This week was wonderful.  I have thoroughly enjoyed our Thanksgiving break and have made the most of it by avoiding school work as much as possible.  We had school as normal on Monday and Tuesday and then had an early release day on Wednesday.  Tim was still traveling back from Seattle on Monday, so he didn't make it to school until Tuesday.  This week we started a new, much needed, tardy policy and a new bell schedule.  We now have 5 minutes in between classes instead of 3 minutes.  It has been a really nice switch.  I now have time to use the bathroom in between classes if necessary. 

This year we held with Togiak tradition and had a potluck Thanksgiving dinner with the other teachers.  I absolutely love Thanksgiving out here.  In my mind, it's a pretty ideal way to do Thanksgiving.  No one person or family is bogged down with the task of making a Thanksgiving feast, yet, because everyone brings a dish, there is a feast and lots of good food.  Every year Tim makes the turkey and I bring rolls.  This year was no different.  We did through in some mashed potatoes as well, because our normal mashed potato maker was out of town this Thanksgiving.  The food was good and the company was great. 

After our Thanksgiving meal, Tim and I monopolized the time of our vice principal, Nate.  His family is out of town for a month while his little boy gets his tonsils out.  So, I guess we can justify ourselves in taking up his whole afternoon by saying that we were just keeping him company.  We asked him if we could get a dresser for our apartment so we have a place to put all of our baby clothes and supplies.  He took us to the shed next to his house where all the extra teacher housing furniture is kept and let us pretty much go shopping.  Three hours later we were back in our apartment with a new couch, new nightstands, new lamps, and a new dresser.  We didn't have time to organize it all and rearrange furniture, because we had invited Heather and Nate over to play cards at 6:30.  So, we just dropped all the furniture in the odd places it was and pushed some things aside to make room for a game of Rook.  It was a really fun evening. 

Friday morning Tim and I borrowed our neighbors 4-wheeler to tow our 4-wheelers down to the school.  The beast still is suffering from a broken belt and Tim needed a warm place to work on it.  My 4-wheeler was simply just frozen and needed a bit of a thaw.  The electric start wasn't working and the pull start was frozen solid.  The reverse button was also frozen.  Nate let us pull our machines in under the school for the day.  Once we had them under the school, I went to Evelyn's classroom.  She was having a sewing class.  She had prepared for us kits to make Christmas quilts with.  I've never made a patchwork quilt until now.  It was fun to spend the afternoon sewing and chatting with the other ladies in the class.  I was amazed at how much work I was able to get done on the quilt in just 4 hours as well.  The entire front is sewn together and a border is sewn on the back.  Next weekend perhaps I'll have time to finish it up. 

Once the sewing class was over, Tim and I went back under the school to work on our 4-wheelers.  Those few hours inside were like magic on my 4-wheeler.  Everything worked once again.   While Tim and Greg fought with bolts that wouldn't budge on the beast, I changed the oil in my 4-wheeler.  Unfortunately, Tim and Greg weren't able to completely fix his 4-wheeler, because they found a broken washer that needed to be replaced.  Tim ordered the part and then put his machine half back together, so we could tow it out of the school until next weekend. 

When Tim and I got home from the school on Friday evening, we started working on furniture rearrangement.  We don't have a very big apartment, so adding in extra furniture and a baby is a bit of a trick.  I think we did a really good job of our rearranging though and our apartment feels quite a bit homier now.  I'd post pictures, but it's not quite clean enough to show the world.  You'll have to wait until next week.

Tim and I did spend some time on Saturday working.  It was inevitable that at some time during our Thanksgiving break we would have to do some lesson planning for the next week.  For me, it went fairly quickly though and I was able to keep myself from dwelling on the work that needed to be done and enjoy my break.

For those of you wondering how wintery it is up her in the frozen north, it's cold, but not very snowy.  We have been flirting with single digits temperatures.  My reverse button on my 4-wheeler has been frozen all week and I've had to breath into my ignition switch to warm it up enough to fit my key in.  So, it seems that winter has arrived.  I even pulled out the blow dryer today to unfreeze the lock to our fuel box.  However, as you can see from the picture I took this morning, we do not have much in the way of snow.  It's more brown than white.  I believe those of you in the northwest are enjoying more snow than we are.  I've heard many locals speculating that we are going to have a "light" winter.  We'll see if that prediction is accurate.  I feel like we should have snow as long as it is going to be so cold.
This week you get to hear from both Tim and myself.  Tim has been out of town since Wednesday and won't return until tomorrow, so we have had two very different experiences this week. 

