Happy 2013!

Well hello! Here I sit at SEATAC airport, nearly midnight. The bars were closed an hour ago, a sad reality that has sabotaged my truly refined evening plans. However, with a nine-hour layover that will now pretty much be a sober experience, I figured that I could finally get around to writing some semblance of a post if for no other reason than to get back into the swing of things.

This being the new year, I've started thinking about resolutions, but decided that I'm not going to resolve to write more. My resolutions never seem to come to full fruition, leaving me feeling inadequate at accomplishing all the things. However, I still want to attempt to improve myself, so I will at least try to be better about posting more frequently, how's that? Nothing like some lukewarm commitment to inspire production.

Where to begin? Well, December pretty much flew by and was much more enjoyable than last year. At least, I think it was. I do not quite recall much of December or January last year, and I can't decide whether that is because it was too painful, uneventful, or dark and therefore I was too sleepy to truly take note of what was going on around me. I choose to believe some combination of the latter two possibilities.

My two environmental science students that went to Seward with me completed their final projects mid-December and both received an A. They were pumped, as was I! It was a great experience for all of us; my only regret is that due to scheduling issues and the nature of how meetings are conducted in this district, I ended up missing their final presentation via conference call. While giving a strained 10-minute spiel through VTC in order to get certified as a Constructing Meaning presenter (that was supposed to take place 30 minutes earlier), I received a text from one of the girls saying that they needed me. I pretty much said "I have to go and I'm done now" to the people on VTC and quite literally sprinted down the hall to the principal's office where the girls had been listening to the other groups around the state. Just as I opened the door, Ms. Hunger Games said, "and that completes our project." I looked at them as they muted our side of the conversation, and they both looked up and said, "We're done. Sorry!" 

I was so ticked off at myself for missing the culmination of our 3 months' work together, though I had very little control over the situation. I literally collapsed on the floor, hands smacking my forehead, while the girls both shook their heads and laughed at me. We listened to the rest of the conference and that was that.

To this day I have no clue as to whether or not I am CM certified. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get another chance to do that if my livid 5 minutes didn't suffice.

This year, getting out of the village went as smoothly as it could have, as we had beautiful weather. I got to Anchorage on December 21st and took some time to go south to Girdwood to ski at Alyeska Resort. (Google it, book a trip, and thank me later.) Many people asked if I was scared about flying on Doomsday; nope, not so much. Besides, I celebrated surviving the Mayan prophecy by going to a hippie bar at the resort, taking in fantastic live music and catching up with a friend. I even got to stay at the cutest little cabin in the woods, complete with a bath house and outhouse! The next day, I skied and couldn't believe how few people were there on such a gorgeous weekend day. I nearly had the mountain to myself. After that, I headed back up to Anchorage, had dinner with another friend, and somehow almost managed to miss my flight because I was chatting with someone at Chili's. That darn wine, I tell ya...I can be quite the chatterbox at times, much to my detriment.

My cabin in the woods.

The bath house with the outhouse to the right between two trees.

The ski lift at Alyeska.

And another. 

Christmas break went by too quickly and I celebrated it in my usual style: I caught some sort of bug and was laid up for a solid three days while I attempted not to hack up a lung. Friends remarked that Alaska should have made me tougher; I replied that Alaska was no match for my niece and nephew, little germ balls that they are. Adorably sweet and hilarious, of course, not that I'm biased, but germ-filled nonetheless.

We will hit the ground running in 2013 and not really stop until February is over; our school hosts some sort of basketball tournament or Academic Decathlon event every single weekend. This first weekend, January 10th-12th, we host no fewer than 6 other basketball teams, boys and girls, and I'm running that. All teams will stay in the school, and we will also try to provide some sort of evening entertainment for the kids who are not playing. YIKES. Good thing we have a good set of faculty who tend to be generous with their time. 

I'm thinking about taking a class this semester; we'll see if that pans out. Hmm, maybe I should figure out when the semester begins? Wish me luck! 

Happy New Year!