Sorta Spring!

Yay! The temperatures are slowly rising in good old Wemindji town and so are spirits! The sun was shining brightly today and with it came a warm breeze that began to melt the permafrost that covers Wemindji for 17 months of the year. Pavement is visible in patches and the thick sheet of ice and snow is slowly sliding off my roof, scaring the crap out of me with every thump as it lands on my deck below. 

Last week was nutso with the time change and busy weekend of tournaments and trips and coming off of a double PED so the kids were loopy and tired. Luckily Grade 1 managed to rock the socks off the kids with the magical "How to Catch a Leprechaun" unit which just about blew their minds. Never have I seen my class so intensely invested in a common goal before. We wrote about catching a leprechaun, designed and then built some surprisingly impressive traps on Friday. These traps included a lot of glitter which I know I will be dusting off classroom furniture for weeks to come. We had a lot of visitors Friday afternoon to witness the controlled sparkly chaos and to be honest it was tons of fun to just let the kids build for hours without interruption. They even vetoed precious recess to keep building! The best part was probably watching a couple of very realistic "caught on tape" YouTube videos of leprechaun-catching attempts which literally drove them bonkers. 

This week is CAT4 testing which is a standardized test the entire school is participating in. It's a little stressful for both students and teachers so we have come up with some super cute inscentives and of course it wouldn't be grade 1 if we didn't have a party to celebrate at the end!! Luckily we are also starting our rhyming/Dr. Seuss unit so our party will obviously serve green eggs and ham (pink pancakes, ham is expensive!!!).

Anyways this week is going to be a busy one but sure to be a lot of fun. I hope the weather will continue to get nicer as I'd like to take a trip to Radisson before Goosebreak! I'm also terrifed to drive my van anywhere outside of town now so we shall see. Ta ta for now!

Friday Freedom!

Its the weekend people, hooray!

What does that mean for me? It means I will catch up on some much needed sleep, get some planning and prep done in the classroom, clean a little at home, possibly/maybe/probably not have some social time and dig out my snowblower. Yes my life is sometimes so exciting I have to slow down and catch my breath. 

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Report cards were due this week and I spent a few days catching some kids up, doing last minute assessments and making sure all my ducks were in a row before parent-teacher interviews took place this afternoon. Administration is trying a few different approaches to getting parents into the school for interviews and so far this was was the least successful attempt for my class. We've tried the evening meetings, late afternoon meetings and now after-lunch meetings. However, today with 2 out of town tournaments, Frozen on Ice in Montreal, various other events taking place and the interviews being held from 1-4:30, it appears turn out wasn't the best. But you have to try something different before giving up completely! I was happy to see some parents who I really wanted to talk to so that was a plus.

Last weekend my friend Shelby held a sort-of northern tax return clinic in my classroom. There are so many little nooks and crannies to consider when filing your taxes in another province and in a northern location, it becomes a very complicated process in my opinion.  I literally had to have my hand held the entire time but came out very successful!! We even found a mistake from last years return which could potentially bring me more money when I fix it so fingers crossed!!! 

This week was a 3 day teaching week since yesterday and today were PED days. Even though it was only 3 days in class, it felt like 3000 and someone definitely played a dirty joke by feeding all the students meth-laced lollipops. While I respect the timing of Goosebreak to honor tradition and that nature really dictates the scheduling of our break, I see the logic in a March Break. This applies to both teachers and students. The term "March Madness" really rings true around this time of year. The kids are loopy and the teachers even more so. To pass time and lighten the mood, my comrades and I resorted to practical jokes this week which more often than not left us laughing until we cried at the expense of our colleagues' sanity. It all began with an online ransom note generator and truly tailspun out from there. Soon we were kidnapping white boards and keyboards, demanding mini eggs in return for our friend's precious possessions. It was seriously hilarious and really helped us get through a few rough days. 

To beat the winter blues I also highly recommend downloading this eerily accurate daily horoscope app. It has been giving us insight and entertainment the past few days although I have been more stressed out by the vagueness of mine than anything else. 

The weather has been unpredictable and as usual, cold but improving! Snowing and windy, my driveway has all but disappeared. I have just enough space to pull in and not much more. Crazy winds this week literally buried my snowblower so I have to dig it out and get to work expanding my parking spot! I have been feeling a renewed sense of hope as now it is getting lighter earlier! No more "2 hours of daylight" business, now I get to school in the daylight and if I'm lucky, leave in the daylight too!! Soon enough we will be experiencing the freaky "sunlight from 4am-11pm" phenomenon and I'll need to dig out my sleep mask. 

Anyways, I'm long overdue for a sleep in and I'm going to get started now. 

Love Aidan. 

Ps here are some photos recently posted from Katherine's wedding! Check out the photographer's website at www.robinrussel.com

 

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.