Just Another Day

Boise was good. The training went really well, and I completely enjoyed my time at the school. It is a primary school – so only grades K-3 are in the building. What an amazingly different feel that is. The biggest problem with enjoying the day as much as I did, is that it was a one-shot deal.

Today I’ve been struggling to stay on task as I prepare for my Monday training in Fairbanks. I did send an order in, e-mail a couple facilitators, and make a call. I even got my training materials out and started to organize them. But then I had to walk and check the mail and grab a few items for tomorrow’s dinner. (We’re having guests.) The roads are extremely icy – it warmed up, rained, and is starting to cool off up here. Anyway, there I was hiking back with my big ugly red back pack full of groceries, and I fell right on my butt. My mail flew out of my hand, and I was lucky enough to have an audience. That’s the worst!

I talked to Grandma and both of the girls today. None of us has anything too exciting to share. They’re all nice distractions, anyway!

I found out that our $50 companion fare ticket will not work to Cozumel – Alaska Air doesn’t fly all the way there, and the companion fare ticket is only good on Alaska. Hrrrmmmppph!!! Perhaps another sunny destination will work, though I had my heart set on those fabulous Cozumel churros. 😀

Alright, time to get back to work. Sigh, sigh, sigh.

Stay warm back in MN – I hear it’s cold!

I’ve been in Idaho for 6 1/2 hours now, and I have not yet seen one potato! Disappointing. Actually, though, Boise is really beautiful. Only the tops of the Mountains have snow, so it is a little like being in a tropical paradise. 🙂

It was a long flight down to Denver. Luckily the plane was only about 1/2 full, so I didn’t have anyone sitting directly next to me. We did have some good turbulance, so that excitement was worth the cost of the ticket. I was only in Denver for a little over an hour. Then I jumped on the over-crowded United Express plane where I hoped to get an hour nap in. Of course, I lost my assigned window seat to this lady who wanted her husband (across the aisle) to sit by her. So, I traded – like I always do – I’m weak.

My co-worker, Vicki, picked me up and brought me to her house for lunch. It’s nice to not have to drive around a city I don’t know. Also nice to have a familiar face around. After lunch, though, I came to my hotel and took a nice long nap. Now I’m getting ready for dinner out with Vicki, and then it’ll be off to bed. Traveling through the night is silly!

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow’s training goes well. It’s always a bit nerve racking for me to step infront of a crowd I don’t know. It’ll be over in no time.

So, we just invested in a little comfort – for traveling. Bill and I decided to splurge – and this is a big splurge for me – on a Boardroom Pass for Alaska Airlines. With the amount of hours I spend in airports, Bill sold me on the idea of comfy chairs, free internet, complimentary drinks and snacks, and big-screen TVs. Besides that, I’ve earned MVP status and we have the Alaska Air visa, so we get a discount. So, you can guess, I’m in the boardroom right now – using the free internet and on my second drink. 😉 I’m now looking forward to my morning layover in Devner, as they’ve got a boardroom there as well. I figure, I’ll just skip the airport Starbucks and sandwiches and use my per diems to justify this semi-frivolous purchase.

Our latest dream is to head to Cozumel at the end of March. We got our complimentary $50 companion fare ticket from Alaska Air over the weekend, and we’re really ready for someplace warm and sandy. People will say teachers earn a bigger salary in Alaska, but with shipping into these remote places and the vacations you require to keep your sanity – it at least evens out, if not puts you behind.

Tax season is coming up. We’ll be using Turbo Tax once again. It makes it so easy! Anyway, I’m really hoping we see a nice refund, because FICA’s been taking all of my money!

We had an extremely uneventful weekend – lots of sleep and Nintendo. I’ll tell you, that thing is going to make or break our marriage. 😉 Bill tried several times to kill me off during Mario 3. Before I left for the airport, however, he was all high-fives as I conquered another level.

We got lots of snow last night, but the weather was still pretty warm today. I certainly hope it holds up for the end of the week.

