One Year Without Buying a Book

I've said it before, I'm a nerd. And I love book lists, especially if the word "classical" is involved. So I've been working my way through some of these lists over the years. The best part about reading these old books is that they are all past copy right dates, so they are all free online! Also, I had a ton of books bought or salvaged from the free book shelves that I had never cracked. I knew there would be plenty to read without ever having to step inside a book store.

Before I left for my year of travels, I downloaded an app called Free Books and paid for the upgrade to include the audio books. I also used my kindle app. There were so many books on my "Want to read List," available for free, that I was never without material to read, or to listen. I got used to reading off my tablet, as it was so much more convenient and economical when traveling. I spent every night falling asleep to some adventure story.

Recently, I also have tired Oyster books in the last month. Oyster books sells itself as the Netflix of books. They were offering a free month trial, of which I took advantage. Not everything I could ever want is there (no Harry Potter?!), but enough. The entire Agatha Christi collect is available, which makes it all worst while. It will also make book club easier to attend if I can read the assigned books without buying them.

Now, of course there are some disadvantages. I will never be comfortable reading my iPad in the bath tub, and that's my favorite place to enjoy a good book. So I still took advantage of free book shelves to get my hands on actual paper every now and then. But I am sold on electronic books on the whole as the green way to go.

Gut Sewing Class

There was an unquantifiable goal in mind when I decided to come back to Bethel: Take advantage of everything! A few years ago A and I tried the age old suggestion of, "Say yes to everything," but that becomes exhausting. "Say yes to more," would be an easier maxiam to follow, but still a little harder to track. One item on my birthday list was "One community event a month," so I will check this as complete.

At the beginning of the month I saw an ad on Facebook that the Smithsonian was hosting an event in Bethel focusing on seal gut sewing. As excruciating as it is to give up the entire weekend, this seemed like a worthy reason.

This is Mary, our teacher. She has spent a lot of time in Anchorage recently working with the Anchorage Museum and Smithsonian collection as a resident artist. She had prepared all the seal gut that the native students in this class used. It is a pain staking-ly long process, including several days of soaking, cleaning, and scraping. For the rest of us, we are using hog casing or collagen. She is an excellent teacher and a wealth of information.

 

This are the hog casings we were blowing up and drying. It was a lot like making ballon animals, as long as you were ok with a snake or eel.

We tied them off and stung them out tight to dry. We will  learn how to cut them tomorrow.

 Then we got to the sewing. This is my two pieces of collagen sewn together. The sheets are folded over and sewn together with a piece of dried grass on either side. The grass acts as a backbone for the thread to wrap around so the thread won't pull through when you tighten each stitch. You keep the grass moistened as you go so that when you tighten the thread, it squeezes the grass to create as waterproof of a seal as you can. This is going to be a window hanging, so waterproofness isn't so important now, but if you were counting on a parka while on a kayak on the open ocean, it would be a  higher priority.

I'll go back tomorrow to add another strip, and maybe experiment with decorating the gut with pigments.

Plan a two week hike

Now my real plan is to work at a campground in Wyoming this summer, but if that doesn't pan out, I'd like to complete at least two weeks of hiking. I would also like to bring the dog along. So I spent some time looking for a long trail that allows dogs and would not be too far from home base in Illinois. I found the Superior Hiking Trail that starts in Duluth, MN and follows Lake Superior north, just shy of the Canadian border. It's 225 miles long, plenty long for a two week hike with lots of exclusions. I was looking to maybe start in Gooseberry Falls Park. I've been there for a wedding party  a few summer's ago and it was beautiful! If I could manage three weeks, I could make it up to the trail's end at 270 Overlook. Even if I can't do it this summer, I think I will have to put this on my life list to accomplish. 

http://www.shta.org/index.php

Go to a conference

I knew coming back this year to teaching that I was going to be making lots of changes and covering new material. I also knew that I wanted some kind of conference early in the year to give that very inspiring feeling to what I was doing. Since I am mostly teaching math this year, I began to search for math conferences nationwide. I started to narrow down the possibilities by dates and location. I would have loved to go to Vegas for a conference, but it takes a whole day just to travel there and I wanted something as close as possible. The Northwest Math Conference was being held in Portland early in October. The information page even included a "convince your principal why you should go" page that you just had to forward (It worked!). And it meant I could go see my aunt and uncle as well, which is a huge bonus.

The conference was great, and it certainly gave me that oomph I wanted early in the year to focus my goals for the year. The two biggest take aways from that conference are both giving student feedback, which is an area that I know I am weak in and would like to address. The first was a clean and clear formula for giving a pre and post test that is used for teacher in put, but also for student reflection. The other is creating a math profile. Students take a quiz every two weeks and track their progress themselves. Each question covers one area of math. for example, the first question is always on place value, the second is always multiplication and division, question three is always about expression, etc. Students and teachers can then see the areas of math that are strong points and areas for improvement. It's been great for creating small instructional groups.

Math profile 

Update my transcripts and complete my recertification

Because I have to. I hadn't updated my transcripts at work for awhile, which is stupid because I could have moved up on the pay scale at least a year ago, if not two, with the credits I have. I turned all the official papers and the new pay scale went into effect in December, with back pay since September. What a great holiday bonus.

And because I have to if I want to keep my job. The recertification process has become so ridiculously easy because it's all online. I was able to update my info, the site recognized my current employment so I didn't need to get fingerprinted again, and they now accept official electronic transcripts. So it took just under an hour of work and some credit card paying to submit everything.

Be more productive

I had added this to my Emotional spectrum of goals because I do feel so much better when I'm working towards something, or just being productive and not wasting my time being a slug.

"Be less of a slug" is not quite positive and neither is it quantifiable. So I decided that the two biggest distractors that lead me down the path of sluggardness (I didn't expect that to be a word, but it don't get autocorrected, so I'm calling it good) is the internet and cable. I was moving back to Bethel and planned to live on  my own for the first time and I LOVE making myself a little introverted nest inside my own little space and not moving or talking to anyone. But if there is no cable or internet to keep me there, after so many books and so much journaling, I need some outside stimulation. I knew that if I was testing out my new little nest, experiencing THIS IS ALL MINE!, and had those two little friends at my fingertips, I really wouldn't to anything but go to school then go home and dread any social interactions like an obligation kin to pulling my own teeth. I really an an introvert and being by myself is how I charge my batteries. I do love my friends, family, and social gatherings in general, but it takes energy and I can run out of cares without that down time.

But having a place to myself means all my time home is down time. I get some of that recharge every morning and every night. And since I didn't have cable or internet, this down time involved reading and journaling and cooking, the most recharging of all my chargeables (now I am making up a word). It also meant that I was ready to go when people called and wanted to do stuff (maybe I was already half way to their house anyways because I was REALLY ready for people time).

This was the perfect scenario for the first semester back in Bethel. But now it's becoming more evident that I can be more productive with internet at the house. I started ignoring or just not caring about things I wanted to get done because it required the internet and I just didn't want to walk to school or the library to use it (so I am still a slug in some ways). So now "be more productive" involves hooking up the internet again.

Join the Church

One of the things I missed the most while traveling last year was being connected to a community where I felt I belonged and could make a difference. This was very closely tied with going back and being involved with my church. There are a lot of great things that I learned about myself and my walk with God this last year. One of them is that I was going back to Bethel with a real purpose of being involved in the community. I wanted to join the church so I can have a standing on the decisions and directions that our church is taking to serve the community.

Joining was an easy process. There was a night to watch an informational video with the pastor and others interested in knowing more about the church and what it should for. The video covered the 6 affirmations of the Covenant church. If I had made a list of 6 things I believed in and were important to me, it would have almost have been the exact same list. It made it very easy and clear that joining the church was the right path now. I filled out a short application, and then shared my journey of faith with the boards members of the church. The next Sunday (November 30), Pastor Hugh presented me to the church. There were a couple "I will's" to say, the rest of the church to "We will" back, and done.

Monthly Club

This was another item that didn't take too much effort on my side because I was invited to join Bunco night by my friend C. I had played bunco once with my teaching mentor back in Oklahoma and it was a hoot. Of course I love that I was able to check this off my list, and it's something fun to do every month, but the best and most unexpected perk was the group of ladies involved. I know several of them, but there were a large portion of people I had never met, and would never have met without this gathering. Bethel is a great social town, but all the activities happen (mostly) in people's houses, so if you're going to your friends' houses, generally they are filled with your friends whom you already know. It also tends to be a place where people run with their own kind. There are various teacher circles, hospital circles, court system circles, police and troopers, etc. You have to find the "keys," those people who are married to someone in a different circle and hope they have parties where they invite people from both sides. C is that key. Not only is she connected to the Trooper's wives circle, but she also used to work at the treatment center, so has pulled that group in too. I didn't even know there was a treatment circle, but there is and they're awesome.

Revise Resume

So I tried to do this one a few months ago with my friend A. We had a night planned out to meet, have a drink or two, and get some work done. Then we also decided that we wanted to watch "Gone with the Wind," since neither of us had ever seen it. Then we decided we should have a drinking game to go along with it (which I highly recommend to anyone ever watching it again).

Looking back now, it was one two many wants in a single night. Only one and a half of those things ever happened that night, and revising my resume was not one of them. Watching the actual movie was only half completed because I accidentally put the dvd in wrong and we watched the second half of the movie first and didn't even notice until it was over and we flipped it over (we did notice that the story moved fairly quickly and didn't do a lot of back building on characters and just kind of jumped into things...but never guessed why). We did follow the rules of the game and by the time half the movie was over, I was not ready to play another half. In fact I fell asleep on the couch I had offered A and she had to go sleep in my bed. But that's what true friends are for.

So again, since school was canceled, and I only have 23 days left to complete my birthday list, I made a second pot of coffee and got to work. I have to give a big thanks to A2 because I really just copy and pasted her resume then edited as needed.

Note: I have no plans on changing jobs this year. It's just that I haven't updated my resume since like...when I got a job eight years ago. So it was time to add things, like actually teaching.

Research Orphan Prevention

This went on the list after reading a blog post by Jen Hatmaker on orphan prevention. Her family has adopted two children from overseas and she learned a lot about what that means in reality. So many organizations are unsanctioned and doing some very backhanded and devastating practices. There are organizations that will pull children from dysfunctional homes, homes with single parents, or pay parents to give up their children, with or without the understanding that they will never see them again. These children are orphans, but not what they call true orphans, who are missing both parents. But even then many times these children have close relatives that could have taken these children in (and willingly) if they had been given the chance or notified, but they are shunted into the adoption channel. The statistics of numbers of orphans world wide is staggering and cannot be address with adopting only. If more time and resources were put towards orphan prevention, the problem could be more readily addressed. Orphan prevention can include working with families for reunification, funding and support for single parents, and extended family outreach.

This fall, I heard about an organization here in Bethel that works with children in foster care for that exact purpose. The CASA program (court appointed special advocate) assigns an adult to a child in need to monitor the progression through the court system. The main goal is always unification with the family if at all possible. If not, then a permanent placement with family. The last and final solution would be adoption by an outside family.

I have become a CASA volunteer and have learned so much about the system that works right here in town.

orignal blog post by Jen Hatmaker Examining Adoption Ethics: Part One

Investigate Creating Apps

This one was completed with very little work, because what I found was that you can create a very basic, hokey looking one using a basic generator, or you need to know code. Or you can pay someone to make one for you. Good to know.

I was working with a lego robotics team that was trying out project presentation ideas for their research on magic. These were 4th and 5th graders so we were going for easy, but even then it wasn't working out the way we wanted. They ended up making bookmarks instead, and I checked that one off my list.

New Teaching Company Course

Quite a few years ago, I became very interested (and sporadically obsessed on and off since) with "classic education." I started reading books from the Great Books list, trying to make sense and order of major historical events, checking out math and science text books from the library to brush up on different sciences, creating a vast collection of classical music, watching lectures from the Teaching Company, and basically letting my inner nerd have an hour every morning to have free reign. I put "new course" on the "intellectual" spectrum of goals for this year. I was planning on purchasing another course from the Teaching Company, because I have LOVED everything I've received from them so far. But since then, I've been using iTunes U which offers courses in everything for FREE. Then I began to really look into Khan academy which has free videos on everything, but also math programs you can work through. TEDtalks can teach you almost everything. Again for free. Duolingo is just like Rosetta Stone, except free. So that's the road I will travel from now on.

I am 45% complete with Algebra on Khan. I completed "Australian Aboriginal History" from iTunes U while traveling there. I have been working my way through Early Middle Ages, which goes along with the classical book list on which I am currently working. I used Duolingo to get basic Italian under my belt before visiting, and now I'm working on Spanish in prep for spring break to Mexico. My next birthday list will include actually finishing these courses.

Book Club

I've always wanted to be in a book club. Not the very serious, everyone HAS to read to come, very rigid list, snobby club (is that even a thing that happens or did I just make that up?), but a sit around drinking coffee, or tea, or wine, and sometimes talk about the book, but also just let conversation happen that the book brings up.

At the beginning of this school year, I was taking a long walk with my friend J and sharing some of my birthday list to do's. The next day, J was at a gathering of some mutual friends, and the topic if a book club came up again, so she said, "Erin wants to do that to. Let's do that. What book? How about this one?" and picked one off the shelf that she also had at home. Done and done. She called me up the next day to let me know Book club was formed, and we were meeting in a month. It was the easiest item to check off the list I think, because I didn't have to do any of the work.

The books to date are:
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (I didn't read this one)
Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Tracks by Robyn Davidson

The books have been good and the company has been great.

Perpetual Summer Album

I wanted to make sure I made a photo album of my travels over the world, which I called my Perpetual Summer. I was originally thinking about the old fashioned albums to stick the photos in, but my friend Alisha makes a printed book each year and I love the look of them. One day in June I went on Snapfish.com to see how easy it would be to make, and it was super easy. There was also a sale on them that ended in 13 hours so I settled in and just did it (after collecting a glass bottle of wine). I started out with the first page by typing up some of the journal entries I kept along the trip but soon realized this would take FOREVER. Also, no one I showed it to would read all those little words. And they were already written in my journal. And I really wanted something for people to hold while I told the stories. So I opted to include very basic titles and names of specific people and place's I might forget later. When it came to choosing the cover picture, there wasn't much doubt. This picture will forever sum up that year.

Gym Membership

The last time I was able to hold a membership to a gym was back in college. One of my favorite Anchorage days out was to go to the Dimond Athletic Club for a few hours to play with all their machines, go swimming, then spend an hour or more moving from hot tub, sauna, and steam with trips between to the pool to cool off. But now all that (excluding sauna and steam) is just a few minutes walk away from my house! The Yukon-Kuskokwim Regional Aquatic Health and Safety Center opened November 2, 2014. Then it was closed November 3. It was about two weeks before they could reopen with limited hours while they continued to work on a sprinkler issue. They have resolved the issue since and I've enjoyed being able to walk down the road and get a swim workout in, even with negative wind chills.

Subscribe to a new magazine

It had to be a magazine I didn't currently receive (no renewals) or one I've received in the past. One magazine I would ALWAYS pick up when making a stack of reading material to work through at Barnes and Noble was Real Simple. I even would buy one every now and then as a special little something to myself (that or Martha Stewart Living, forgive me my sins, but I love it). So today, when school was cancelled due to freezing rains, I looked at my birthday list and see what I could accomplish from home (only 23 days left!).  This was a real easy check off the list since I'd already decided a week or so ago that this was the one. I have gone paperless with my other magazines, but this is one I want for Saturday mornings, on the couch, with a cup of coffee, and that doesn't translate well through the tablet.

Try 5 new cultural dishes and complete recipes in one Paleo cookbook

These two complemented each other because the 5 new dishes came from the Paleo cookbook. I forgot to take pictures of each dish as I made it, but they were all delicious. It gave real purpose to my shopping and meal planning, which was important during the first few weeks that school started. I needed that mental break to think about and plan something besides 5th grade every night.

The five new dishes were:
Rogan Josh- much like curry, but a Kashmir blend of spices (I had no idea Kashmir was a thing)
Eggfoo Young- can't tell you if I had ever eaten before, but defiantly never had made it
Machacado- a Mexican dish made from shredded, dried beef, eggs, diced onion and tomato, and a touch of jalapeño
Scotch Eggs- OMG why have I never eaten these before? Sooo good.
Char Siu- (Cantonese) Definitely a recipe I would have never attempted without this challenge, because it requires prep, 30 minutes of marinating, and 1h 40m to cook, so of which involved turning, basting, then broiling slightly while keeping an eagle eye on it. I'm more of a set-it-and-forget-it type. Or stand at the stove for 30 minutes stirring stuff in a pan with a glass of wine in my hand. But it did turn out delicious.
Pad Thai- pretty darn good, but in Bethel, the ingredients are a bit expensive to get.


Also noted:
There were a couple other recipes that were just meatballs or salmon with new spice blends. The Morrocan, Chezch, and Bora Bora meatballs were all amazing and worth do-overs. The Salmon a L'Afrique Du Nord was ok, but I nothing I've been hankering to repeat.

The Book:

http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/wellfed/

5 New Spices

So I might have gone a bit overboard on preparing for this one. I did some ordering right after an intense inservice and a few days before school started, so I was a little stressed. So what to do to unwind a little? Read beautiful descriptions of exotic spices and order ALL of them.

There are still quite a few that I haven't tried yet. My favorite was the berbere seasoning. As Penzey's eloquently describes:

Awesomely hot and spicy North African-style hot pepper blend. No salt, no mild paprika, just a lot of Cayenne Red Pepper with the rich flavors of fenugreek and cardamom. It's not just hot, it's berbere hot.

Bible Study

Goal: Reread the entire bible

Since February 1

I am currently reading through the histories of the bible. It’s surprising how new and fresh every book can be when you return to it. For whatever reason, this time around, the continuous storyline is really easy to follow. The progression from having judges to kings helps keep the events straight. I’ve been trying to bullet point the main events as they happen. I also did 5 major event studies for the book of Judges.

I read the gospels around Easter and worked through the letters over the summer.

My plan is to then move through the prophets, reading them in chronological order. Then I’ll finish the poetry books, the law, and finish with Revelation.