I've been eating strange things lately.

Here's my "weird food" count thus far:

1. Moose
Fantastic, better than beef, and it's how Max and I are getting paid for our 2 weeks of coaching volleyball!
2. Stink Fish
White fish that has been aged in a cardboard box for at least 3 weeks, and then eaten raw. I tried it while I was sick and couldn't really taste it, but apparently it smells much worse than it tastes. It was sort of greenish in places, but Albert didn't care! He picked it up (with his rubber gloves on) and just started chomping away on it!
3. Seal
Today I tried seal, straight off of the rib. It tasted very gamey, and was very very tender and full of fat. I didn't particularly like it, but it wasn't terrible. They say it tastes just like muskrat. So....

I think now that they think I'll try anything, they're going to keep bringing me weirder and weirder foods. I'm game though, and I'll keep you posted. I think I might be getting offered fish eggs soon, they had mentioned them...

Here is our moose savings thus far

Life in 4th grade has been difficult this week. As you may already know, each year around this time the state of Alaska gives out PFD checks to every resident who has lived here for more than 2 years. It is around $1,000, and regardless of age you get the same amount of money. Many families have up to 11 children, so that ends up being a lot of money. These last few weeks many students have cool new toys, and things which often cause arguments in the classroom, and many families have bought new TVs, snow machines, and other things the kids are all so excited about. I have some kids who haven't been getting a whole lot of rest, and that has made it difficult for them to be functional during school.

Today, either related to this or not, I had a few too many fights, and I got hit by a student a few too many times to me make me feel like I had a good day. It was rough, probably the worst so far. It is really hard to get screamed at, kicked, hit, and lied to by students without having the power to do anything about it. 

With that being said though, a couple teachers walked in to my classroom after school, and were shocked that I had a smile on my face. Actually, they were shocked that I wasn't crying at my desk, and that they had never caught me crying at my desk. They told me tales of teachers past, who had spent a good hour crying at their desks at the end of every single day of school. They asked me how I do it, and I told them the following things:

1. I don't have feelings or a soul

2. I can put it all behind me really easily

3. It's not really my problem, at the end of the day

4. I follow the advice a wonderful coach once gave me, which is to "Fake it 'til ya make it." Meaning (to me), I might not be a great teacher right now, and I might not be able to keep my class under control all the time, but by God, until that's true, I will pretend like I am and like I can. Thanks, Jayme!

So far, so good (enough)

In other news, I changed my school laptop background from Beau (which made me miss home every time I looked at it) to a rotation of motivating and positive quotes. I recommend it, to anyone who often times feels like they never want to go to work again.