Winter in Wasilla

Hello hello hello! Long time no update so it here it goes...I spent Christmas vacation at home in Massachusetts. It was great to see both friends and family. It was a little hard to come back, but once I got into the swing of things, I was fine. My brother and his best friend came back with me and stayed for a week. On the first day, we went to Talkeetna to see Denali and explore. We went on a short hike on the Susitna River, but it was freezing..6 degrees that week. They took day trips while I worked that week. On Friday I came down with a "fever" that could only be cured by going to Alyeska in Girdwood which is south of Anchorage. We drove along the beautiful Turnagin Arm (seriously, one of the most gorgeous drives ever) to the little town of Girdwood which sits in the shadow of Alyeska..which a is mountain with a big resort at its base. After a day of snowboarding, we went to dinner at Seven Glaciers which is a Triple A four diamond rated restaurant at the top of the mountain. You have to take a short tram ride to the top, and for those of you who know me really well, I have a ridiculous fear of heights. I did stop having a panic attack long enough in the tram to enjoy the beautiful view. Our dinner was phenomenal...the best thing I've ever eaten. I had filet mignon over seasonal veggies with asiago risotto. Dessert was beignets with a chocolate sauce. After spending the night at the resort, we went to Anchorage to watch the Pats vs. Ravens game at the Peanut Farm (a local bar). There were other Pats fans there which was pretty awesome. It was hard to say goodbye when they left. I've been busy getting back into the swing of things at work, and it's been pretty crazy with lots of meetings. I feel like everyone is up for a 3 yr re-eval or their annual IEP is due. It stresses me out to right goals which are in effect for a year. I want to make sure the kids are getting the best therapy possible. We've gotten about 5 inches of snow since Thursday night. The meteorologists up here are ridiculous..they forecasted 2-11 inches of snow for Friday night. It's like the Price is Right for weather forecasts. The road maintenance still sucks, and the drive out to one of my schools feels like I'm driving straight to my grave. The road that the school is off of is called Knik-Goose Bay (KGB), and for those of you who are avid Alaska State Trooper fans, the troopers are always going to calls off of KGB. It's always a death defying drive on KGB. For those of you who don't know, I plan on staying AK through the summer. I will be coming home for some weddings and vacation time :) As for my summer plans up here, I'm not sure. Hope y'all enjoyed my update! Lots of love, B

My new best friend..

So I have a new best friend. It's a lynx! I got home from book club on Friday night and my motion sensor light outside the cabin was on. So I was a little freaked out..it sometimes goes on when it is windy, but it was not windy. So I booked it inside the house and looked out the window. Then I saw something creeping out from the bushes..it was a house cat on steroids..aka a lynx. Lynx are super rare around here, but we do have them. Now I really need to get a gun because I'm not going to call out of work because I got bit by a lynx. If you know me, you know that the weirdest/most bizarre things happen to me. This past weekend I went to Colony Christmas which is a Christmas celebration in Palmer. My friends and I went to lunch, a couple of craft fairs (I'm such a Riley), and did a brew meets canvas thing at a local brewery. The painting things that I've been to back home have had an instructor teaching you how to paint a certain painting. Well, this woman told us to get in touch with our inner creativity and to paint whatever we wanted. I have the art skills of a monkey and was not impressed. The woman who was leading the program described it as the "most profanity laced painting session" that she had ever experienced. I have the mouth of a sailor and I'm not afraid to admit it. My painting looks like someone put paint in their mouth and spit it all over the canvas. In the words of one of my favorite patients at NRH "whatever whatever okay". We are supposed to get snow tonight..who knows if that will happen. Everyone keeps saying that it's been a very weird winter. I'll take it. I leave in 3 days to go home for three weeks and I'm so excited!!!! My brother, Trevor, and his best friend, Josh, are going to be coming back with me and staying for a week and a half after vacation. I'm beyond excited for them to come out here and experience this craziness. I'll be making a guest appearance at NRH to see everyone so my Northeast families...let me know when you're going to be there! I miss all my kids so much. Also, Spaulding friends..I definitely want to come in and visit..maybe even potentially work. I'm so lucky to have had 2 amazing groups of co-workers. See y'all soon!! Lots of love, B

