Wemindji the Beautiful

First BBQ of the season!  SO DELISH.

Well another week has come and gone.  Wemindji has been #blessed with beautiful weather this week and I have been taking as many opportunities as I can to be outside and soak up this glorious sunshine before the bugs arrive!

If there is one fact I can tell you about Wemindji, it is that this town is rife with black flies once the warmer weather arrives.  If you know me you know that the outdoors are more of friendly acquaintances than BFFs so coming up here I had no idea what these little annoying bugs were.  I assumed they were little gnats, oh how annoying!  JOKES ON ME they were black flies and they FEAST on me.  They must have a special taste for ginger blood because they find me and settle in for a 65 course meal courtesy of my body.  I thought those big buggers (horseflies) were black flies but nooooooooooooooo.  So anyways, I learned quickly last year that I needed heavy duty bug spray if I wanted to keep my blood volume at a reasonable level.  I bought the best bug spray I could justify spending money on (I'm afraid of bleeding out from bug bites but not so afraid that I'll spend tons of money, I'm still cheap). Before a teepee fire one night last summer I sprayed myself liberally from head to toe and set out for the evening.  When I got there I put my sunglasses on my eyes (they were previously resting upon my head) and noticed that they were cracked all over!!! THE BUG SPRAY HAD CRACKED MY SUNGLASSES. I put that on my peaches and cream skin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Powerful stuff.  I didn't get bitten but was the tradeoff worth it?  Talk to me in 30 years when I am dying of bug-spray related diseases...

Anyways, this week was lovely, I taught my unit on fractions, we wrote some acrostic poetry on "Spring", went on our monthly swimming trip and made our cookbooks (how to make a ham sandwich). 

OH BIG NEWS.  The new Wemindji Community Store opened this week!! It is GORGEOUS and fabulous and amazing and everything you could ask for in a grocery store.  The prices were even (temporarily) low which was exhilarating! It is much bigger and easier to get around in than the previous set up in the Community Hall.  Its also great for the community to get back its hall where lots of community events used to take place.  The Grade 1 classes went on a field trip (which I participated in) on opening day and that was pretty fun.  They have tons of variety which was refreshing and as long as they keep that up I don't see much need for IGA (although the prices are still better on IGA). 

Today Monika, Carmen and Raquel and I went to Radisson to get in one last shopping trip before the end of school.  We needed to go to the craft store and spend our entire paycheques and of course fit in a little meal at Chez Mika.  It was a gorgeous day for a drive, clear skies, 20 degrees and awesome company.  We stopped on the side of the road to build an inukshuk but then we saw a snake and my hair got caught in a tree so we bailed on that idea.  We also saw the butt of a moose on the access road which was pretty awesome!

Anyways, this week is going to be a busy one as Grade 2 begins the first round of Cree School Board standardized math testing.  They will have Cree Language next week and English Language the following week.  I also have CAMS math testing to finish up as well as my last round of PM Benchmarks all to do in 4 weeks!!!! Last year it was quite overwhelming for both teacher and students so this year with a different group of kids with different abilities I am hoping it will go a little more smoothly.  I am planning on spending the ENTIRE day in the classroom tomorrow as I make some fixes on the student's paper mache masks we started a couple of weeks ago (filling in holes before we paint!) and planning my units on multiplication and division (noticed I still haven't planned them since the last time I wrote? UGH).

My sister Eryl, a **trained** writer has started a blog which I encourage you all to visit and read!  She writes like an adult and actually makes words go together like they are supposed to and DOESN'T abuse the exclamation mark or CAPITALS FOR EMPHASIS.  So if you are in for a soulful, inner-peace-inspiring read, head on over to http://erylmccaffrey.wordpress.com/ !!

The old store.

All Community Store photos courtesy of The Wemindji Community Store facebook page

Just beautiful.

Be still my heart.

Speechless.

A single tear rolls from my eye.

A single tear turns to a river.

Sweet lord.

Opening day at lunch time!

My little snakey friend.

My student-generated acrostic poetry example... Clearly they know me and how well I do things.

I think I broke my digital thermometer, it's never read that high before.

 

 

 

 

Grass.  Enough said.

Wemindji at 10pm!! Crazy!

Gals and their Guns

Just a quick post before bed. This couldn't wait until the morning. I have important news that may change your life as it has undoubtedly changed mine. 

Today I shot guns. 

Yes that's right. I held giant scary guns in my arms and shot them. I aimed, but hit nothing so you people have really nothing to fear except the current size of my ego. It doesn't matter to me that I hit no targets. It's not the destination but the journey, am I right? 

Under the careful tutelage of colleague Alex, I learned how to hold what felt like 90lb shotguns and rifles and pull the trigger. I accomplished something I feel my whole life has been destined for. I aimed, screamed a primal scream and pulled the trigger countless times. Resting only to allow others (Carmen and Alex Elephant Thoughts) to have a turn. 

Now that I have shot a gun there really isn't anything else I ever want to do with my life. It's all downhill from here!! Jk. But Seriously. 

Makin' Bacon

Oh boy.  There is no other way to say this - I am baconed-out. Not sure how it is possible either, but it is the truth.  Bacon, some call the meat of the gods, was the guest of honor at my house last night for the first Wemindji Bacon Party.  I am considering making this an annual thing, it depends if I will regain my taste for bacony goodness (who am I kidding, I'll probably have it with breakfast tomorrow). 

