Got Water?

No, I don't have water. Wanna bring some over?

Out for a Boat Ride

Last night a group of us teachers were taken out on a boat by a co-worker and her husband (Thanks so much Geela and Sampson! The trip out rocked!) to see if we could see the killer whales that were visiting us in the bay. Unfortunately, we did not see any whales, but we did get an excellent water tour of the area and even got to partake in some seal hunting ... well, Nick did all of the shooting, we did all of the seal watching. And, no seals were caught.

Although it was a little chilly out there on the bay when we hit the wind, it wasn't too bad. And the sun was shining down on us like there was no tomorrow.



The Bay @ 6:30 PM


Uluksan Point


Iceberg in the distance


Iceberg




Kennie and the Iceberg




An Arctic Sunset

For more pics of the trip go here and scroll down.

Yeah for Care-Packages!

Yahooo for mail! I got two excellent care packs from down south today. One of them being a box of stuff that I left at my parents place as I had no more room in my bags and the other a box of goodies (like material for curtains and a couple of other odds and ends) that I requested. Sweet!!!

And all I can say, the sweetest part of it all was the HUGE box of King Cole Tea that my mom packed up for me. Oh, I feel like I am home now. There is nothing better than a good mug-o-tea.

What a melon: $55 fruit sparks outrage in Labrador

This little jem was passed onto me by a good friend and colleague who is also a teacher in Northern Quebec. I had to laugh out loud about it, as it is something that I can so see happening up in my neck of the woods (er.... ice) :-)

Residents of a community in northern Labrador say they are furious about the cost of a watermelon at a local grocery store.

The Labrador Investments store in Nain was selling a watermelon with a sticker price of $55.41.

By Friday afternoon, however, the watermelon was no longer on the shelf, and the store manager refused to comment on what happened to it.

The manager said that despite the price tag, the melon's actual price should have been $38.

Sarah Erickson, the angajukKâk, or head, of the Inuit community government, said the pricey fruit was the talk of the town.

"It's been sitting there on the shelf for the last three days, like an attraction, because so many people can't believe the price," she said.

"They've all been going in just to look at it, to see what a $55 watermelon looks like."

Erickson said the issue is no laughing matter, as both the federal and Newfoundland and Labrador governments spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to subsidize the cost of transporting perishable items to Labrador's north coast.

Just two weeks ago, the program was extended to include the summer shipping season.

Erickson said healthy foods like watermelon continue to cost more than most people in Nain can afford.

"It makes you wonder, you know, what's with the whole program," said Erickson, who wants a review of the food subsidy program.

An official in the Labrador Affairs department said that $55 sounded high for a single watermelon.

He said the Nain store will be contacted to try to find out why the price was so high.

CBC News, August 15, 2008.

Sunset

Blog Make-Over

Doing some changes to the blog again .... stay tuned :-)

Out for a Hike

This morning / afternoon I grabbed my camera and ipod and headed out on a hike out to the point. It was a great hike out. The sun was shining and the weather was perfect for hiking along the water.




Arctic Bay, August 23, 2008


Inuksuk


Kennie's Foot in the Arctic Waters


Mountains Far Off








To see the rest of the pictures from the hike (in large form) click here

Poo-lar Bear: The Sub-Zero Pooping Hero

Because Kara has never seen a pooping polar bear before (it poops out candy), I've decided to explain what it does through pictures.



Now, I have a collection of these pooing candy dispensers - The Oppsie Daisy, Chrismoose (in both large and keychain), Happy Hen, Walking Penguin Pooper and Poo-lar Bear. It's kinda become a tradition as my mom always finds me one at Christmas time. I'm hoping for Baa-Humbug this year, or another walking penguin to keep poo-lar bear company :-)

Weather Warning

Warnings

Arctic Bay
9:20 PM EDT Wednesday 20 August 2008
Snowfall warning for Arctic Bay issued

Heavy snow continuing through tonight and Thursday.

An intense low pressure system has brought very strong west to northwest winds to Hall Beach and Igloolik in its wake. Northwest winds of 60 to 80 km/h with gusts up to 100 will persist tonight. The low is expected to slow down over Baffin Island, and as a result strong winds of 50 to 60 km/h with higher gusts will persist through Thursday.

