Temp: -36
Calm and sunny

Well, the week went by pretty fast but it was still a lot of fun. Tania and I flew down to Winnipeg Sunday night and spent a few days shopping before coming back yesterday. On Monday when we got to Polo Park Mall we both just stopped and looked at each other; we were both a bit overwhelmed by all the stores and selection available. Ah it was good though. We got haircuts which was important, though I have to say I have never had visit to a salon last as long. I was in the chair just shy of three hours for a cut (into a long bob I wanted) and color (nice natural highlights that will grow out well). What I got was dark brown hair, BLONDE BLONDE highlights and a short to med length shag haircut. Hmm... It's not bad, but definitely not what I wanted. Ahh well. Lesson learned. :o) Tania on the other hand looked fabulous so that's good.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent starting off the day with a swim in the pool and dip in the hot tub at the hotel. It was awesome! Then breakfast and off we went shopping again. We didn't get to do as much as we'd hoped (movies, fancy dinner out..) but it was nice because we took our time. Driving around Winnipeg was fun too as it's very similar to Edmonton and felt very familiar. Except for all the one way streets! Man, they do have a lot of them. But, it was great to get out and the weather really cooperated with us. It was between -5 to -20 the whole time we were there and Tuesday we got this beautifully warm snowfall. It was so pretty and refreshing.

Tuesday night we met up with a friend who used to be an interpreter in Baker Lake (Dianna) and it was great to catch up. She's pregnant too so her and Tania had lots to chat about. Then Wednesday we picked up Diesel at the airport (a puppy from Doyle's place in AB that Christopher wanted) and I have to say he is the best puppy. He's a charmer, doing well with the potty training, and cute as a button!

And what would a trip be if you didn't have some Calm Air excitement to go along with it? As we were taxiing up the runway to take off in Winnipeg the plane did a quick stop and Tania turned to me and said 'Hey, there's Diesel. They forgot the dog!' Sure enough the luggage cart was racing towards the plane with one lonely little kennel on it. Thank goodness the flight attendant had thought to ask the pilot to turn the heat on in the cargo compartment for the puppy because that's when the realized that there was in fact no puppy on board. Too funny. And then our semi-direct flight turned into the milk run because another plane went mechanical. Of course it did. And once we got in the air out of Chesterfield Inlet we had to turn around and go back because not all the latches were closed on the cargo door; all I could picture was poor Diesel having the ride of his life so it may have felt a bit inconvenient, but I'm glad we turned around. Yeesh... Anyway, here are some pics.


Diesel has arrived!


Helping Tania with her packing


Wiped out after a long day of travel


Not a great picture from the dirty window of our plane :o)

Temp:-24
Sunrise: 8:07 a.m.
Sunset: 5:09 p.m.
Just beautiful

Well, the week that started out hectic and bizarre has pretty much held course. Hopefully, tomorrow will be easy to get through and, voila! The weekend is here and the trip to Winnipeg on Sunday. Barring any unexpected blizzards of course. I say 'unexpected' but at this point it wouldn't surprise me if one popped up.

We've had a bit of excitement here in town this week. Both schools were broken into over the week, which is pretty unfortunate. At least no damage was done; it seems only money was taken. Only. The money that was taken from our school was money that the grade fives had fundraised for their commencement into grade six at the end of the year (when they switch over to the high school). How unfair is that? Essentially stealing money from kids. Nice.

But, on an absolutely more positive note, Tania and Chad have announced that they are going to have a baby!! They are due Sept long weekendish which is pretty cool. Chad's class surprised him with a shouted 'Congratulations Dad' yesterday morning when they found out and one of the little girls came up to me afterwards and told me 'Treena, Chad's gonna have a baby! I'm so proud of him!' Heh heh, I told her I was proud of him too. :o) Man I laughed. How cute is that?!

Other than that, I'm off to read more for my course. Got my first paper back and got 84% so not too shabby. Three more papers and the final exam to go. Will be nice to have it out of the way.

Temp: -21
Sunrise: 8:17 a.m.
Sunset: 4:59 p.m.
Sunny and amazing

Well, I'm not sure what was in the air today but the kids were pretty much off the wall. Between kids terrorizing each other with that blasted AXE underarm deodorant spray and others Crazy Gluing their friends hands together, it was a down-right insane day. I'm exhausted I have to say; it was a day for putting out fires, calming nerves and it was trying because to be honest by the end of the day I was done. Then, upon arriving home I found that poor Oli had been sick repeatedly in my apt. Excellent.... And to top off my day I've just discovered a pretty good sized lump on my right middle finger on the knuckle. I've been having a lot of problems with my hands the past couple of months and I'd just chalked it up to the cold weather and signing all the time just taking it's temporary toll. It's not lookin' good though. A sign language interpreter with possible arthritis in her hands... not an ideal situation to be sure. But, thank goodness we only have four more days until PI week and we're off. The rest will do me good. I'm thinking some hydro therapy in a hot tub somewhere may give me the reprieve I'm looking for. Sore fingers crossed....

And other than that, I just have a few pics of the prep for our Valentines Day festivities at school. I convinced Edna and Tania to help me turn regular popcorn into 'Pink Elephant Popcorn' the day before our party. We got together at my place and 'pinked' up more than 600 cups of popcorn. 1 lrg bag of popcorn: $15, Sugar etc: $40, the memory of doing something so ludicrous: priceless. Hee hee. Well, it was a bit of a gong show and left my house smelling putridly sweet and the kitchen filthy but it was worth it. The kids loved it and everyone had a great time at the dance. We even had a limbo competition at the end for the teachers. I had a bit of an edge because I'm the shortest teacher but I gotta tell ya, those 6 foot something boys that I work with surely did hold their own! In the end, the teacher I work with won the event. Too funny.


Boiling the sugar ~ sticky!


Careful not to cook it past the soft ball stage


That's a LOT of popcorn


And yes, that tub was bleached out and cleaned before the popcorn went in :o)


The kids loved the teachers limbo exhibition

Temp: -24
Windchill: -35
Sunrise: 8:20 a.m.
Sunset: 4:56 p.m.
Sunny and beautiful!

Well, today was the first day in a VERY long time that I got out. The weather here has been cold and the wind not so friendly. We haven't gotten out much this year which is pretty unfortunate. But, today I did so I'm thrilled.

Todd and Chris had built a nice ice shack up at Todd and Jenesta's and today was finally moving day! I love the shack because it looks like a barn. So, it was mounted to runners and pulled by one truck while anchored to another. The move went off without a hitch and as I type this the boys have gone back out to the shack to fish. Very cool.


Just a pretty ring around the sun


Getting it hooked up


And onto the ice safe and sound


Almost home


And settled in place, town off in the distance just over the hood of the blue truck


Inside the shack checking out the beautiful ice


Cool shard of ice we saw on our way out to the point

And other than this wee bit of excitement, things have been chuggin' along up here. Feb has been busy so far planning for Valentines Day at school and now PI week is coming up at the end of the month. Tania and I are heading down to Winnipeg for a few days to partake in some shopping, get haircuts, go swimming, take in a movie and just enjoy the change of scenery. It's been so great having this to look forward to. I haven't spent a lot of time in Winnipeg before, mostly just waiting at the airport for connecting flights or tromping around Polo Park Mall if the layover is a bit longer. So, it will be neat to be a tourist in the city next week. Should be a lot of fun!