Happy Thanksgiving

Here it is, my second Thanksgiving in Alaska--my how time flies! I made the traditional turkey and other assorted "Shirley" recipes--I must say...even after a few years of not cooking T-day dinner, I remembered exactly how "mom" did it! Larry and I just finished the leftovers tonight!

The four day weekend was wonderful. I watched 5 movies, read 2 books, stayed in my PJ's 2 days straight-- Yes, Kathy--I had a clip in my hair and now I can sport a pony tail--HA! We did manage to get out for a ski...right out the front door! They barely plow the roads in Alaska, so you can ski just about anywhere!

We should be getting more snow all week. Tonight we have a high wind warning 40-60 mph--Yikes--the drive home from Anchorage was not only windy, but icy too--definitely not in Kansas!!

Only 13 more school days--but who's counting--ME! I have all my plans in place for the next two weeks and it's going to be exciting, book reports...paragraph writing...Eastern European brochures...those lucky students!!

Seriously, I have a great group of students...they totally crack me up. They are now quizzing me on my personal life--HA--fooled them...I don't have one! No, really, Larry is a secret--I tell them nothing...I should give them a quick write--"What I think Mrs. Carey does in her free time..." No...better not...they may write/guess eating! I could see how it might go, something like... "Well, if I had to speculate, I would say Mrs. Carey eats a lot in her free time. One reason, is that she wears the same pants everyday..." etc. Ha--I have put on a few extra pounds--just to keep warm--everyone in Alaska does it. Don't you read the paper? I think we are the most obese state in the union!

On a different note...I see our esteemed ex-gov has been frequenting the Lower 48--you can have her...we changed the locks... and the Secret Service said she wasn't on the guest list anymore--so there. Michigan could use her...how about Florida, where all things weird happen--you take her! Speaking of weird things--we have a radio morning show that has a bit called "It happened in Florida", you have to guess which outlandish news story happened in Fla.--it's cute. Up here, they think Florida is the weirdest state---all I can say is "WOW!"

Just remember this...the odds are good, but the goods are odd--that goes for just about everything WAY UP here!

Keep warm!

One Year in Alaska!

I arrived in Alaska one year ago yesterday-wow-who would have thought! My teammates at school had a bonfire party at Ginny's house in my honor last night--it was very fun. Seventh grade teachers from Mears, plus other teacher types of friends attended, oh, and Larry too!

It's hard to believe I have been here a year all ready, time has just flown by. I still love it here--my job is great and I have meet some very nice people. And the scenery...well it just gets more and more beautiful each day!

Winter has definitely set in here in the Far North. The mountains are covered with snow and the roads have their base layer on ice. This state needs serious road plowing lessons from Michigan--YIKES! Larry has been my winter chauffeur...

Yesterday being Friday the 13th (good luck day in my world) and my 1st year anniversary, our team celebrated with our students. (Larry wanted to know if they took a collection for a one way ticket back to Michigan--ha ha--he's a card isn't he.) We had team build activities and treats. It was a well needed break for all of us since I am teaching about South America in geography. We had just finished learning about Lake Titicaca and Lake Poopo (Po-op-o). Now just imagine, 27 seventh graders and these two words...yep, I was cracking up too. It gets better though...I showed a picture of Lake Poopo and yep, it looked just like poop. Imagine the jokes... I had to cut my losses and finish up for the day...we ended the class playing "Silent Ball"--a nice quiet game--LOL!

Keep in touch...