At Arctic Bay, 7 cm of snow has been reported this evening, most of which fell throughout the day. Snow, fog, strong winds and poor visibilities will continue there through the night and Thursday. Total snowfall accumulations are expected to range from 15 to 25 cm by the time it tapers off Friday morning.

[nabbed from Enviro Canada]

Is it too early?

Wall-E and Polar Bear

Wall-E in the Arctic



Polar Bear, of the Candy Pooping Variety

Blizzard!!!!

We are in the midsts of a blizzard here in Arctic Bay. The wind is at an all time high (well, the highest that I have ever experienced it) and we have blowing snow/ice pellets taboot! It's great! And, to make things ever more entertaining, as I was trying this up, the power went out .... for about 30 minutes. Luckily for us, it's back now ... as I was not looking forward to the long powerless night.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This is what I woke up to this morning .... and it's snowing right now as we speak (er... type?)!

Here ya go Kara!

I've been tagged!

Tina over at Just Below 63 tagged me in this little ... I dunno... tell all?

My uncle once... hmmm..... there has to be a good story that I know somewhere logged in this brain of mine ...

When I was five... I preferred to play with Tonka trucks rather than dolls, like most young girls who did not want to be constrained into any archaic stereotype

High school was... a freaking blur

I will never forget... how to make coffee.

Once I met... Mike Holmes ... and I got my picture taken with him!

There’s this girl I know... I can't divulge a sista's secrets!

Once, at a bar... oh where to begin.

By noon, I’m usually:... slightly more awake than what I was at 7:00 am.

Last night... I ran out of water while in the middle of taking a shower.

If only I had... a million dollars ... I'd be rich!

Next time I go to church... yes, next time...

What worries me most... running out of water while in the shower.
.
When I turn my head left I see... the PS2.

When I turn my head right I see... the outside.

You know I’m lying when... when things sound just way too believable.

What I miss most about the Eighties is... old skool NKOTB! and Smurfs! and Poppels!

By this time next year... I have no idea where I will be.

A better name for me would be... smart-ass :-)

I have a hard time understanding... people who don't use a Mac.

If I ever The next time I go back to school, I’ll... definitely stay awake while attendng my 8:30 am class.

You know I like you if... you drink coffee... and use a Mac :-)

If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be... OMG! I won and award??!!! Oh, uh... I ... I'd like to thank my momma for making sure my butt was out of bed in the morning.....

Take my advice, never... use a PC running Windows.

My ideal breakfast is... Tim Horton's coffee and a Boston Cream or left over pizza.

A song I love but do not have is... there's little music that I don't have here with me in the North .... and if there ever is something, I just go get/find it.

If you visit my hometown, I suggest you... make sure you have good shocks on your car ... we got d'em big potholes!

Why won’t people...throw away their PC?

If you spend a night at my house... you'll be sleeping on the couch and probably starve as there is little food here currently ... unless you like pasta and corn.

I’d stop my wedding for... TBA

The world could do without... Windows ... the operating system... not physical windows silly. Oh, and those annoying Viagra commercials.

I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than... use a PC running windows.

My favourite blonde(s) is/are... do I know anyone who is blonde??

Paper clips are more useful than... everything! duh! If MacGyver can save the world using only a paper clip than we know we got it made!

If I do anything well it’s... make coffee.

I can’t help (but)... craving a big cup of Tim Horton's coffee!

I usually cry... when I get really tired.

My advice to my child/nephew/niece youth group girls: Get out there and kick butt! And do what you want to do. Money and fame don't matter if your not doing what you are passionate about.

And by the way... my coffee is ready.

So I tag Jennith, Darcy, Jackie

Wow ... 365 days later

It's hard to believe that this blog is turning one! One!

When I started out this blog, it was just going to be little updates about life in the North and pictures for family and friends down south to see what I was up to (rather than sending mass emails to everyone).

Little did I know that this blog would become part of not only the Nunavut blogging community, but also the Northern blogging community.