And that’s the news out of Unalakleet. Oh one last thing – there’s another little Aune on the way. Not in my immediate family (thank goodness, Jimbo’s too young to be a Grandpa!), but I’m excited all the same. 😀

The calzones were pretty good.

Today has been a good day – it’s gone fast! I didn’t want to roll out of bed this morning. Despite that, I got going. I feel prepared for my Boise trip – I think I’ll get packed up tomorrow so I don’t have to think about it Saturday or Sunday.

Sounds like my bedroom is being fought over back home. If I were there, there’d be no fighting – I always get my room! 😉 Anyway, Lo and Mike got their wedding pictures back, so they went out to Dad’s to show them. Sounds like they got some good pictures. Also sounds like work is going well for Ape. I’m always glad to hear that. 😀

Bill’s over at the school right now. His high school shop teacher / wrestling coach is in town on a winter safety tour. Bill’s got some of his broadcast students working on the story. I’m not sure if we’ll have visitors tonight or not. I finally got my office picked up, so there’ll be somewhere to put a bed.

Right now I’m half paying attention to Dancing with the Stars. I don’t know who most of the stars are – a surprise since I’m big into celebrity lives. Anyway, wouldn’t it be fun to dance like that? I’m going to start TiVoing this show and make Bill practice dancing with me. Ha ha ha! What an image that would be!

I’ve got peanut butter twists waiting to be baked. I’m debating throwing them in the oven tonight or waiting for morning so I can share fresh twists with coffee. Either way, I’m looking forward to them. It’s been a while!

No big plans for the weekend. If the weather stays as nice as it’s been, we’ll have to get outside!

Well, half the week is done, and yet I feel like it’s Monday. I traveled out of here Monday morning and got to Brevig around 10:30. It was right to work, so the time went quickly. We had some weather/flight issues and ended up not leaving Brevig until 7:00 last night. We had to stay in Nome and fly back to Unalakleet this morning. You never can be sure about travel up here!

It was good to see AnnMarie & C.O., Paul, and Mollie. I got a bunch of hugs and hellos from the kids and quite a few requests for Bill and my return to teach in Brevig. Last year we were, “real ugly teacher” and “you don’t know how teach” – but everyone said the minute you leave you were the best teacher to ever set foot in that school. And so it goes. I will admit that I truely enjoyed seeing the kids, but I’ve also never felt better about the decision to leave. That was an emotionally draining place!

I returned to the apartment to find Sunday night’s enchilada pan soaking in a sink of cold soapy water. (That’s the grossest!) I can’t get stuff done around here when it’s a mess, so I cleaned up a bit, got the trash to the baler, and went to the post office. My new book (for work) came in the mail. Now I need to quick read it and put together a power point for our upcoming Greater Northwest Meeting.

I spent this afternoon (washing a million loads of clothes, and…)getting some info ready for my Boise training. The problem with me and the internet is that I get extremely sidetracked! I started looking up research resources on tutoring and ended up finding a bunch of stuff I want to keep for when I return to the classroom. My final stop, however, was on a recipe site for calzones. Guess what we’re going to try for dinner. 🙂

Again, a wearing part of travel is not being able to talk to anyone from home. So – I spend my down time missing you all! 😉 I’ll let you know how the calzones turn out.

It was an extremely fast weekend. Then again, maybe they all are!

We stayed up late Friday night playing Nintendo games (courtesy of Chara – a broadcasting student). Around midnight we decided to watch The Notebook. What a good, sad movie.

Saturday was busy. After finishing the movie at 2:30 the previous night, I could’ve slept forever. Bill, however, shot out of bed at 9:30 to go walk John’s dog. It was either go then or possibly clean up a mess. So, I got up too, but I wasn’t very productive.

I went over to Tiffany’s for a little afternoon get together with some of the mom’s around town. They all brought their kids to make valentines. (Stampin’ up is a big thing here, and Tif is a demonstrator.) I brought my store bought cookies and a craving for coffee. 😉 It was fun. I stayed there a few hours and got back to the apartment just in time to hear Bill win Super Mario Brothers. What a moment.