So as I mentioned, it was the Bacon Party last night, clearly the social event of the YEAR.  The instructions were simple.  Bring a dish of the bacon persuasion.  People really got creative and the offerings to the bacon gods were delicious!  On the menu was:

Bacon Chili Fries
Bacon Dip
Candied Bacon and Ice Cream
Loaded Bacon Potato Skins
Bacon Brownies
Bacon-wrapped Scallops
Bacon-wrapped Hot Dogs
Bacon Cups filled with Scrambled Eggs
Bacon Cinnamon Buns
Bacon Chowder
Bacon Peanut Brittle
Bacon and Prosciutto Salad

Needless to say it was a delicious night and I immediately got the meat sweats hardcore.  I think I woke up in the middle of the night in a bacon rage and hallucinated.  Anyways, it was great to catch up with people from school and the community as we all spend a nice time unwinding after the first week back at school from Goose Break!

My Goose Break, after car repairs and what not, was relaxing but went by very fast.  I squeezed in the requisite shopping and trips to the storage unit (where I grabbed as many of my books as I could to bring up with me, what can I say I am sucker for a paper page!!)  I was happy to be able to spend an early Mother's Day with my mom and Eryl as I would be travelling back to Wemindji on the actual day.  We went to our favorite Thai place in Burlington and had a nice time.  I got to see my sister Hilary a bunch which was really nice as well!  I went to a wine-tasting party at my friend's Kelly and Ryan which was a new experience and very fancy!!!! I may have missed the point but in the end I tasted some great wine and got to catch up with some of my oldest and closest friends.  I was really happy to pitch in a little and help Katherine and her mother do a little prep for her upcoming summer Bridal Shower.  Things are picking up and I am soooo excited to take part in all the upcoming festivities!!! I am particularly excited for the Bachelorette Spa day I have planned for Katherine and a handful of our friends.  We are heading to the Scandinave Spa in Blue Mountain area.  A day of pampering is just what the doctor orders after a long year of teaching (I have asked for a male masseuse LOL JK..) Since it is a little pricey and not everyone is able to make it, I will be arranging an alternative celebration for those who can't make it.  This summer is already gearing up to be busy as ever but I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with my best friends and family. The ride home was uneventful (thank god) and we made it in one piece with fairly decent weather for half of the trip and just rain and some snow for the rest (I know, I don't want to talk about it).

Until the summer however I am back at school in the full swing of things.  I am dreading having to teach multiplication and division to my students in the upcoming weeks and am procrastinating like a beast on planning for that.  Math is not my strong suit lets say.  I will be scouring the Internet for fun and interesting (and Aidan-friendly) ways to teach this to my grade 2s! I will also be embarking on a rather ambitious project involving writing a how-to manual of sorts for planting and growing bean plants.  I have mason jars (see-through so we can watch the roots grow), tons of potting soil, bean seeds, gardening gloves, mini trowels and a watering can.  I am pretty excited to get started and teach the kids how to take care of a fragile living thing and learn some responsibility!  My class is already really good at taking responsibility for classroom jobs and for their own belongings so it will be fun to see how they transfer that into being responsible for a living thing!  It will also be very cool to see the growth of our bean plants in the classroom.  The soil in Wemindji is very sandy since we are right on a river and not much grows here, that and the cold temperatures for most of the year make growing things outdoors difficult.  We are getting a lot of sunlight now though so growing in our classroom windows should be no problem!

We also got our placements for next year finally!  I am SO happy to announce that I will be teaching Grade 1 next year with Monika and Marsha!!! There will be 3 grade 1 classes of about 17 each due to an explosion in the population several years ago so we have our work cut out for us!  It will be just a little taste of the South and I am up for the challenge after a year of only 13 kids.  I have two awesome teaching partners who are imaginative and creative and so much fun and I am super excited to work with them.  We will be joined in our cycle by Karen and Meredith who will be teaching Grade 2.  Overall our cycle will be pretty rocking.  I will be sad to say goodbye to my current partner Stacy as we have had two good years together.  I really wanted the chance to move around and get experience in different grades, and I am earning my Primary Specialist qualification this fall so it was just a good opportunity for me to take and I am pleased with my placement. 

Monika's look-a-like sister Raquel has joined us in the Great White North to work and play in the wilds of Wemindji.  The kids are mesmerized (some traumatized) by how similar they look but nonetheless its great to have her up and be able to show her around this great town and all of its awesome people! 

Anyways, I have promised myself a night in (while my tummy heals itself from last night's bacon abuse) and have tomorrow booked for planning in the classroom, a follow-up visit to the physiotherapist to check on my healed butt, a brunch with the ladies and the season premier of THE BACHELORETTE!  Hey, everyone gets their one "trashy" show, that's mine. 

Beautiful class artwork! Recreations of Van Gogh's Sunflowers

Mosaics of Eric Carle book covers!

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Happy Birthday Sarah!

Brookdale Crew!!

Little Prince and I

Fam Jam

My empty van waiting to be filled.  Oh and filled you shall be.

Halfway done!

Tada!

FINALLY got my rolly thingy built!  All I had to do was almost have a nervous breakdown trying to build it myself, wait 4 months, drive it back down to IKEA, return it,  buy a new one and pay IKEA to built it for me in my house! It took one guy 30 minutes what I couldn't accomplish in 4 months!  I AM A WINNER!

My delicious bacon chili!!!!!!!!

FRONT YARD IS NO LONGER COVERED IN 5 FEET OF SNOW!

Got my BBQ and deck furniture out!  BBQ season is almost upon us!!!

Vincent's bacon brownies

Meredith's bacon and prosciutto salad

My Epicure Bacon, Cheddar and Chive dip

Monika and Raquel's bacon cups with scrambled eggs

Sam's bacon-wrapped hot dogs

Karen's bacon-wrapped scallops

Marsha and Jeremy's loaded bacon potato skins

Danielle's bacon and peanut brittle

My bacon table!!!!!

Marsha's opinion of Carmen's cinnamon bacon rolls

Songza app was not helpful in choosing music for the night.

Precious boy who I miss so much.