Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!

I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving and I know I have so much to be grateful for.  I definitely don't need a single day in the calendar to feel grateful for what I have, but it sure puts things in perspective.  I am so grateful for the life I have!  I have a wonderful job that totally fulfils me, great friends both near and far, and a family who loves me and supports me. 

My amazing mother and fantastic aunt travelled all the way up to Wemindji to visit me and it was so much fun!  They brought with them: a huge turkey (left overs for days), birthday gifts galore, lots of treats and things I needed from down south, and BOBO!!  Honestly, what more could a girl ask for?? I also received a care package from the TRIBES ladies which was filled with goodies for both my students and me, I was totally touched by their thoughtfulness and generosity!  Overall, last week was a winner.

I took my family on a tour of the town (about 5 minutes long since that is about how long it takes to get around haha).  They saw my classroom, had a bonfire at Carmen's, cooked us a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and we even squeezed in a trip to Radisson for lunch!! It was awesome.  Some days were sunny and gorgeous, others were rainy and cool, a good representation of Wemindji weather.  My mom came into the classroom on Tuesday afternoon and read the kids a story and helped them with their art.  They loved her and you could tell she really enjoyed the experience of meeting my students and seeing me at work!  I never thought I would be able to show off my home and community to my family since they live so far away and getting here isn't easy, so I relished in every moment and tried to give them the most well-rounded experience I could offer! 

One of the most astounding experiences however was SEEING A MOOSE!! Now, if you know me, I often describe myself as wildlife cryptonite.  No wild northern animal has ever come within a square mile of me other than seagulls, squirrels and the odd fox.  Well as we were travelling home on the access road, out of the corner of my eye did I spy a MOOOOOOSE!! I slammed on the brakes, backed up and made my way closer to the majestic creature.  It was definitely young, it's antlers small but still a HUGE beast. As we sat there taking picture after picture, the moose just casually walked around, allowing us to get it's best angle.  I even got an obscured shot of our loaner Flat Stanley with him!  Awesome! My mom wanted a closer shot and wanted to open the door to get one, I insisted she not leave the van should she be charged by the moose (a more than likely scenario).  What does she do? Hop out of the van!! Our lives flashed before my eyes as I screamed for her to get back in before she became antler decor for this 2 ton beast.

Anyways, the pictures do not do the proximity of us to the moose justice, but trust me, we were CLOSE.  Thank goodness we left Bobo at home because his incessant barking would have very likely cost us our lives, or at least a good photo op!

Turkey coma!

Ryerson School's Flat Stanley in Rad!

And at the turnoff for the access road!

E

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

At Chez Mika

Amazing sunrise!

Day of Family arrival - 17 degrees! Time to get those plants some much needed sunlight

Take a wild guess at what my favorite breakfast might be...

HIS LITTLE FACE

Turkey before

Turkey after om nom nom

After the access road, yesh

Beautiful Thanksgiving Day!

Table

Monika's pecan turkey. 

MMMMMMMMMMMMM

Obligatory Stanley pic.

Stanley with the MOOSE!

MOOOOSE

Native Arts and Craft store in Radisson

Showing off my swag and my Smartboard

Mama in my classroom

Auntie Melanie!

BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

Well I have to say my friends have really outdone themselves this year! I am now the proud mummy to a hamster, Carmonika!!!!!! Carmonika is the obvious the combination of names of the masterminds behind procuring me this gorgeous creature, as well as an homage to the trend of combining two normal names to make hybrid names that seems to be happening in Wemindji at the moment! Her full name is Carmonika Brandi McCaffrey. Brandi also had a hand in the best present EVER!

Only the creative teachers of Wemindji could have pulled off a scheme such as this and TOTALLY surprised me with a pet hamster for my birthday!! I think I might be the only person in Wemindji with a hamster, something I am very proud of. Apparently many people were involved in this elaborate plan to get me my baby. Some teachers were away for training this week in Val D'Or and my friends took the opportunity to ask them to bring me back a hamster! They surprised me with her last night at a dinner of REAL KFC last night at Brandi's which totally surprised me!! I SCREAMED.  

Perhaps the best part is the Flat Stanley-style picture diary these traveling teachers took of Carmonika's journey up north! I laughed SOOO much as I'm sure you will too at these amazing pictures at all the tell-tale Wemindji drive stops. 

Carmonika is set up nicely with a sweet bachelorette pad, a hamster DUVET (thanks Marsha!) and an awesome travel module, so she can sit right up front with me on our future car rides!!

Now I am waiting in my van (apparently looking like a cop) at the end of the access road in Wemindji for my mom, my aunt Melanie and BOBO as they make their way to my home for Thanksgiving weekend! I can't wait for them to arrive. The weather has been gorgeous here today so hopefully it has been the same for them on their drive up! Happy Thanksgiving!! 

Birthday!

