It must be the time of year- out of a staff of about 80 teachers, we had 16 off today. That's a lot for our school...people tend not to phone in sick unless their foot's hanging off because schools in Scotland are so short staffed. Not exactly feeling great myself at the moment- I feel really run down and sick. Yuck. If only I could have a day or two to myself to just relax and get my energy levels back up again, then I'd be fighting fit and ready to kick some ass!

This week's been tough. To highlight, within the first two hours of today I'd been told to, "f**k off," and had a paper aeroplane thrown at my face. Ah, the joys of teaching in a secondary school! Easter can't come soon enough...

This horrible cold thing has just gone through Brevig. Everyone is sick! Everyone got sick within a matter of a couple days. It's so strange. We tried to have school on Monday despite the fact that most of the staff was the walking dead. Only 22 students out of 100 showed up. It was so bad we got out of school early and had the next two days cancelled. It was a wise move by the administration. My husband and I have been miserable the whole time. People haven't been showing up to work all around town. I've never seen so many people get sick at once.

But at last we are recovering. In fact, we are also taking a little time off. C.O. and I are going to Tucson, Arizona to see my friend. We leave on the first plane after school tomorrow. We fly all night, have a 12 hour lay over in Salt Lake City, then arrive in Tucson late Friday night. We're looking forward to the warm weather, eating out, fresh fruits and veggies. Yummy, yummy. I think I'll eat at least one salad every day. We so rarely see fresh produce up here and some times I just crave it.

Ah- it's half term; two extra days to myself and them only 5 weeks till Easter. The last few weeks have been so hectic and exhausting, this holiday really couldn't have come at a better time. Off to London this weekend with my man for a Valentine's break...I'm looking forward to it, but I'm a bit apprehansive as the last time I was in London was when the bombs went off. Still, I guess you can't live your life like that. Back to work on Wednesday...but I think I can handle a three day week!

Our School Gym is the largest single room in the village. So it gets used for a variety of events. Traditionally during the holidays, the village wide feast is held in the gym. Tables and chairs are set up and a majority of the people who live in Brevig gather in the gym for the feast. Sadly, a couple weeks ago an elder passed away. The church isn’t big enough to hold all the people who attended her funeral, so school is released early and the funeral is held at the school building. Earlier this week, the school district flew in the school board members and a public school board meeting was held. And just this weekend we had a couple of basketball games. The gymnasium has been the sight of health fairs, volleyball games, races, church conferences, Christmas programs, public meetings, craft fairs, rummage sales, craft nights, game nights, weddings and shooting contests. It is truly a multipurpose room.