Same as Usual

Life in Alaska is moving on same as usual. Lee is chomping at the bit, to get up and snowboarding, the rest of us are glad that most of the snow has melted away and that maybe, just maybe we'll have a bit of a reprieve for now. Lee's mom is setting him up with an annual ski pass at Hilltop again this year and we are enrolling him in lessons twice a week again. The first month he'll just be in the regular snowboarding lessons, but he's decided to try a new class for the second month. The new class focuses on jumping and doing tricks on the half pipe, so needless to say the young man is quite excited.

Parent teacher conferences are this coming week and are student led. The students have been working on a power point presentation for the last week to present to parents, and then teachers will drop in and out during our appt. time to answer further questions and fill in the gaps. This sounds like quite an interesting set up and I look forward to seeing Lee's presentation. All in all he's settled in quite nicely to middle school, much to every one's delight, especially his!

Bret just went back to work last Friday, and is still working at Beluga Point which is just across the bay from Anchorage. This has worked out good and bad for him. It's not as cold as working up on the slope, but the wind walls down here are only 6 feet high instead of 12 feet high so, he's exposed alot more to the elements. He's liking his new crew and has a chance at being promoted to "pit watcher" this hitch, so the opportunities keep expanding with every hitch up there. We're very proud of all the work he does, it certainly isn't an easy 14 days for him.

I've been working from home for 2 weeks now, and absolutely love it! I can't even express the difference it's made for my health. It also works out great for Lee and I while Bret is gone, because I'm home when he is and we don't have to worry about piling too much responsibility on him. Even though he's 13 he still very much thrives in a scheduled routine environment and stays on track alot easier when someone is around more often than not. I'm also able to schedule things like parent teacher conferences during the day, and be here when he has half days, or full days off. I think it's been a hugely positive change for all of us!

Halloween is this coming Friday and Lee has the day off. He's been struggling with whether or not to go Halloweening, but also knowing he IS 13 and he's kind of old for the whole deal. The hospital I work for gets discounted tickets to the local hockey team's games, so we've compromised and decided to spend Halloween night at an Ace's hockey game. It's something we both love to do, and it still makes it a special night out for Lee. Go Ace's.

I've been taking some pictures with my new DSL digital camera, but have been saving them for this years calender. I'll try to pick some out to post this next week.

hope everyone is well! Take good care.

bret, jan and lee