I guess the most exciting thing that happened to me this week is that I took my first sick day at Togiak school.  Some of you may think I must have been extremely sick to take a sick day.  (When I was in middle school and high school I used to fake that I felt fine and try to sneak out of the house before my mother noticed I was sick and would make me stay home.  I was a weird child, I know.)  Luckily, Tim talked some sense into me and made me realize that the purpose of sick days is so you can stay home when you're sick.  Once I gave in to his "radical" idea of staying home because I was sick, I started to love it.  I was able to plan for a sub fairly quickly on Tuesday morning and then return home before students arrived at the school.  I dutifully went straight to bed and slept for three and half hours until the ringing of the phone woke me up.  Other than making myself some lunch, I spent the rest of the afternoon in bed resting and reading a book.  By the end of the day I was thinking about the other 34 sick days I had built up and started to wonder if I could use them to take the rest of the week off :) Okay I wasn't seriously considering that, but it did sound nice . . . other than the fact that I would have to write sub plans for all the days I missed.  I wasn't feeling 100% the rest of the week, but I was feeling well enough to go to school.

Friday this week was an in-service day.  I absolutely love in-service days.  It is nice to have a break from lesson planning and having such a packed and high demanding day with students.  It's a good opportunity to interact with other adults and have some quiet time to work on some of those things that just always get pushed to the side.  I probably wasn't as productive as I should have been, but I was sure grateful for it. 

This weekend was so nice, particularly because we only have three school days next week to plan for.  I felt like my lesson planning and school work was under control enough that I could spend some time on some personal things.  Friday night, my friends Heather and Kim had me over for dinner and games.  Saturday, I did some much needed house cleaning on Saturday.  In fact, that is what I spent the majority of the day doing.

I received some fun packages in the mail this week from my parents.  My mom sent up a baby quilt that she had made for the baby.  She calls it the "Alaska quilt".  Speaking of the baby, Tim and I have decided on a name.  I know it is much against Hart tradition to announce or even come up with a name for a child before they are actually born.  However, our birth mother requested that we name the baby and asked that we come up with a name sooner rather than later so that she could begin using it.  We saw it as a simple and reasonable request.  Actually coming up with the name was not simple, but we have finally done it.  We have decided on Kaylee Cikiun Phillips.  Cikiun is a Yup'ik word meaning gift.  In the Yup'ik culture you do not give your child a Yup'ik name.  The village gives the name to your child, usually the name of an Elder who most recently passed away.  Because of this, we were careful to select a Yup'ik word, not a Yup'ik name.  Although, Tim was speaking with several of the Yup'ik teachers last week in Dillingham asking for their input and they said that they gave the name to us.  So we have permission to use it even though we are doing things the "kassak" (white man) way not the Yup'ik way.

Well I feel as if I'm getting rather long winded and Tim has yet to include his portion.

NCSS 2012
This week I had the opportunity to go to Seattle to attend the National Council of Social Studies annual conference.  This conference was held on Friday and Saturday (11/16-11/17) from 8:00am to 6:00pm.  Each day there were multiple sessions covering topics about teaching social studies in schools.  I love going to conferences like this because it reinvigorates my passion for learning (and perhaps my longing to simply sit and learn from others).  These opportunities are hard to come by living out in Togiak, as travel to and from the village is expensive and requires a lot of time. I was lucky enough to receive a $1000 scholarship from my school district for professional development that covered the majority of the cost.  I attended sessions on Writing, Strategies for Reading, Digitalization of Social Studies coursework, & Engagement Strategies among others. 

Part of my time there wasn’t just as a learner, but as a representative for my school district.  This year is a restructuring year for Social Studies Curriculum district-wide.  All of the social studies teachers, some district staff, and a select others were picked to form a committee to update and redo our district curriculum and the path it will take over the next 6 years.  I have been asked to chair that committee (which at this time I’m not entire sure what that entails other than keeping the ball rolling when frustrations occur).  However, since I was already going down to the conference, I grabbed few business cards from the district curriculum instructor and then went and spent some “face” time with various vendors.  I quickly summarized my district and student base and asked them how their product could help us.  I found a few vendors that I really liked and set up connections to continue communication after the conference.  I also spent some time with each of the major textbook vendors to preview their books and ordered samples to be sent to the district office so the Social Studies committee could review them. Overall, it was a fun time and I really enjoyed it.

Visiting Family
I was lucky enough that Kaitlyn’s sister Carmen, and her family, live in Seattle and were gracious enough to allow me to stay with them.  This was really helped me out because hotel prices were going to be outrageous.  At first, I was planning on taking the bus from their house to the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle each day, then changed my mind after looking at the 1½ hour trip each way.  Instead, I decided just to rent a car and drive.  I’m quite happy with that decision because, albeit more expensive than the bus, gave me much more freedom. 