We went down to Josh and Stacie’s for a little “fiesta” – awesome burritos and peach margaritas! It’s generally a good time when they host a get together. As I’ve said before, I’m not sure what I’d do if Stacie weren’t up here.

With dog duties completed for the week, Bill and I slept ’til like 10:30 this morning. Of course, there was more Nintendo and lounging around, and then Bill headed over to John’s to watch the Super Bowl. I opted out in favor of getting some work done. Grandma called me 5 times to tell me to move back to Minnesota. (No kidding!) It’s nice to know I’m missed – but no easier to get job back home. Anyway, it was good to talk to Grandma. 😀

We watched Lord of the Rings today. Check that off the list. I can’t figure out how our taste in movies can be so completely different. At least we like the same Nintendo games. 😉

It’s off to Brevig Mission I go tomorrow morning. I’ll just be there overnight, and AnnMarie has invited me to stay with them again. I feel so lucky to not have to stay in the school. It will be fun to see the new house AnnMarie and C.O. are renting.

On that note – it’s 10:30, and I’m riding on “Doug Air” (the BSSD plane) at 8. I better get to bed.

Hope you all have a good start to the week. 🙂

Temperatures have been consistently cold the past week. Yesterday we had about 50 below with the windchill. I’m reminded, however, that it was 60 below in Tower, MN a year ago today. I guess I’m not exactly a stranger to the cold.

Where was I 10 years ago? It’s hard to believe I was already a sophomore in high school! Time’s been moving so quickly (well, other than when it feels like it’s completely stopped!). I can’t begin to imagine where another 10 years will bring me!

I have been extremely groggy this week. It’s not been good, as I need to be getting stuff ready for my upcoming school visits and trainings. I decided a change in scenery might be enough to do it and have planted myself in Bill’s office the past two afternoons. You should see, by this blog entry, that I’m being extremely productive. 😉 Actually, it has helped me to focus a bit, and I’m at least feeling prepared for my travels on Monday.

Had coffee with my pals yesterday morning. Tiffany brought the best biscotti, and I have the recipe for it now. Yum! I got to see pictures of the Johnson’s trip to Anaheim. It looks like they had a great time. It makes me excited to travel to warmer weather! So, as always, the coffee and the visiting were both great.

Sounds like we’ve got a trip to Wisconsin in the works for this fall. April, Amy, and I (and Trisha?) are going to head to Door County on a little adventure. I’m already looking forward to it, as I missed a trip to that area last summer – it was too busy and too short!

Talked to Jimbo today. Sounds like work was going alright today, as he was the boss. We got to talking about Vegas, too. I’m even more excited to go since Dad had such a good time.

Our nintendo came in the mail yesterday – unfortunately we have no games to go with it, though. 🙁 The thing we got is not actually a nintendo, either. It’s some other brand that will play the original nintendo games. We’re harrassing Bill’s broadcasting students while we wait on a collection of our own games. 😉

Laura and I got a fantastic conversation in while she watched the 7 year old Football Genius on Ellen today. Hrmph. (isn’t that a funny word?) Maybe we’ll talk later or tomorrow.

So – that’s my day. I’m looking for the Norwegian Toast recipe that circulates around the Aune family. If any of you are reading this and have it near – feel free to e-mail it on. 🙂

Miss you all, very much!

It’s still cold here.

Bill had planned to take most of today off and hang out with me, but there was a board meeting at the office. He had to be around in the case of a “technology emergency” (cough) or more likely just to be seen. Sounds like he had a busy day, but it didn’t involve any of the board members. Oh well. I had planned to surprise him with a game of cribbage and one of the Lord of the Ring movies to celebrate a day off… I’m sort of lucky he had to work. (I dislike both of the above!)

I talked to my boss this morning and learned that I get to add another great adventure destination to my list for February. Yes, I will be spending my Valentine’s Day in the Romance Capitol of the World – BOISE, IDAHO! 😉 Luckily, Bill doesn’t do calendars, and as the perfect boy he has no clue when Valentine’s Day is. It’d be a tough break if we were a couple of romantics.

