Oh the joys of a gastro-intestinal flu bug! Well, here I am sick again. I've been struck down by a crappy bug that's going around town and let me tell ya, it's no damn fun. I haven't eaten anything of any consistency since Thursday night and here it is Sunday afternoon. I talked to the nurses, who happen to be my neighbours in my apt building (thank God for small mercies!) and they said 'nothing but clear fluids and it will run it's course'. Now, logically, I know Orange Juice is not a clear fluid but that's what I wanted to drink and thought 'what could it possibly hurt?' Wrong!! Apparently that's just been making this bug happy and my body the perfect host. Sigh.. so I've switched over to plain old water. Good times. Ahh well. Thankfully my other neighbours went out ice fishing today and offered to take Oliver with them. Being sick with a puppy around offers it's own unique challenge so the break is really nice. Unfortunately the weather is perfect today, +6 and sunny, and doesn't make me want to be stuck indoors. But, on the positive side, maybe this flu will kick start the old diet again. :-)

Other than that, I'm really looking forward to next Tuesday as my friend Jacquie is coming to visit from Edmonton - Yayyyy! It's so nice to have that to look forward to. 9 days and counting.. wooohooo! Can't wait.

Anyway, here is one of my favorite pics of Oliver as a puppy and then I will load one of him recently so you can see how much he's grown. Pretty cool.

Well, today was a pretty nice day weather-wise; the sun was shining and the snow was melting. But it's odd how the snow seems to evaporate and not really run off like I'm used to in Alberta. Well, at least it hasn't started to run off yet but it is crazy how fast it disappears! One day we'll have a storm with a foot of fresh snow, and a day or two later you can see gravel and patches of mud. It's so darn dry here...

Which brings me to the static electricity here. It's bloody crazy! I literally get a shock EVERY SINGLE TIME I touch the phone, TV, computer, lamp... anything. And not just the little insignificant shocks one is used to getting. Oh no. I get the 'watch the electricity arc and then feel the pain where it connects with my finger and then shoots up my arm' kind of shocks. I dread answering the phone; if I can't ground myself before I touch it, I shock it and it sends the call straight to the answering machine. Bizarre. And poor Oliver. He toughs it out but he gets shocked all the time. It makes me wonder if there are any long term effects from getting shock therapy every few minutes!?

Baker Lake also offers another unique phenomenon (at least to me!) Sometimes, when freezing ice cubes, they freeze with an ice spike sticking straight up! I'm sure there's an explanation for this but I'm not sure what it is. Anyhow, I've attached a picture of it because it's just so neat.



Well, that's it for today. Think I'm going to watch an episode from 'Dallas' from the series DVD's I bought. Let me tell ya, If there's one thing you learn to do real quick up here, it's online shop!

Since moving here in August for work, I've had some pretty amazing experiences in Baker Lake, NU. I'm going to use this blog to keep everyone 'down south' updated on what's happening. In a nutshell, here's some of what I've experienced so far:

I've gone on a Caribou hunt (although I did not shoot anything myself, I did get my hands dirty divvying up the days catch). And I STILL can't eat Caribou nearly 4 months later!



Before the hunt...


On the kitchen floor, after the hunt.

I made a new addition to my family; Oliver is 7 months old now and has grown like a weed! He's been excellent company even if he is costing me a fortune between the $20/5lb bag of Puppy Chow (price check that!) and the carpet he keeps gnawing on while I'm at work!! Here's a picture of us in front of an Iglu that my neighbour's class made with some elders out on the land as part of their culture program.



I've enjoyed some amazing sunrises/sunsets up here. It feels like you can see forever.. absolutely breathtaking!



I've been ice fishing in -39 degree weather; thank goodness for the small shack we had for refuge. It had a wood burning stove in it which was a real treat as there are no trees here.





And I've met some pretty great people. Baker Lake is a very friendly community, and the kids.... oh the kids. They are firmly planted in my heart I have to say. I've never worked in an elementary setting before but I am loving it. To be around kids all day and see things from their perspective is pretty darn cool. Best toodle off to bed so I can see what tomorrow will bring!