On Saturday afternoon I got to spend time with my side of the family.  Both my parents, my little sister Hillary, my cousin Sarah and her husband Jimi and their daughter Grace came to Seattle to visit with me.  We spent a few hours at the North Bend Outlet mall, mostly buying baby stuff for Kaylee.  We then went to dinner at a restaurant in Issaquah Carmen and Jeremy introduced Kaitlyn and me to called Tutabella’s.  It’s an authentic Italian Pizzeria and is awesome.  After dinner we all went to Target next-door and played around.  My dad and I spent most of the time looking over different types of shipping totes because he’s building Kaylee a crib and wants to ship it to Togiak.  We also spent some time looking at playpens for Kaylee.  I really enjoyed visiting with everyone.  It reminds me how much I like being near family.

Travel
Travel for this trip has been more eventful than most.  Originally, I was scheduled to fly out of Togiak on Tuesday, November 13th, but the weather was too poor for me to fly to Dillingham.  This caused a ripple effect, because in order to catch my flight from Dillingham to Anchorage I would have to be in Dillingham the night before.  This is because the little planes that fly in and out of Togiak don’t fly in the dark, and it wasn’t going to be light soon enough to get to Dillingham in time to make my flight the next morning.  Now, I will say that I did try, but all the airlines said no.  I called Alaska Airlines and they rebooked my flights to Seattle and everything was fine.  I ended up spending the Wednesday night in Anchorage instead of Tuesday night in Dillingham, but that was no big deal. 

On my return trip, when checking in, I noticed that I didn’t have a flight scheduled from Anchorage to Dillingham on my boarding pass.  After inquiring further with an agent, I found out that Alaska Airlines canceled my entire reservation, rebooked it, and forgot to rebook the Dillingham portion.  After many lengthy phone calls, the agent fixed everything, but my original flight was booked solid (since I wasn’t in the system, they sold my seat), so I was bumped to Monday morning instead.  This is fine with me; in fact, it’s even better.  Originally, I had planned on staying the night in Dillingham Sunday evening, but with this arrangement, I get to stay in a swanky hotel in Anchorage for free! 

On a different, nerdier note, this trip marked the first time for me to travel the entire trip without printing a boarding pass.  I used my phone the entire time and it worked like a charm!

Cucuklillis Yup'ik for "I voted".  Tuesday was our presidential election and my first time voting in Togiak.  (You may say to yourself, but Kaitlyn, you've lived in Togiak for over two years now.  Haven't there been any elections in the past two years? Ah, ya, but . . . I'm a bit of a slacker.)  A group of teachers left the school shortly after school was out and made our way to the Togiak city offices.  It was actually the first time I've ever been to the city offices.  We didn't have to wait in any lines to vote and we got these cool stickers after we finished.  I know that it's pretty common everywhere to get an "I voted" sticker, but this sticker was even cooler because it said "I voted" in Yup'ik. 
    Wednesday after school Tim and I flew to Dillingham.  Tim had social studies committee meetings on Thursday and Friday this week and I had science committee meetings.  I don't like missing school, planning for a substitute, or having a substitute, but I do love having a break from the regular work week and the village, so I was happy to go.  Delorie Lee, the second grade teacher, also came with us to help with some elementary science work. 
    We were told we were staying at the Northern Lights B&B.  None of us had ever stayed there before or knew where it was, but we figured our driver would.  Unfortunately, we were wrong.  After a few phone calls we got it all figured out and got delivered to the right place.  Northern Lights B&B is a house.  The upstairs has a rather large and open living room and kitchen as well as the owner's bedroom.  The downstairs has several rooms and a bathroom.  When we arrived the owner wasn't home and none of us knew where we were staying or how or where to "sign in".  Since we all were starving and had no idea when the owner would be around, we left our bags and walked to the nearest restaurant.  It is nice that when you go to Dillingham you have the option of eating out.  However, the wait is long, so if you're in a hurry, just go to the grocery store.  I believe we waited about an hour and a half for our food to come.  When we returned to the B&B there was a note left on the kitchen table assigning us to some rooms and we still had not seen the owner. 
    Thursday morning we walk up to a couple inches of snow.  It was excited, because other than some flurries here and there, there really hasn't been any snow yet.  I hadn't brought a lot of winter gear or my boots, but the owner of the B&B offered to give us a ride.  Tim and I both worked away with our respective committees all day.  We worked all day and did accomplish things, but I'm not sure either of us felt like it was an extremely productive day.  Kyle, one of the three high school teachers on our committee, wasn't able to make it in due to bad weather and flight cancellations.  This made it a little difficult to make decisions. 
    Thursday evening we ate at Twin Dragon.  This is probably my most visited restaurant in the state of Alaska.  Almost every time I'm in Dillingham I eat at this restaurant.  After dinner, Tim and the rest of our group went to the grocery store and I hung out at the bunkhouse to take advantage of the internet and get a bit more work finished up.  We arrived back at our B&B at about 8:00 pm to a locked house.  We rang the doorbell, knocked, and called, but no luck.  It's a really good thing the district had given us a vehicle for the evening because it was wet and cold.  We sat in the truck and watched Downton Abbey for nearly an hour before the owner showed up and let us in the house.  Unfortunately, I had started to feel a bit under the weather and didn't sleep much at all that night.  I had those feverish chills and could never decide if I was freezing or way too hot.
    Friday the weather got better.  I was grateful for that, because I wanted to be able to fly home that evening.  We worked until nearly 4:00 pm.  I was trying to pretend that I didn't feel sick, but I'm not sure how well it worked.  When Tim and I arrived back in Togiak around 5:30 pm we had some ramen noodles for dinner and headed to bed to watch a movie.  It was kind of nice just going to bed so early and not worry about anything.
    Saturday I should have worked hard at the school and gotten a lot of planning finished, but I just wanted a break and kind of felt like my body wanted me to sleep instead.  (I probably should have listened to my body.)  We made it to the school at about 2:00 pm, but I got distracted talking to Heather until 4:00 pm.  I started getting some work done just about the time Tim came in my room to ask if I was ready to go (about 4:15 pm).  I told him to give me 15 minutes so I could gather up some things and head home.  I ended up having to do about 3 hours of work at home in order to prepare for Monday. 
    I am definitely looking forward to finishing up this semester and not having to worry about lesson planning and grading papers anymore.  I officially have 6 more weeks left of teaching.  That's it . . . 6!  Only 3 of those weeks are weeks that I have students all 5 days.  I think this is going to go quickly.  Career change, here I come.

