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