Oh My Oscars!

Well it's been a while and that is really only because I am lazy. But really, school has been trucking along and we are as busy as ever, writing, reading, graphing and having tons of fun!

Valentine's Day was a blast and we had a ton of love-themed activities on the go. The kids seriously enjoyed the day (even more than Christmas!) and it was so sweet watching them hand out their valentines cards to each other. No one was left out and you could definitely feel the love!

This past week our position intentions were due and I requested a second year of grade 1. As exhausted as I am, I have never had more fun teaching in Grade 1 and I am really hoping I get my first choice! I have worked very hard to build an incredible repertoire of fun activities, lessons and centers and I would love to take another year to perfect it all. 

My van is still in the shop sadly. I am hoping it will be ready by tomorrow and then I will be laughing!! It has been a tricky couple of weeks but Marsha has been more than generous in lending me her vehicle while she was off work. Now, living in a very small and condensed town of just over 1200, getting from point A to point B isn't technically that difficult. However, when you have entered the coldest part of the year (mid January to March) not having a vehicle and living the distance I do from school, things get chilly. The average morning temperatures hover around -36 to -40, warming up a little over the day. I'm eternally grateful to Marsha and her incredible generosity and I hope one day to be able to return the favor!!

Right now I am enjoying the pre-Oscar award red carpet festivities! I look forward to the Oscars all year and have managed to watch all of the best picture nominated  films and I was impressed! The Theory of Everything was incredible and I loved Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking. Soooo well done! I am really enjoying the Oscar fashions so far but none of the big stars have arrived yet so I am still waiting for some gorgeous looks. I've made my picks and can't wait for the awards! It'll be a late night as usual but I'll manage. 

Anyways back to the van. My sweet dear mother ordered and express posted the part (a new return hose for the power steering get up) and when it arrived I swear I had a new lease on life. I've never felt so happy to have a means to an end in my hands!! So I pranced to the garage, joyfully handed over my keys and am eagerly awaiting the call tomorrow telling me I can come pick up my van!  

Well I am getting distracted so I'm signing off. Happy Oscars!

The snow build up outside my classroom window. It's about 8 feet high!

No heels at this Wemindji party!

I tried to make heart bacon for Valentine's Dinner lol

#teacherlife

Vowel Bats!!

LOL

Hokey Hose and Hundreds Day

Well it appears my being kryptonite for cars not only affects my own!! Stay away if you want your vehicle to stay in it's current condition!! After Marsha so graciously lent me her car to use while mine was incapacitated, hers died in my driveway. I want to laugh but all that comes out is tears!!! Jk. So I'm vehicle-less once again. Marsha did eventually get hers working again but I have such fears of somehow destroying her car that I am hesitant to take it. It has however been extremely cold lately so I may bite the bullet. We'll see. 

Marsha's dead car. 

Update on the van sitch. So after spending a few days at the garage my van was finally diagnosed with a cracked power steering hose thing. Apparently too damaged to temporarily patch or seal, I was told to order the part I needed and come back for repairs when it arrived. So I quickly got my wonderful mother to order me the part from the dealership and sent it through express mail yesterday. Until it arrives, I am bundled up in my most chic of winter wear and trucking it to school and back LIKE A PEASANT. Hahah. 

This was me on my walk to school Wednesday morning. 

So stylish. 

So this last Friday was 100's Day at school! We celebrated the 100th day of school as expected, in style!! We in Grade 1 had a ton of awesome fun activities planned and of course we dressed to the nines! It was really fun to dress as 100-year old Googoos (grandmas) and a 100-year old Joomshoom (grandpa) and the kids were ecstatic!! 

100 years young!!

We so fancy. Me and my side pieces. 

Yay!

Guess what!!!

Take a wiiiiiiiild guess what has happened now. Just take a seat, turn off all distractions and close your eyes. Put your phone on silent and shut off the lights. Let your imagination run wild!!! What could possibly have happened to dear old Aidan now?? 

Well let me tell you what. 

My car leaked all of it's power steering fluid like it's on a 3-day juice cleanse and I am without working vehicle ONCE AGAIN. 

There are few words I have left that I can say in a public forum and still hope to keep my a) dignity, b) job, c) squeaky clean professional profile - that would adequately describe the level of stress and frustration I have felt in the last 24 hours. I literally felt it in my heart today. 

I shall start from the beginning. Basically it has been cold lately. Typically cold for this time of year but really cold nonetheless. So when my steering wheel felt a little stiff and my engine a little noisy Monday morning (-40ish) I didn't really think anything of it. I haven't been able to plug my block heater in recently because the plug has somehow become almost completely severed from the cord leading to the engine. But that's another story. So I thought a cold engine might have something to do with it. 

Monday must have been a holy day for Satan because he chose that day to curse me with YET ANOTHER car problem. Beelzebub himself did something to the tube connected to my power steering fluid container thingy in my van thus pouring raspberry smoothie-like liquid all around town. I came home Monday night to a puddle of red crap in my driveway from it being parked there a few hours earlier before I went out. 

I immediately called upon any person I knew with a male companion who might know what it was. General consensus was: power steering fluid leak. It explained the "hard to handle" steering wheel and questionable noise coming from my car. So upon hearing this I was terrifed!! Nowhere near a dealership or parts store I was beginning to panic. I, along with several other teachers go to school at 7:30 every morning to prepare breakfast for the students as members of the school's breakfast program. No busses, taxis or other methods of transportation, or hope of rides from any teachers who go in nearly that early, I was worried about walking from my house (I'd say a 20-25 minute walk) in -40 morning conditions. I was, however, prepared to don my sexy neon orange hunting skipants, 1980's purple ski gloves and balaclava if necessary!!

Luckily by testing the steering at 6:00am this morning I was able to confidently say I could get myself at least to school and figure out the rest from there. So off I went and at the first opportunity today I took my car to the town garage. I dropped my keys and begged them to look at it the first chance they had. So Thursday at the earliest :/ I'm optimistic though. 

The shining light at the end of this dark and unholy tunnel is Marsha. Marsha is truly a saint. Marsha has graciously and selflessly lent me her vehicle to use. I am so incredibly grateful to her I can't even start to describe all the ways I owe her. Not having to walk in horrible, terrible, frighteningly cold weather to school to serve breakfast in the morning means more to me than I think most people understand. I hate the cold. I hate the cold combined with the outdoors and Marsha simply said "take my car" without the bat of an eyelash. A true and genuine friend. 

So I will wait until Thursday to see if they need to order a part. If they do, I will see if the garage can temporarily patch the leak while I wait, refill my fluid as needed to get by and try and get Marsha's car back to her ASAP. Talking to Dodge customer service this morning, this kind of repair will likely be covered by my warranty (for once) and since I live remotely and cannot get to the nearest dealership reasonably (minimum 9 hours to Amos), I will be reimbursed for costs of repair. So there is a positive!!

As for my mental health, that is not covered by warranty and I am still waiting for a refund.