Tim and I were dealing with the effects of sleep deprivation this week.  While in Wasilla at the AASG conference we never had a down moment and only had 5-6 hours of sleep time each night.  Those 5-6 hours were spent on a classroom floor in a room full of teenagers. Needless to say, after 5 days away from home, we were tired.  We returned home last Sunday afternoon.  Normally, Tim and I spend most the day on Saturday lesson planning for the next week.  This regular planning had not happened since we were in Wasilla.  So this past week was extremely long and busy as we were trying to catch up on sleep, grade papers from the previous week, figure out what did and did not happen while the substitute was with our classes, and lesson plan for the lessons we were supposed to be given that week.  Unfortunately for my students my patience was very low and I was counting down the days until the weekend.

We did make it to the weekend!  As usual I had hopes of accomplishing so much.  I realized Saturday morning, however, that my to do list for the week was unrealistically long and I decided that all non-school related things took precedence.  (I was proud of myself for coming to this conclusion, since most of the time all I focus on is school.)  I was really feeling pressure because our primary program for church is scheduled for 3 weeks from today and I was in charge of writing it.  I had not written yet and still needed to get it approved and distributed in time for the kids to start practicing before our first practice next Sunday.  Saturday was dedicated to finally getting it written.  It actually went much quicker and easier than I had imagined.  I am happy to report that it is written, approved, and distributed just 24 hours after I told myself I must sit down and finish it. 

Tim and I also spent quite a bit of time this week focusing on adoption things, which is much more fun than focusing on work.  We have officially bought plane tickets, rented a car, and rented a one bedroom apartment for the end of December.  We are going to go get the baby in less than 2 months!  I would be lying if we said we were not excited.  We have also been discussing a lot about what equipment we should buy: this or that, which brand, buy it now or later, etc, etc.  By the way, if any of you experienced parents out there have any wisdom to share on formula, I wouldn't mind you passing the information on.

The "beast" is once again out of service.  Sometimes I feel that that 4-wheeler is parked more than it is driven.  Right before summer break, the belt broke while Tim was driving it.  Tim fixed it in August as soon as we got back to the village.  Saturday I was riding the beast to the post office (possible driving too fast) and soon had pieces of belt flying out of the snorkel into my face.  Once again, the belt was broken.  What belt breaks after less than 3 months?  Nevertheless, our spending money has gone for another new belt.

Tim is now telling me that this post has to be finished, because I have to go make cookies.  Well, I guess I better go.