Hello, best mail day ever. Here's what I got:

Cute as all hell whistle necklace for my hiking trips from big sister. Scares away the wildlife and keeps me from needing to be rescued by the National Guard. Again. Hopefully. The vendor wrapped it in dictionary paper and I love dictionaries. I especially love the coincidence that the particular word is about departure.
It's so damn cute!

The most expensive fridge art EVER. About 40 grand. I began loan repayment last week as a matter of fact.Ouch! My bank account will be crying for at least 10 years.

I also got a new book, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, recommended by an awesome mentor from last year. It's about Alaska, if Alaska became a refuge for Jews during World War II. I think. I'll keep you posted. Oh, and I got some new materials for my 1st and 2nd grade language delayed boys. Always the boys. My favorite therapy material yet--- a football. Gets a little crazy in the Speech room now and then.

And classic Deborah: Tuesdays are preschools days. Today we read the book, "Mouse Paint" and used watercolors. It was a big hit with all of them. So after school I had my first appointment with a local doctor. She was running for WebMD before I was even out of the office but I expected that. Talked to four different people there. Then I went to a second hand store to look for a table top mirror (artic therapy). Talked to two people there. Then I went to a local meat store. Almost picked up a three year old who wouldn't stop following me around but his parents claimed him in the end. Two different counter ladies, so that's four adults there. And we're up to ten people. I just saw myself in the mirror at 6 pm and I have blue water color all over the right side of my face. Sweet.

Berry Picking

Suited up, ready for some hands free, bear free pickin'!
First stop, Tsalteshi Trails

for cranberries,
wild chickens and moose poo. They make jewelry out of the droppings in Talkeetna.











Then on to Skilak Lake for Highbush cranberries.


and a hike to a gorgeous view of Kenai Canyon.

Look at the color of that water! Apparently it's the glacial silt.
Beautiful.

Awesome Fall colors and, if you look closely, Redoubt Volcano in the background.
The fruit of my labor. The dark ones will be baked into cranberry orange spice bread and the light ones have already been juiced and made into a simple syrup/juice concoction. Way too bitter without adding the sugar.

The Time Bandit

The Time Bandit, as promised with a sampling of some lovely Homer beer. All in all, a great day at the end of the road. Even without a Mike Rowe sighting.
Today the sun is shining and I'm going berry picking! Got my milk jug on, just like my Grandpa taught me. Pictures later.

Weekend Update

I've been fighting a cold all week but I think I might have escaped the full force. We're loosing 5 minutes of daylight every day and the coldest morning yet was 31 degrees. Still not really wearing a coat but I'm mostly inside so that's no great feat. Today the kids said it was snowing at recess, it didn't stick so it doesn't count.
Someone got into my car Monday night and stole my GPS system. What pisses me off is that it was probably one of my neighbors. Jerk faces.
Wednesday I was chatting away with Big Sister on the commute home and was almost beside two moose before I even noticed them on the side of the road. Today I heard a story about a woman who hit a moose in a smaller car. It broke out her windshield and crapped all over her as it was dying. How traumatic would that be? I hit a raccoon once and didn't get over it for days.
Let's see, Thursday I had the biggest meeting yet and was definitely put on the spot. Felt like a total dumb ass but my new friend Mrs. Hawker says I sounded like I knew what I was talking about so that's good. Haven't lost the touch. She once lived in Evanston, Wyoming. I visited for two weeks and could barely take it. Evanston: About the only thing to do there is hunt for fossils so I made friends with an old guy who owned a fossil shop and he let me break rocks to look for fish. How's that for fun?

Today Me, Hawker and another teacher went for an after work beer at my new favorite spot. It's the diviest of dive bars, tucked back on a gravel road overlooking the mouth of the river and the Inlet. The bartender is from Fresno, one regular is from San Jose, the other from Modesto. We all got to talking about produce and made everyone homesick.

Saturdays

I've been spending a good part of my Saturdays at work. An empty school is the creepiest of creepy settings. Don't you just think horror movie?

