and starting the new year off with a bang!  I am going to take my plans for the next 3 months home this Christmas and prep her for the kinds of things we will be covering in the curriculum, the upcoming assessments (PM Benchmarks, CAMS testing, CAT4) and give her a crash-course in teaching!  Only having been a teacher for one year I can hardly call myself the expert, but I hope I can give her some tips and tools that will make the transition from Stacy to Philippa as smooth as possible. 

So now my mother and I are talking daily, making plans, discussing expectations, getting the necessary paperwork in order and I am trying to think of everything she might need while up here.  It is going to be a busy holiday but exciting as we prepare for a whole new adventure!

Watching Father of the Bride 2 on a lazy Sunday afternoon

Chopping that mother down

Attempting to murder Monika

This is serious business

My tree!

My Christmas/Winter door!

EXACTLY.

Filled up my tank :(

Beauty at my front door!