What a week in Arctic Bay

Well, Thanks-Giving weekend went off without a hitch. It was a pretty tame weekend (compared to some that I've spent down South .. no clinkies here this year guys :-( hopw y'all enjoyed some down there). My roommate and I had the RCMP over on Saturday for TG Supper (a nice meal of Caribou, fresh home-made french fries, and Aletha's super yummy fruit crumble with ice cream).

Sunday was a lazy day, I just lounged around getting some school work done and watching a combination of X-Files, Stargate and Torchwood (I know... I'm such a Sci-Fi geek). The weather was rather nice on Sunday too, so I went for a nice long run out towards the first bridge (no, I didn't make it to the first bridge... got about halfway there and thought hmmm... if it took me 40 minutes to get this far.... it's gonna be a long time getting home... so I turned back).

Monday, was pretty much a repeat of Sunday... another lazy day of getting school work done... marking some assignments... figuring out how I'm going to get some of my students caught up in their work before report cards go out... and of course... more X-Files, Torchwood and Stargate.

Tuesday, we were all back in school.... and the kids were wild. Now, this I expected after them being out for an extended weekend.. but we all pulled together and got work done. My grade 3 class is loving the phonics workbooks that I've created for them and are almost racing each other to get the work done (which is a good thing... and a bad thing at the same time... so we've been working on slowing things down).

Wednesday, I got a call from our Principal at 5:30 (ish) .... although I think it took him a minute to figure out who answered as when you're just awaken from a deep sleep (and on a rather nice dream) you're not always quite "conscious" and I know I didn't answer the phone in English.... and all I heard on the other end was click. So I rolled over, cursed, and went back to sleep. At 7:00 just as I was about to put a toothbrush in my mouth, the phone rang again. Wondering "who on earth is calling at this hour of the morning" I answered, and it was my Principal letting me know that school was canceled for the day as there was a death in the community. I brushed my teeth and went back to bed. Woke up a couple of hours later and went out of a run and did a little bit of sleuthing to find out exactly what had happened. So while at the Hamlet office getting my drivers license transfered to Nunavut (yes, I took the plunge), I was filled in with the story by another teacher who was there. My condolences go out to his family.

Thursday and Friday were just another wild wild day at the school. The students were a little crazy, but who could blame them? I would be a little crazy too!

So now, I am here, on a chilly Friday night (it's only 0.5 degrees according to the thermometer, but it sure as hell feels colder) listening to the new Radiohead album (yes, the new one... the one where Radiohead pretty much said F-U! to the RIAA and the MPAA and the recording industry by letting fans download it for free. It's a good album... reminds me of the material that they were making pre- Kid-A).

Anyhoo... that's the update for now... more to come over the weekend I imagine.

ciao