Our parent group is putting in a trail system for outdoor Ed on the 10 acres behind the school. It's an awesome project. We got a preliminary tour last week and I saw my first bear scat. Anyway, during the initial phase of the project they found a tent and an old car out there. Some of the teachers were trying to tease me about the upcoming 19 hrs of darkness a day and thought I might be scared by the idea of leaving work in the dark with tent dude out there. They have obviously never walked through the TL at 2 in the morning. Actually 2 is strangely quiet since everyone's scored their crack for the night and holed up with it somewhere. It's about 10ish when they're crawling out, jonesin' that's full force Crazy Time. I laughed hysterically inside at the thought of being scared of some hippie when I come from a place where you have to watch for human crap on the sidewalks and friends compare stories of bum sex sightings.

On a less disgusting note, here are some photos of my commute.
Empty roads, incredible rainbow and no snow!
I was trying to capture the colors of the leaves changing. And yes, I was shooting while driving. I'll try avoid that when driving 15 miles of black ice this winter.

Why I'm Getting Fired

I downloaded a PowerPoint and a game on idioms to work with a fourth grader on figurative language. After the PowerPoint (which she loved) I was trying to find the game and clicked on a file in my Download folder and up pops this:A picture emailed by a friend in Maine (what up Suzy!) titled "Elvis and MJ found in West Virginia." The poor litle girl jumped back, away from ELvis' man boobs and I shut 'er down as quickly as possible. I expect a situation on Monday.

Fancy Footwear

I like to call it "Snow Boots with Chicken Legs" Hot.

P.S. Jesus jokes are not funny here. I was baffled by all these families with five kids - now I know. Hey, to each his own right?

Procrastinating

Last year I was very lucky to get an internship at the Forbes Norris ALS/MDA Clinic and Research Center in San Francisco. I worked with an extremely talented and impressive team and it was an invaluable experience. Now they're being nominated for program of the year by the California Speech-Language and Hearing Association and I am supposed to be writing a letter of recommendation. I'm supposed to scan and email that letter to my former professor and mentor at SFSU by tonight. Probably about two hours ago. I should really get started. But look!How can something so damn cute make me want to cry? Okay, I really did cry. Just a little. She's turning eight. My little two year old BFF is turning EIGHT and I'm not even there. And the other one turned THIRTEEN last week! and the next birthday is the oldest who turns SIXTEEN!!! I have a great video of Emma and I picking our noses together because I'm that good of a roll model. I'll spare you. I also have the perfect picture to post but that means scanning and there will be no scanning until I have produced a recommendation letter!

11:15 pm- I just realized that a Social Skills Lunch Group Session I was thinking about was today! It's been a long one. Goodnight. Here's the picture, as promised. Me as a super cool 17 yr old napping with the now 13 yr old niece. Big sister pops out cute babies with big heads....

It's a What?

Last night I came up with the perfect plan for my Saturday morning - go to a diner and search the paper for community events and garage sales to hit up after breakfast. So this morning, after the gal took my order I turned to the paper to find this as one of the "teasers" across the top of the front page. Uhhhhhhhhh...what?




So I turned to the story and read slowly, holding my breath to see if they'd actually address the obvious. When I got to this sentence, the suspense was almost too much- and I quote, "It was weird, it was a huge eel-like animal, with a big head...and it was pinkish/beige with some speckling down the sides. It looked just like a.....................................................................


Sea Monster."???!!!! Well, if that's what you want to call it. The people at the next table kept turning around to see what I was laughing at, you know, since I was alone and all. But I can't help it. Everytime I look at that thing.... priceless.