Viva Alaska

Hey y'all! Sorry I've been neglecting the blog. Things have been super busy. I went home for Thanksgiving and surprised my parents. It was nice to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I'm coming home again for Christmas break (I leave AK the 19th and land the 20th). I'm super excited to see all my friends and family again. Anyways, things have been going awesome up here. I LOVE IT!!! I've been letting my inner Grammy loose and going to lots of craft fairs. I can't get over how talented people are. I'm a sucker for stained glass and ornaments. Last week, it snowed Monday and Tuesday. Road maintenance is AWFUL here..the plows suck, and they will sand/put gravel down. When I was driving home from the airport last Sunday, all of the roads in Anchorage were covered in snow. I don't mind driving in the snow, but all of the trucks up here have the bright halogen lights which makes it wicked hard to see the road. So basically, I'm driving blind on awful roads...with the possibility of moose running out at any time. It's a good time! School has been good but crazy...lots and lots of IEP meetings. Lots of people have been asking me where I'm going to go after this contract is up. The answer is I don't know. I'm going home for a month or so this summer, but I don't know what the plan is after that. And honestly, I've never been happier. I really do love it up here. I'm excited to go ice fishing, snow shoeing, and snow machining this winter. My brother and his best friend are coming back with me when I go home after Christmas vacation and they are staying for a week. I'm wicked excited to have them up here, and I've already started planning awesome stuff for us to do. I'm seeing a lot more moose than when I first came up here..I see one at least every 2-3 days. It's pretty awesome. If any of y'all want to come up and visit, let me know! I have a loft with two twin beds and I'd be more than happy to have guests. Right now, the sun is rising around 10ish and sets around 3:45 but the darkness isn't too bad anymore. I think having Christmas break is the light at the end of the tunnel that is making the darkness tolerable. It hasn't been too cold..just hanging out in the 20's and low 30's. I'm going to try my best to keep up with the blog. I'm sorry again for the long break. Miss everyone like crazy!

Alaska Plague

So a plague has hit the Mat-Su school district...coughing/sneezing/fever/chills/nastiness. My lovely children were kind enough to pass this illness on to me. It started Friday when I was coughing a little bit but didn't think much of it. Friday night I went to the Mighty Matanuska Brewfest at the Alaska State Fair grounds and had a blast with some other contract employees. On Saturday, I felt a little bit off, but I went up to Talkeetna and went hiking at Hatcher's Pass with Annie. On Sunday morning, I woke up and knew that I was dunzo. I had a fever/chills/cough/sneezing/aches and all I wanted to do was sleep but I couldn't get comfortable. My recruiter had called to check in on me, and he recommended that I call Teledoc which is a service that is provided by my company. Basically, you call and schedule a consult, then a doctor calls you within an hour and you describe your symptoms to the doctor and they will write you a prescription if you need one. At that point, I thought it was just a virus and I would wait to see if I got better. When I woke up yesterday, I knew I had to call Teledoc. So I called and within an hour, I had antibiotics and an inhaler waiting for me at the pharmacy. The pharmacies here in Wasilla are a little bit of a shitshow. You have to wait in line forever, and there is always a cast of characters waiting in line. When I was walking into Walgreens, there was some guy in the parking lot puking out the window of his SUV. Really dude get it together. There is so much drug use (meth) and alcoholism in the Valley..it's unreal. I feel really bad for lots of my kids on my caseload because most of them come from poverty and don't have stable family lives. It really makes me value what I have. Speaking of kids on my caseload, I miss my Northeast Rehab kids like crazy!! I can't wait to see everyone when I come home for Christmas vacation!! I will be landing in Boston at 10 am on Saturday December 20 and I will be in Massachusetts til January 3rd. I'm a little homesick for certain things (family and friends OBVIOUSLY): Panera, Dunkin Donuts (the coffee up here doesn't have anything on Dunks), Boston accents, and the fall foliage. There are only a few good restaurants in the Valley, but they don't even compare to the restaurants back home. Anyways, I miss you all like crazy and I hope everyone is doing well. Lots of love, B

Termination Dust

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long break without a new blog. Two weekends ago, I went to Seward which is about 3 hours south of Wasilla. It was a blast. The ride down on the Seward Highway was UNREAL. It's supposed to be one of the prettiest highways in North America, and the mountains/ocean were unbelievable. Saturday consisted of exploring the Alaska Sea Life Center and a 3 hour cruise of Resurrection Bay which is absolutely gorgeous. On the cruise, it was raining at certain points, and the sea got really rough. I don't get seasick which is great, but there were at least 10 people puking off the back of the boat. So gnarly. On the cruise, we saw Dall porpoises, sea lions, and bald eagles. After the cruise ended, we were walking on the dock and saw a cute little sea otter just chilling in the harbor eating some clams. He was just floating and eating..so cute. I had phenomenal halibut for dinner on Saturday night at this cute little restaurant called Chinooks. Sunday consisted of early morning picture taking of Resurrection Bay and a trip to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on the ride home. There were moose, bald eagles, musk ox, caribou, reindeer, brown bears, and lynx. There was one reindeer that was definitely in heat and it kept making this god awful noise. It was standing at the fence just staring and making that noise at the poor female reinder. I felt like I was in Jurassic Park. The bears were super cool...they were huge! They were just walking around and doing bear stuff. This past weekend I hung around the valley and went to dinner with my friend Carrie. On Sunday morning, I met up with some friends to watch the Pats game at 9 am at the bar. So far school is going well, I had an awkward moment today at our staff meeting after school. Tomorrow is Bosses' Day so all the staff got the principal and vice principal presents...everyone had to submit one word describing the principal and vice principal. The words were made into this really great picture and framed. So today at staff meeting, they opened their gifts, and each one read the words that described them. Well, someone described the vice principal as a "hustler" and when he read that, I let out a loud Brittany laugh and almost fell off my chair. No one else laughed. Typical...I'm so inappropriate. So plans for this weekend include dinner/drinks with the ABA teachers tomorrow night, Mighty Matanuska Brewfest with school friends on Friday night, Talkeetna on Saturday (barring any snow), and relaxation on Sunday. Here are some Alaskan concepts/terms... *termination dust=the first dusting of snow on the mountains *working on the slope= working in Arctic Circle for the oil company *snow machine= snow mobile (you will get laughed at if you call it a snow mobile..I learned that the hard way) One of my kids told me a story about her neighbor's chihuahua got snatched up by a bald eagle and eaten in a tree. I had to work hard to keep my poker face during that story. I will update the next post with lots of pictures. Lots of love, B

