THE COUNTDOWN IS ON...

Well, just four more school days until spring break starts. Actually 3 because Friday is "winter activity day." This is basically just a day to play outside with the kids (weather permitting). Today was such a busy day, it flew by. Hopefully the rest of the week will be this good.

I guess now that the Olympics is over I don't have to worry about conserving oxygen (see previous post). My body wouldn't cooperate with me this morning. I woke up at 6:00, did a head to toe analysis and decided that my back hurt and I had a slight headache. So, I went back to sleep for another hour and a half. Needless to say that at 6:00 am my analysis isn't always accurate. And due to my recent lack of exercise I really did have a sore back by the time I got to work. Therefore, tomorrow I must get back to my exercising routine. Please inform me if there are any more major sporting events happening that I need to take into consideration in my environmental quest for oxygen conservation. Thanks.

MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND

I must say, Brian is one of the greatest people I know. I could not have married anyone better. It's not everyday you will find a man who will cook supper once a week and also clean the bathroom everyweek. It is really nice to have him do these things. It is a nice break for me. Another great thing he does is something that I just can't do - he helps the girls with their math homework. Naomi is now bringing home math that is far beyond me. When Brian was gone last week she didn't even bother to bring it home since she knew I was hopeless to help her. I must admit it is pretty sad that I am useless with grade 9 math, but it is the truth. There is a lot more I could say, but I am going to leave it at that. Here is a picture of him bringing home the bacon (or rather, the moose!)

MY LIFE IN THE YUKON...

I absolutely love living in the Yukon, although some think I'm crazy (no names mentioned, Sonya). Today is Heritage Day. Basically they just invented this holiday to give everyone an extra day off in the middle of a long winter. It worked out well this year because we were able to stay home and watch the men's gold medal curling game. I don't usually like to watch curling, but this was a great game. It is also a good day to stay indoors since it was -38 when I got up this morning. Normally on a long weekend like this Brian and I would be going out skiing, etc. But he came home from Whitehorse on Wednesday and was sick. So, he is just taking it easy for a few days. I, on the other hand, am exercising vicariously through the olympic athletes I keep watching. No sense having too many people using up the oxygen on this great planet at once. I figure with all these sports going on in Italy right now, I don't want to risk an oxygen shortage. So, in order to keep Ross River safe, I am letting others do the work for a day or two.

We only have one more week before Spring Break. I am really looking forward to the break. And after that we only have 13 weeks left before summer vacation starts - unlike you that live in BC and are in school until the end of June. LOL. That alone is reason enough to love the north!

WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG????

Here's the thing - you raise your kids the best you can and think that your kids will be everything you could hope for. So, here is the ordeal...Hannah and Josh both worked at the hockey tournament this weekend. They earned $9/hour (not bad for being 12 and 13). Anyways, when they came home with their cash (about $130 each) they didn't want to split it with me. I thought I deserved at least a 50/50 split considering what a great mom I am. But no, they wanted to keep it all for themselves. "For summer vacation," they said. Seriously though, I am really proud of them. Karen, the rec director, was raving on about my kids. Hannah worked in the concession stand and Josh did some cleaning and worked the time clock for the games. They had a great weekend, although they are quite tired today. The problem is that after all the praise from Karen about my kids, who obviously take after me, I will need the money the kids earned to buy myself a new hat to fit over my big, fat head.

THANK GOD IT'S THE WEEKEND!

Well, my week turned out o.k. We had Kaska Day on Friday. It was a nightmare to coordinate all the kids in the school into the events they chose to do. They got to choose from Traditional dancing, arctic sports, dene games, carving (which was a bust because the leader never showed up), traditional medicine or making babiche (rope from caribou hide).Normally this task would not be too overwhelming since we only have about 60 students. However, when you have to keep 6 students separated and still try to put them in the events they want, it becomes somewhat of a challenge. I kind of fell into the job of organizing everyone. Fran, the teacher in charge of this type of stuff, had a worse week than me. She spent the week
- being the principal (Thomas was away)
-dealing with "artist in the school" (a woman came and took each class for half a day and they did painting)
- handling monumental student problems (kids threatening each other, which ultimately resulted in 2/3 of the high school class losing their school email account - proud to say my girls and their best friends were among the other third)
- organizing Kaska day
- trying to teach her class (it is no accident this is listed last)


Anyway, I just followed her around like a lost puppy begging, until she gave me something to do that would help in a significant way. All that said, we had a great time on Friday. The kids were all great - we only had to send 1 home. I spent Thursday and Friday working in the kitchen. We made beef stew for lunch for everyone on Friday. Needless to say I was exhausted last night. I came home and just collapsed.

This morning, however, I have recovered and am looking forward to a relaxing weekend dreaming of Olympic glory!