Week 2

Another week has gone by and as promised I am keeping you updated :)

Day 7: Aug 17, 2014

Went hiking! I may have over done it a little but luckily I have tomorrow off. We went barry picking (huckleberries and thimbleberries) on our way to Hart lake and it was pretty wonderful. Originally we weren't planning on going all the way to Hart but since many of the berries were already fairly picked through it didn't take as long to pick as we originally thought, we continued onto the lake. While on the hike I decided that having a water bottle was good but that a water bladder would work much better and I would feel less cr*ppy at the end because I would drink more and more consistently rather than a quick stop and chug a quarter of the bottle. So that is now on order :) Amazon is very convenient here. All in all a pretty good day.

Day 8: Aug 18, 2014

Another day off! So today, since I had the day off and was still kind of sore from yesterday's hike I decided to stay in and work on my recent craft project. I am cutting out the color samples from a Dick Blick catalog and eventually, when I have enough pieces, I am going to make a collage/picture. So I spent all morning watching movies and cutting paper which was nice and relaxing. In the afternoon I switched over to Nalebinding and finished one mitten and started a second. The evening was busy. After dinner we found out that there was going to be a drawing class that was going to be about working with pens and being more confident with our drawing. I brought my plant book there and drew a mountain ladyslipper which is a brown flower with a yellow and white middle. A very interesting plant if I do say so myself.

I am going to bed super early because tomorrow I get to work the coffee cart! (I have to be there at 5:45am)

Day 9: Aug 19, 2014

Today did not seem long at first... So I woke up about ten minutes before my alarm. It was 5:15. I decided just to get up and so I had a little time to grab some toast before I went to the coffee cart. We set up and mine remediation guys were there by ten to six. It was nice and busy for the first half hour or so and then quieted down until villagers started to arrive. It was nice to be busy at first because it kept me awake and alert and the quiet times were nice to just read or clean up a little. I really enjoy working at the coffee cart because it means that I only have to work in the bookstore for about two hours a day which is nice because the coffee cart is more interesting than inventory. It makes for a nice break in routine. Plus I get to be outside but under an awning. In the evening I did some more drawing and am preparing for another early day tomorrow!

Day 10: Aug 20, 2014

Another day at the coffee cart. I really enjoy working there partly because it is a little more relaxed, well except between 6am and 6:30. It is surprisingly fun. After the cart closed I went to the bookstore and labeled yarn and found where two mice were living. I was pulling out yarn and suddenly something dropped from the underside of the shelf above the yarn. One of the small things that dropped quickly burrowed deeper into the back of the yarn shelf while another scampered away. After that I tried to be gentle when removing the yarn and did not completely empty the shelf so that the one that was hiding would not get too scared. I know that the mice will probably end up in one of the mouse traps but I felt that at least while they are being smart enough to hide I wouldn't hurt their chances. Heck if they are smart enough to avoid the traps and some how stay alive who am I to get rid of such a smart mouse?

More exciting news! MY PACKAGE CAME TODAY!!! It is just some tea that I ordered myself but it is much better than the stuff here. I ordered just plain green tea (well it is called Imperial Green) and some Jasmine. Basically, I was over excited about some little dried green leaves. Tonight is another drawing class, which I am very excited to go to. The last one was just so much fun that I figure how bad can this one be? Hope everyone is having a great wednesday!

P.S. Bacon Chocolate chip cookies are good but only if the pieces are crisp and in pieces that are no bigger than the chips.

Day 11: Aug 21, 2014

Another early morning but this time it was followed by large amounts of free time. There were two main rushes at the coffee cart today once at the 6-6:30 time slot and once during coffee break. Otherwise it was quiet and I was able to get some reading done. There was a change of pace after the cart closed though. Instead of going straight to the bookstore I went down to the craft cave and got some pine needles soaking so that in a few days they will be ready to make baskets out of. I had the afternoon off then because I am working the evening opening of the bookstore. Completely unrelated, I was finally heckled for being a Packer fan. It feels like home :)

P.s. Pizza here is not nearly as good as at home but I guess is better than no pizza at all.

Day 12: Aug 22, 2014

So yesterday, I found out that I would be flying solo at the coffee cart this morning. This meant that I would also have to get up even earlier to turn on the machine so that it could warm up. It takes about 45minutes. The cart opens at 6, you do the math. It was so cold this morning. At one point I had to run to grab a blanket. So cold. Once again, there was a fairly long calm period during which I finished my book and made some coffee art. One of the teachers this week was an artist and she was doing a show of our work from this week and she asked me to make something with the coffee. The show was nice and there was a little jam session that happened during it which was wonderful.

One of the school teachers arrived with his family today. Most of the family seemed very excited about being here... except one. The second oldest, a girl, was incredibly angry when she got off the bus. I did not see her smile once all afternoon and she wore a face that said “Talk to me, I dare you”. Hopefully the anger doesn't last too long and if nothing else, school starts soon and that should keep her fairly busy. Oh yeah, and the members in the family are Packer fans. We are slowly adding to our numbers *manically rubs hands together* hehehehe.

On a more somber note, I found out today that one of my choir directors from high school died suddenly from a stroke. She was part of the Lutheran Youth Choir of North America where our theme song is the same prayer as the “Holden” prayer here. I didn't find out until just before dinner and so I went to vespers with this recently acquired knowledge knowing that I was going to be reminded of the time that I had spent with her. Of course, it is Friday which also means that it was a prayer around the cross day. Prayer around the cross is a vespers service where there are boxes and bowls of sand surrounding a cross that is in the middle of the room. Candles are lit and all of the lights are off. It is a time of prayer and if you want you can light a candle in prayer. If you want support in your prayer you can go to one of the bowls and people will get up and lay their hands on you and support you. Seeing as I had just found out about this death I was already starting to lose my cool before the candle lighting part. I had told my friends who were also in the choir that I would pray for her and her family and this was the best time to do it. I got up and knelt down at one of the bowls and immediately felt a hand on my back followed by many more. I lost it. Prayer around the cross always gets me choked up but it meant so much to know that, even those these people did not know what was going on, they were there to support me. I felt kind of bad because here I was crying over a teacher when there was a woman here whose cousin had died earlier in the week. She had walked around in a daze for a few days but when it came to prayer around the cross she was pulled together. Yeah, I know she had more time to deal and everyone mourns differently but it was still hard knowing what I had lost compared to her. I don't know. What I do know is that tomorrow is a new day with new challenges and experiences, oh, and another early morning.

Day 13: Aug 23, 2014

Was up at O'dark-thirty this morning for the coffee cart. It is getting easier to get up early. This morning I listened to some nice Macklemore while setting up. It makes amazingly good wake up music so I continued it throughout the early rush. Other than that things were pretty calm around here. The angry teen is slowly warming up to people (the little kids first). After work and before lunch I watched some TV shows with one of the guys who lives in my chalet. Both were comedies so it was a nice way to wind down. In the evening we had Holden Evening Prayer and I worked at the bookstore where I once again saw some mice but “forgot” to set the traps when I left. One more night of freedom for them. All of the food is locked up so they can't do too much damage.