Today was a Good Day

Today a preschooler told me I have a "big fat booty." After that, I couldn't get Ice Cube out of my head. The kid said "Hey! You big! Why you so big?" I ignored him so he got pissed and thought he could get me by calling my ass fat. Little does he know how hard I've worked for some extra assage. Thanks kid! So then we had a little lesson on the difference between big and tall.
Another kid's Dad came to the school a little later and took his son out of the class. Would have been fine except Dad wasn't known by the teacher and doesn't have custody. Who ended up in the hallway between Dad (who had a hunting knife strapped to his belt) and the door? Big Fat Booty, that's who. Love my job! Soon I hope to capture a picture of one of the toddler mullets I've seen crawling around town.

Self Injurous Behavior

Last weekend I was getting gussied up for the hockey game (big waste of time) when I accidentally gouged some skin off my nose with my own fingernail. Small handled make up brush, abnormally long fingers, no hand eye coordination, these things happen sometimes. Anyway, had to go back to work on Monday with a nasty scratch. Well this weekend I was putting stuff into Kelly & Mike's trunk and walked right into the back of their hatchback door. Small car, abnormally tall, no coordination, these things happen some, ok ALL of the time.Went back to work today with a big bump and a scab right at my hairline. My coworkers are probably starting to wonder about my weekend activities. In reality the wildest it got was a game of shuffleboard with Martin and Larry from North Carolina. Probably retired orthodontists, but nice guys. Hopefully I can stop beating myself up soon, or at least no more injuries to the face.
Today all SpEd staff had to go to a training on writing measurable, legally defensive, IEP goals. Would have been interesting if I didn't just spend 2 years talking about the same shit in grad school and if I didn't have five, 3 yr re-evaluations coming up. I'm impressed at the district's commitment to doing things the right way, just wish I could've skipped it. Also, I think I missed the day when all SpEd peeps decided they could only call their students "kiddos." They're kids for crapsake, why do we have to cutsie it up? It's just become one of those terms that makes me cringe. Like "via". There's no reason you have to say that. It doesn't make you sound smart, just pretentious. And kiddo is not endearing, it's just annoying.

Labor Day Fun

I met Kelly and Mike on Friday at a gas station on the side of the highway, two hours from my house. We were a little worried about timing since cell reception is nonexistent in most of the area but it worked out perfectly.

Found a campsite at Bertha Creek and got our campfire going. After a late night of a little pyromania and some Fairbanks beer, we were up with the sun and ready for a glacier hike.


Walking on the glacier.

Eating the glacier.


Played on the glacier for awhile and then hit the Wildlife Refuge in Girdwood. Even though all the signs said no petting, I'll admit, we scratched the nose of a small, friendly moose. Just like Bullwinkle.
Definitely not this one. Big, bloody rack and quite the 'tude on this guy. Little scary, I gotta tell ya.
All the animals were either wounded or orphaned. This bald eagle had been shot and is being rehabed.
The camp host at Bertha Creek said we might see a "Blackie" roaming the campground. I prefer the kind behind a fence myself.After the Refuge we drove back to town for some Kenai beer tasting and pizza at the brewery. I'll post Sunday's pictures of Homer later but the best shots are in front of the Time Bandit. If you aren't familiar with Deadliest Catch, you just don't know. I was immediately on the look out for Mike Rowe in case he was doing voice over work locally but no luck. Some day, Mike, someday

Better Than a Bum Fight

That fence was about 8 feet tall but I thought the big guy was coming over for a second. When you hear a lady say, "Don't like the chicken wire, huh?" It's because I jumped back so fast I ran over the man behind me. I think you can hear me say "Holieeeeeee Shit!" This aint San Francisco no more.

Weekends Were Made for Michelob

Three day weekend! Kelly and Mike are coming! We're going camping and hiking and beering! I'm excited! The car's packed. All I need to do is go grab a couple more cans of bear repellent and I'm all ready.
In other news, I recently found out there's a Mexican Hacienda out there with my name on it. Apparently it was meant to be the best gift I never got. How does one react to such news? Except to take a vow of singledom. Why can't relationships just be like this. Seems like no matter how many times I wash, wax and change the oil, my cars just break down.
A house. A real house built from the ground up. What in THE HELL.....I can't even organize a thought. Mull that one over for the weekend. I know I will be.