I still drive like a Masshole

Hello my dear readers, So a lot has happened since my last post. This past weekend I went up to Talkeetna which is about 1 1/2 hrs north of here with my friend Carrie, who is a travel OT in the district. Talkeetna is a cute small town which is the jump off for people exploring Denali National Park or climbing Denali. No one up here calls it Mt. McKinley...people call it Denali (the native name) or the Mountain. Anyways, it was an unreal trip. First we did a little exploring and stopped at some cute shops. We ate lunch at this local restaurant called the Roadhouse...best mushroom soup and potato bread!! I will forever be indebted to Sarah and Sue at NRH because Sue's sister/Sarah's aunt Annie manages Talkeetna Air Taxi. Annie hooked Carrie and I up with a flightseeing tour of Denali and a landing on the Ruth glacier. I literally can not describe the experience because it was so surreal. We rode in a tiny little bush plane, and we were so close to Denali that I felt like I could touch it. I used to hate flying, but I had no fear at all that day. I felt so unbelievably small in that tiny plane above this gorgeous landscape. I don't care if you believe in God, Allah, Buddha, or Oprah Winfrey but up there in that plane, you realize that there is someone a lot bigger than you out there. In my case, I felt extremely close to God. The scenery was amazing...beyond words. After the amazing flightseeing tour, we went to the Denali Brewery where they brew their own AMAZING beer. Carrie and I each enjoyed a flight of the best beer I have ever tasted before the drive home. So tomorrow is kinda a big deal around here...it's Dividends Day! That means every family gets approximately $5,200 from the Alaska Pipeline. All the kids in school were talking about what their families are getting with their money. There is alot of poverty up here, and one of the kids was talking about how she is super excited to go to Red Robin with their money. It makes you really value everything you have. Speaking of kids, the kids on my caseload are awesome. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my spectrum and high needs kids. I'm working with an AMAZING ABA team that I feel so lucky to be a part. I'm planning a trip to Seward this weekend...It's a 3 hour drive down, and I'm planning on doing a wildlife cruise and staying overnight in a hotel. Everyone needs to start letting me know when they are coming up to visit so I can plan to request time off. I think I'm coming down with something..hopefully just a cold. Carrie and I are going to Turkey Red tonight which is this local, organic restaurant that is supposed to be the best in the Valley. Next blog, I will educate you all on what working on the slope means. Lots of love, B

Lessons in Final Frontier Survival: Earthquakes

Did ya feel the earth quakin? Well I did at 9:50 this morning. I was sitting at my desk attempting to organize all my doc and plans when all of a sudden, I heard a rumbling and noticed that the room was moving. For a second, I thought I was having a massive stroke, but then I realized that it was an EARTHQUAKE. It was LONG too. The IT guy (his room is right off of my speech office) and I looked it up online, and the quake was 6.1 on the Richter scale and the origin was about 30 miles away from us. It was pretty wild. Anyways, everything else has been going really well. The staff and the kids at the school I'm at are fabulous. Everyone is super friendly. I've been getting my coffee every morning at this cute little coffee hut on my way to work, and the coffee is UNREAL. It's on the expensive side so I'm going to buy a Keurig in Anchorage this weekend. Here are some pictures of the inside of my cabin. Upstairs in the loft, there are two beds. My bedroom is on the bottom floor off the main living area. It's pretty awesome. I have a fabulous view of the mountains out my picture window. I'm still not sure yet what I'm doing this weekend. I'm thinking of making a trip up to Denali to get weird with some wildlife.