Well it is that time of year again.  My birthday has come and gone and I am another year older.  I swear I haven't matured since turning 16 but maybe that is a good thing?  I do work with children after all. 

Last week was supposed to be our second full 5-day week.  Well guess what!  Our week was cut short again by another sweet, sweet act of god!  A pipe was burst or something in construction that has been taking place around the school and since we had no running water (or flushing toilets.. yep...) school was cancelled for the afternoon, shortening our 5-day week!! So still technically we have not had a full 5-day week, not that they haven't felt that long though!

After our water debacle, we had a meeting with the Cree School Board General Director and higher-ups which was interesting.  They had some inspiring words about our new school board mission and the hard work we are doing as teachers.  It is certainly nice to feel appreciated!

That Thursday evening I had the new teachers and a couple other ladies over for Pizza-ghetti which was delish!! It was great to get to know the new teachers Meredith and Tiffany a little better since school has been keeping us pretty busy! 

Friday was my class-requested birthday party.  We had cupcakes and a dance party which was pretty fun.  It was a nice way to end a long week and the kids certainly enjoyed it.  I was spoiled by all with cards and gifts and made to feel really special.

Friday night was quiet for me, I prepared for my birthday party on Saturday and watched Spartacus (in the wrong order uggghhh) and got an early night!

Saturday was my long awaited PJ-themed Birthday Party Extravaganza! I was pleasantly surprised by an amazing, delicious and thoughtful dinner thrown by Karen and friends on Saturday night before my party.  Moose stew, bannock, salads and an incredible apple crumble was on the menu and I was so touched by the effort and thought my friends put into making my day super special!! I hurried off after dinner to get last minute preparations done before guests arrived!  Lets just say it was a hit!  Everyone respected the dress code (PJs only) and it was a blast.  Great company and lots of (too many) delicious snacks.  I was so happy people came out and indulged my immaturity! 

Sunday was a day of recovery and more rest (I am trying to average one nap a weekend, so far so good) and dinner at the Inn with Carmen and Monika and today, back to school!

We have a 3 day week (JOY!!) which I have decided to use for conducting one of the many standardized tests we must complete this year.  It's all math and quite dry so I am trying to stick fun, less demanding activities in here and there to make the week not seem like the week from testing hell (for both the kids and myself!).  2 PED days and then my mom and aunt arrive from Ontario with BOBO!!  I am eagerly anticipating their arrival and I am sooo excited!

Here are some pictures from my special day :P

 Fresh moose meat!

 Delicious Breakfast Benny!

 Dinner at Karen's!

 Onesie Party!

 Oakville REPRESENT!

 Hamster-tude

 From my dear friends.

 Ommie nommies!

Delicious birthday dinner!

Indepdendent Women!

The more time I spend up North, the more I realize I can be self-sufficient (as much as I love to complain about having no significant other to do things for me).  This both scares me and delights me at the same time.

For example, I set up my own wifi!  How?! By following the instructions... I hung up some pictures!  How?  With finishing nails... Little things like this make me realize that perhaps I can really do things on my own, I don't necessarily need to rely on a "man" shall we say, to do it for me!! That being said, any major fix-it projects that need taking care of are done by the school's maintenance staff... Haha!

This brings me to my story.  So Carmen and I have had a few major hangy-thingies that needed taking care of but required the use of a drill.  Neither of us had a drill so we just let them sit for months.  Finally we decided to borrow a drill from a friend and using our brains and a little bit of teamwork, hung our own mirrors and art!  Amazing!! Remember the rule "measure twice cut once"?  Well, we kinda forgot that one and ended up drilling plenty of little holes in the walls before getting it right but the overall, finished look is what was desired!  I was proud of my ability to stand back and watch Carmen do the dirty work while I make my marks with the pencil on the walls and handed her the tools.  Now our walls are pretty and we feel like men.  (Holding a drill can be an empowering thing!)

Otherwise another busy (5 day ugh) week!  Anecdotal Report night (basically a pre-report card parent-teacher interview night, think: progress reports?) tomorrow evening.  I am proud to show the parents all the amazing work my students have been producing and to tell them how hard they have been working!  Then, Thursday is a visit from representatives of the Cree School Board followed by a meeting with them at the Band Office, should be fun!  Then of course, like I could forget, it is my birthday!  The kids have requested I bring in cupcakes to celebrate (okay, you twisted my arm) so that will be a fun thing to do on Friday! 

The kids wrote their first math test for me today.  Knowing what I know now, the one I wrote was perhaps a little ambitious.  I like to plan for success and I feel like the first page was definitely tricky, the rest not so bad but we will see the true success once I sit down and mark them all! 

I found a dino bone on my walk the other day!

 Better get on that!

 Wemindji is full of rocks if no one has noticed by now!

 The hallway is crooked, not the picture...

 Heh heh heh

 Success brings a tear to my eye!

 Voila!

 Our attempt at "measuring"

Aww yeah!