I got e-mails from a few great friends today. I do love hearing from you all! It’s certainly a bright part of my dark Alaskan days. On that note, we’re gaining about 6 1/2 minutes of light each day. This is kind of a fun time of year, because you really start to notice it.

April is making me seriously consider the need for an Easter trip down South. It would be a lot of fun to go somewhere with the fam. Dad, Ape, and I do have some fantastic Mexican memories – mine include a lot of churros. 😀 Anyway, all this talk of Laura’s cruise and Bill and Barb’s current trip to Maui has me itching for some sand and sun. Who knows, though, Boise may prove to be all the tropical paradise I need.

I am beginning to feel like Betty Crocker up here. Tonight I made chicken enchiladas; both the tortillas and the enchilada sauce were from scratch. I even packaged and froze the left over sauce for another meal. It is economical, but sometimes I think it’s all crazy. Anyway, the enchiladas were delicious.

And that’s my life.

It’s been a nice, relaxing weekend. I can’t believe it’s been a week since Lo and Mike’s wedding. Time continues to fly.

I was awaked by a 6:30 a.m. phone call yesterday morning. I refused to answer because it was Saturday morning. Of course, I started thinking that anyone calling at 6:30 on a Saturday morning must have something important to tell me. So, I checked the answering maching. It was Lo calling from the airport. After that, I was awake.

Bill and I watched more of The Office. We’ll be caught up soon. I walked down to the post office and the store. Nothing too exciting at either. Then we spent some time daydreaming of a March vacation. Because Bill has to travel and work some additional days throughout the school year, he’s got to take some additional time off as well. So, we’re thinking it might be nice to take a week and fly somewhere warm. Of course, first I’m planning to win the Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes so we can pay for it. 😉

I went over to Deb’s last night to visit and get some (wedding) scrapbooking done. Tif, Carrie, and Kim H. were also there. They do stampin’ up and are much more creative than I am. It was good to get their input on my pages. They’re much nicer than I would’ve done them on my own. It was good to have some motivation to work on it. I’m hoping to have it done before our 1st anniversary. 😀

Talked to Ape this morning. She and Dad dropped a car off at the airport for Lo and Mike. I bet they’re not ready for Northern MN after a beautiful week in the Carribean. I’m looking forward to hearing about their cruise!

Talked to Mom this morning too. I always appreciate hearing from home… though neither of us had a lot of new info to share.

And here Bill and I sit on our computers. What a pathetic Sunday! I’ve got a sink-full of dishes to get done 🙁 and should think about putting a little movement into my day.

Well, I’m back in Unalakleet. It’s COLD here! Yuk.

Yesterday I walked down to the baler with the trash. I was going to run down to the post office at the same time, but it’s about a 15 minute walk there and back. I had bread in the oven and figured I’d feel awfully guilty if I burned the 14 Plex down just to check and see if the latest “People” had arived!

Anyway, I took a jaunt down to the store to pick up some basics, and then I swung by the post office. It was then that I realized I didn’t have my mailbox key with. Grr. So, I came back to the apartment and decided I’d skip the mail. With the promise of more celebrity gossip awating me, however, I gave in and walked back down. There was a lot of bundling up yesterday! Today I haven’t left the place. 🙂

Bill and I got caught up on LOST last night. Pretty crazy! We also watched an episode of The Office. Does anyone else like that show? It cracks me up.

I threw together a (boxed) blueberry muffin loaf (since I don’t have muffin tins up here and refuse to pay $20 for a 6 muffin tin!). Tiffany came and joined me for coffee at 9:30 and we visited the morning away. I don’t know what I’d do e if Stacie and Tif weren’t here. It’s so nice to look forward to a good visit!

I’ve been getting some work done this afternoon and debating on whether to go get the mail or not. What tough decisions I face! 😉

Sounds like Lo is having a good time on her cruise. Sounds like April’s in need of a little vacation – maybe Vegas while I’m there!? I imagine the house is pretty quiet now that Jimbo’s got it to himself. Of course, even when we’re not there taking the place over, the cat keeps him in line!

Happy Friday, All!