Did I ever think that I would have more than 20 dedicated readers all from back home? Nope. Not ever in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have 45,077 visits to my site by 7,739 unique visitors (where 39% of them are repeat visitors lurking in the shadows [say hi sometime!], and 10% are slightly addicted to this site [you know who you are] ), from 76 different countries/territories? Hell no! I figured at best I would have my family and my university buddies checking in from time to time to find out if I'd been eaten by a polar bear yet.

This blog has grown into a fixture in my life - it's my replacement outlet for my crackphone (didn't have a blackberry, but I loved my cell phone - it kept me connected to the intertubes). I feel strange if I don't get at least one post in per week - heck I even think I begin to have withdrawal symptoms - or at least I begin to think that certain other bloggers up here would think I've decided to go float off on an iceberg if I don't get posts up :-) ).

Blog, you have seen me through the good times, the bad times, the crazy times, and the play-off wars. Here's to you. Happy First Birthday.

There is just something comforting.....

about street lights starting to light up the 'night-time' again

Back to the grind

Today everyone was our first day back to work (well.... for most of us here in AB - some of our teachers are on an 'extended vacation' as they have been weathered / mechanicaled out of AB; but they should be here soon ... hopefully by Thursday at the latest. Today was mostly staff meetings and getting classrooms set up. I decided to tackle my high school class / media lab today. It's mostly set up and ready to go. Just gotta dig the computers out of storage and put some stuff on shelves and print off my curriculum documents so I can have them on hand. Tomorrow, I"ll be working on getting my elementary classroom set up (the classroom that I only see 40 minutes out of the day). I"ll get pictures posted for the curious once I get everything set up.

And of course, just to make my Monday even better, my water tank decided to go dry while I was in the shower this evening after my nightly run out to the dump and back. Just FAN-TAS-TICK!. Cursing I wrapped my soapy head up in a towel and called the water and poop trucks, as I wasn't too sure if it was the water tank that ran out or the poop tank that was full that caused my water to pitter out. Fortunately, both the water and poop truck came within a half hour or me calling. YAHOO!!! And no, sorry everyone, no pictures of me with soapy sticking up all over hair. Camera batteries were dead :-(. Next time, I promise.

Arctic Bay, August 17, 2008

The First Snow of the Season

And this stuff is sticking around ... so far.....

It's Snowing!

It's snowing outside right now .... not that it's snowing alot, and it's not sticking around once it hits the ground ... but it's snowing! And it's only the middle of August!

Kennie's Slacker Banana-Oatmeal-Chip Muffins

Everyone knows that I am not exactly a 'seasoned' cook ... I'm still learning... BUT, I do know how to make a mean
muffin quickly:

What you need (for 12 muffins)
1/2 pack of Oatmeal Muffin Mix (follow package directions)
1/2 pack of chocolate chips
3 nice and ripe large bananas (mush them good)

Mix it all together, and you know the rest :-)

Ice Floaties

This is how we move it move it

How we move boats around in the North

More Canadian Coast Guard

Here in town right now we have three Canadian Coast Guard Ships floating in the bay ... which means, we also have a lot of 'new' faces floating around town when the zodiacs are running.




In no particuliar order ... we've got: CCGS Des Groseillers, CCGS Henry Larsen, and CCGS Terry Fox in town.

Tripple Tripple

And now there are three...

Double Double Anyone?

Yesterday there was one .... today there's two .....

Weather, weather, weather

The weather here in Arctic Bay since last Saturday has been pretty windy, cool, and rainy. It's not too bad outside in the rain when not in the wind, but once that wind hits, it feels like little icicles hitting your face. And it's been foggy as hell up here. We have not had a freighter plane in for almost two weeks now, which means that the Northern is beginning to look a little bare and the last passenger plane that landed was on Friday (although, I think today's might have gotten in as it did clear up around 11:00). So good luck to all that are arriving here this weekend (which is most of our staff) - I'm hoping for good weather for y'all. And I also want good weather to hit so the mail can come in! I'm still waiting for one important box.

It also looks like we might be getting our first snow early this year. So much for my guess of September 15th, although according to the weather forecast, the snow won't be staying for long as it's going to be changing to rain as the temperatures warm up. With any luck, I'm hoping that with the snow the sun will come back and this rain will leave us for a while.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow