Anchorage: Day 1

All four of us woke up at 4am this morning in order to load up the bags I finished packing last night and run to the Sitka airport, where Seren and I would depart on our 6am flight to Anchorage. Since this was both Seren's and my first flight off the island since we moved out here, I'd like to share my observations of this experience

 Inter-Alaskan air travel is a whole lot like taking a Greyhound bus anywhere else in the country. TSA rules aren't relaxed, but they are streamlined in such a way that showing up half an hour before your flight is a normal habit Sitkans have developed. The line moves quickly and amiably. The TSA staff are courteous and professional. Once you are ushered past the screening area and into the gate area, the process moves very quickly. Boarding starts almost immediately and the line shuffles at a rates of about 2 seconds per passenger. What would normally appear to be a long queue is cleared out and loaded onto the plane in less than 20 minutes. Flight staff are competent and friendly. There is no time for confusion to set in or disagreement to take place about space or seating. It's almost exactly as practiced as walking in a straight line back to the classroom after recess. Our flight did, however, take 20 additional minutes to take off, due to a technical error regarding a fuse, but the Captain announced the delay well in advance and did not keep us wondering what was going on, as we continued to receive updates every 5 or so minutes until it was resolved.

The first leg of our flight was 22 minutes or 65 miles, depending on how you like to look at it. Either way, it was only long enough to get into the air before our descent was announced. Our flight stopped briefly at Juneau to pick up and drop off more passengers, which is normal for Northbound flights from Sitka. We did not get off of the plane, but were back in the air less than half an hour after we touched down.

Oh, and the landing! Stephen has described Alaskan landings to me many times, but it's an entirely different matter to experience one first-hand. Because the runways are shorter (and frequently surrounded by water) Alaskan pilots have become deft in using the landing itself as a means of slowing the entire aircraft quickly and efficiently. There is none of that gentle gliding onto the runway you've all become so used to in the lower 48. It's down, and brake, and that's it. The entire plane feels it when the tires hit pavement. A good landing is a fast landing.

The second leg of the flight was significantly longer than the first. Anchorage is more than 600 miles Northwest of Juneau. The Captain explained that we were both flying higher (about 18,000 ft) and faster than normal in an attempt to make up for the delay in Sitka. When the primary means of transportation between cities is the flight you're on, the flight must run on time (or as near to it as is safely and reasonably possible). Near the middle of the flight, the Captain pointed out Mt. Logan in the Yukon, the second largest peak in North America (second to Denali, which is in Alaska). So, I took out the camera and took some snapshots of the beautiful scenery we were flying over.

Mt. Logan, Yukon

Clouds and sky

Seren did very well during the entire flight. She sat next to the window and did not even attempt to sleep. Most of her time was occupied looking out the window or reading a Calvin & Hobbes book she chose to take with her. She actually read about 80% of the 176-page book during this flight, which is quite a bit of dedication for a sleep-deprived 5-year-old on an airplane. She didn't complain. Not once. She was happy, excited, and inquisitive the entire way there.

We landed in Anchorage at about 9:10am and had claimed our baggage and were waiting for our shuttle to the hospital to check in by 9:40am. We had a 50-minute wait for the next shuttle to arrive, so she and I sat outside at the shuttle stop and amused ourselves with flowers and leaves, buildings, and people. A very nice couple vacationing from the United Kingdom struck up a conversation with Seren and she willingly took advantage of the opportunity to share with the foreigners all she knew about Alaska and its wildlife.

Seren hamming it up for the camera, outside Ted Stevens International Airport

Note the "badge" sticker given to her by the TSA agents in Sitka.

We were the only people on the shuttle to the hospital and the driver was listening and laughing with me about Seren's many questions on the way there. The driver was very nice and helped us with our luggage both into and out of the van, even refused to allow me to help him load. More notably, he did his job with a sort of genuine pleasure, the kind I hope I never learn to take for granted from Alaskans.

Inside the hospital, we were quickly directed to the housing department, which has an entire wing to itself. It was explained to us that we would not be staying on the hospital campus, but instead at a Quality Suites in downtown Anchorage. There was only one problem: It was just after 11am and check-in at the hotel wasn't until after 3pm. The good news was that I was given a pair of allowance cards that will be supplied with $25 per day for each of us to use for food at the hospital cafeteria AND the cafeteria has prepped hot food on par with a mall food court (Stephen would compare it to the cafeteria offerings at a major university). So Seren and I spent an hour or so getting food, eating, and calling family members to check in, then we found the playground (which amounts to a couple of slides in a gravel pit) and played for an hour or so, then we went to the gift shop where Seren graciously accepted candy from an on-site artist, then we went outside so she could run in the grass, then we went back to the cafeteria to eat some ice cream before FINALLY finding our place at the shuttle stop to head to the hotel.

Cafeteria lunch

Seren chasing a group of boys at the playground

A seal gut parka on display at the hospital

Mind you, neither of us had slept since 4am and Seren had still been very well-behaved throughout the whole day. She even drew positive remarks from passersby and people she interacted with along the way. I'm very proud of the attitude and stamina she showed on a day like this.

The shuttle to the hotel was full. We ended up in the furthest back row, next to a woman (maybe in her 70s) and her 6-year-old granddaughter. Seren immediately made friends and they laughed and played the whole ride away. The grandmother and I had conversation about our reasons for being at the hospital, the length of our stay, the beauty of Sitka, the weather, family, and on and on. She's a graduate of MEHS and was very pleased to hear that Stephen has a full-time music program going there. She's had 3 daughters graduate from there. She has at least 2 nieces who are going to go there. She expects several of her 15 grandchildren to go there. It's a kind of legacy that we have encountered over and over again with Mt. Edgecumbe students and I'm still surprised every time I hear the stories of lineage and history that pass through that institution's doors. They are staying at the same hotel we are and she was eager to tell me about all the best places to take Seren to walk, play, hang out, and eat. Her granddaughter tried to arrange an impromptu play date for this evening, but I had to decline. We were just too tired from the long day of travel. I could see that the grandmother was eager to see us again, to spend time with us and let the children play together, and I genuinely hope we run into them again before we leave.

It's 10:15pm now. Seren and I laid down for a nap at around 4:30pm and I have only been awake for a few hours. Seren is still sleeping soundly. She needs it. We have an 8:15am pre-op appointment to keep in the morning.

Fall is here...

Fall is a four-letter word. In our house, it means there's a whole lot of work to be done before our schedules sort themselves out and we can settle into our respective roles at home and in the community. From here I'll just go down the list, one by one, so you can get an idea of what we're up to this time of year and how we get ourselves prepared for the next 9 months.

JoElle

I've quit my summer job at Mountain Miss/Work & Rugged Gear and I'm settling into a new job, serving and training to tend bar at Bayview Restaurant & Pub. It's true that working at the clothing stores was just a summer job, but the main reason I left was because they weren't able to work around my schedule, since having Stephen back at work means that I am only available nights and weekends. Truth be told, it's not necessary for me to work, however much our bank accounts are helped by me doing so. I just like having a reason to get out of the house and interacting with different people.

Speaking of getting out of the house, I'm also enrolled full time at University of Alaska Southeast, studying to complete my Associate's degree in Health Education. I'm taking 15 credits this semester, including Introduction to Psychology (on-site), American Sign Language I (on-site),  Weight Training for Women (on-site), Intermediate Algebra (distance), and Music Appreciation (distance). It's notable that this is the first time I've taken any live, on-site college courses, so I am experiencing a little bit of a learning curve in getting everything going, but I've started all but one of my courses (my first ASL class meets today) and I'm really enjoying everything so far.

Between work and school, I'm kept pretty busy running around, but they just fill the time when I'm not at home with Porter during the day and taking care of our household.

Stephen

Stephen is back to work after a long and somewhat relaxing summer. He is working on exciting things for the MEHS music program this year. Besides his regular music, rock band, and choir classes, he is also gearing up for Southeast Music Festival, hosted in Sitka this year, and working on a radio club that will take students to our local Public Radio station and teach them to run soundboards and dj, create radio programs, conduct interviews and share stories, and collaborate with their community for content. This, of course, is in addition to the fortnightly College Radio show he co-hosts with our good friend, Cassidy Patnoe.

If that wasn't enough, Stephen has also involved himself pretty heavily in a community playground project that will hopefully erect a family-friendly, ADA-compliant, and endowment-maintained community-built playground in 2013.

Seren

Seren might be the busiest of us all this school year. She has started full-day Kindergarten at the SEER School, a private elementary school near our house. The theme for learning this year is World History, so she will learn about different cultures and adventurers, get plenty of physical activity while discovering the cultural and natural aspects of our own community, and learn some Spanish from guest instructor, Maite Lorente, who is also the children's librarian at Kettleson Memorial Library.

Additionally, I am going to be working closely with her participation in a brand new 4H program that has been started in Sitka and she is slated to start Pee Wee Wrestling in January, which is coached by MEHS's own Japanese teacher and Wrestling coach, Mike Kimber.

Porter

Somehow, even with all the craziness that the rest of us have going on, Porter only spends ~8 hours per week at daycare. The rest of the time, he and I pal around the house while Seren and Stephen are at school. Porter is still too young to have too much going on outside the home, but he is still in speech therapy and doing well. So well, in fact, that he has been reduced from visiting his speech therapist down from once a week to once every other week. If his ability keeps improving in the way it has been for the last few moths, his visits will drop down to once a month. He now has a vocabulary of around 60 words and uses 2- and 3-word phrases occasionally. Now that he has a vocabulary strong enough to make requests and identify his surroundings, we are working on verbs, spacial awareness, and abstract concepts like feelings and memories.

He is also very close to being completely potty-trained, which means more freedom for him to do the things he likes to do and less hassle for his parents (us), which is always a high priority. Along with the transition from diapers to jockeys, we have replaced his toddler bed (actually his sister's toddler bed, which is now a frame for her full-size mattress) with a real "big-boy" twin-size bed. He loves his new bed and all the extra room it gives him. He also likes that we can sit in bed with him to cuddle, read, or whatever.

...And that's about it. *Whew!* If all that isn't enough to keep us out of trouble, I'm certain nothing will.

We hope all of you are settling into your own cool-weather schedules with ease. As always, we appreciate all the questions and comments everyone leaves on our blog. We enjoy hearing from you and it gives us a reason to write updates more frequently.

unexpected day home

So, I'm not supposed to be home today. In fact, I was at work a bit early, tracked down some information I needed to resolve an important question, met with another faculty member and fixed a technology issues I've been having, and began prepping my classes. I was getting ready to pull down a tenor sax and start figuring out how to fix its poorly-sealing octave key when I got the text messages from the kids' babysitter saying that Porter had not only had a blowout diaper this morning, but he'd also thrown up twice within an hour.

I quickly checked with JoElle and we determined that I could get out of work easier than she could (she's hourly, whereas I have a few days of leave built up already). I then hurried over to the office, where it was determined that one of our AmeriCorps volunteers would be able to cover things for me today (fortunately, he was once the drum major of his high school band, so he has a musical background and won't be completely lost). Following that, I rushed out a set of sub plans and got on the road. Both kids are now home with me (turns out that Porter had puked a third time before I got there) and Seren's working her way through a bowl of the soup that I made for Porter (chicken broth with brown rice, carrots, and celery, of which he ate about six spoonfuls) while Porter naps in her bed because his room needs fumigated from the aforementioned blowout.

So, since I'm home and have some time on my hands with the sick one napping and the other watching Toy Story, here's a bit of an update on what I've been doing these past two weeks.

Last Monday, I got to meet the MEHS students for the first time. We have students from as far away as the International Date Line and Barrow, so Sitka is an experience for some of them. There are also some locals and a good number from the Anchorage area.

We spent the first two and a half days of last week doing an activity known as Edgecamp. This is intended as a combination of orientation, icebreaker for new students (and faculty), and pep rally for the school year. It succeeded to some degree on all of those counts. I was heading up one of the hikes that half of the students did (in 50-student groups), hoping to be able to meet a bunch of kids and convince them to join my music classes. I don't know how many were converted by our conversations, but I had a great time hiking about ten miles in two days and seeing some awesome sights (everything from starfish to hermit crabs to spawning salmon).

I've been riding my bike to work every day, which means that I cross the O'Connell Bridge (right) twice each day. It's a lot taller than it looks in that picture, which is nice for my thighs.

I love working where I do. I'm only teaching three classes right now due to scheduling arrangements (and I want to move one of those classes to a different period next semester). We're on a semesterly block schedule, so most teachers only teach four classes and most students only take four classes (much like being in college). I have 19 kids in the choir, 6 in my general music class, and 6 in the pep band. If I can resolve the scheduling issue for the pep band, that number should double at least.

The priorities of the faculty and administration are in the right place. I don't know how many times my principal has told me so far that "family comes first." I really appreciate knowing that he means that (in fact, he repeated it to me again this morning when I was requesting time to take care of the sick kid). He expanded on that thought once by explaining that "if your family isn't happy, you won't stay here, and we want you to stay." If all administrators learned that on the first day of their Educational Administration MA, 80% of faculty problems would disappear. As far as the teachers go, there's a small amount of cynicism (you always have that when you ask a bunch of intelligent and highly-trained people to work together and follow one or two people's leadership), but a remarkable amount of energy and enthusiasm for each other and for the kids. I look forward to working with my colleagues and to being on teams with them because I know that I'm going to come away charged up.

Sitka is still treating us and the kids well. Seren loves going to the babysitter and getting out around town. Porter is still at the heavy lump of constant trouble stage of development, but enjoying himself a lot as well. JoElle is tired of working (retail is rough on her), but is still seeming happier and healthier than I've seen her in a while. It may be that having somewhat regular hours and needing to put on work clothes helps (those of you familiar with depression will know that such things help). The stupid dog has learned a new trick, too. Porter loves to throw his food when he's full, bored, overwhelmed by the amount of food in front of him, feeling contrary, awake, etc. Invariably, we yell at him and usually give him a slap on the hand, which is followed by him hollering for a few seconds. Nika has learned that this combination of noises ("Porter!!" *slap* "AAAAAA") means that she needs to come over and clean up the noodles or carrots or kale or meat that has been thrown on the floor. As long as it came from him, she'll eat anything except cabbage.

Later today, we'll be going to the school (if the kids aren't too sick) to have dinner with our "extended family," which is somewhat like the advisee group that we had at Orme. I'll be working this Saturday, because MEHS does Saturday school once a month in an effort to both speed the school year and increase the number of class meeting times.

We'll try to not wait so long before posting again, but it's really easy to get into a routine and forget that there's a lot of stuff we're doing that might be interesting to family and friends.