Happy Christmas

I wrapped up my classroom, tweaked my report card data, put the dog in boarding, and flew to Anchorage on holiday.

Since coming down to Anchorage, we hit up restaurants, shopped, skied, and last night, had Christmas dinner with a friend and his family.  Overall, it has been a fun trip.

I attempted to post this post last night, so here goes try number two.  Rather than just writing, I added captions to the glimpses of our sweet life out here from December 16 -25.  Forgive any errors.

At Luke's office Christmas party.  It was hosted at a local Italian restaurant.   While there, we played several games with an Alaska twist.  It was delightful.  12/16/13

One of Luke's coworkers came to the party armed with a good camera and some photo props.    We quickly obliged when asked...  It was so nice to be on the other side of the camera.

For my classroom Christmas party, we played a couple of games, be the first team to build a snowman, and marshmallow launcher.   Though launching sugar puffs was fun, trying to tell 23 kindergarteners not to scream as mallows were flying through the air while they held cups attempting to catch them, was impossible.  12/20/13

Admidst the classroom goodies, these doughnut snowmen were too cute to avoid my lens.

On the winter solstice, the local pet supply store advertised a storewide sale and a photo with Koko the reindeer.  The radio announcement said to bring a pet and a camera.  I was beside myself.  How often does one get the opportunity to see a reindeer let alone have a chance for something like this?  12/20/13

Breaking in the new skis.  Day 1.  It was 1 degree out with a slight breeze off of the water, warmer than Fairbanks but still cold.  I wasn't wearing a thick enough layer under my jacket, the gloves were inappropriate, and my socks were too thin.  I lasted 15 minutes.  I felt so defeated.  12/24/13

Day 2.  Down jacket, gloves rated to -20, and expedition weight socks.  I was toasty.  It was a bit warmer , around 7 degrees.  Hopefully, in Fairbanks the gear will work...  Yesterday it was -35 up there. 12/25/13

Skiing continued.  We skied in Kinkaid park (in Anchorage).  This was my third time cross country skiing since high school.  I did it once in Montana several years ago.  I say this because just as we hit the trail, it started to slope downwards.  I was just starting to get my ski legs when I noticed big moose tracks across the path.  Then moose poop.  I inched forward to see a moose!  I tried to yell to Luke.  He did't hear, this thing was only 7 feet away, so I managed to get out, "Monster".  He turned.   I considered taking a picture, but as I stopped the moose started to move towards me.  So I made the choice to ski away.  It was almost comical how slowly I was moving across the snow from the "danger".  At one point I yelled ahead, "Is he gaining on me?"  When I could safely turn without falling, I noticed the moose didn't even leave the tree line.  Still, those giant things scare me and if they feel threatened, hopefully it isn't your day...

Luke and I captured in the reflection of a Christmas bulb along the ski trail.  Notice the sun on the horizon.  At this point it is about 11:30 am.  Down in Anchorage it rises higher in the sky than in Fairbanks.  It was so nice to actually see it.  Right now the sun (in Fairbanks), comes up around 10:00 a.m., then sets 4 hours later.  Most days I don't see it all week due to working in an interior room without an outer window.

Look blazing across the groomed trail.  It was such a fun day.  12/25/13

Iced covered lashes, one of the hazards of wearing a face mask.    If you don't wear something on your face, you can get frost bite.  If you haven't experienced this before, it happens when you breathe, your breath freezes and accumulates on your lashes, brow, and hat.  Either way, a little ice isn't a bother.  Well, it is a pain if your face mask sticks to the bottom lashes.