Silly Geese

Did you watch Dirty Jobs last night?!?

If not, and you want to see what it looks like up here, catch a repeat. The episode is titled "Wild Goose Chase". They had some pretty good shots of Bethel and the tundra and what it looks like flying around up here, etc.

Only thing that bothered me was that they kept referring to the area as the "Yukon Delta" instead of the "Yukon-Kuskokwim" Delta. Though, I guess that is the name of the refuge, so I can see why they'd be confused, but still...give the Kusko some props! I think one of the wildlife guys said "Y-K delta" once, so I was happy.

We were laughing at the camera guys who kept getting stuck, but seriously...who hasn't gone up to their knees in the muck a least once? And we thought the description of walking on the tundra as like walking on a waterbed was pretty accurate. Now if it would only get cold and freeze again, then we could bust out the snowmachine and start zipping around :-)

The Frozen Stormy Tundra

While sitting around, working hard at doing nothing on Saturday afternoon, I started to notice that I was hearing a familiar rumble outside. What made it unusual, though, was the fact that there's hardly ever real thunderstorms out here. I was a little confused, because I was looking out the front window, seeing blue sky and sunshine, but all of a sudden it started to downpour...without the sunshine going away. So I went over to the kitchen window that looks in the opposite direction, and this is what I saw.

Huzzah for tundra thunderstorms!

There was even a funnel cloud in Bethel last week...a cold air funnel, and nothing too exciting, but still!!

Oh! Almost forgot!

Some folks have been asking how our beer experiment ended up going. Well, the reviews were generally positive, and Sara and I both really enjoyed it and thought that all in all, it went pretty darn well. So we're looking forward to getting right back at it whenever we get the chance (unfortunately, it has to wait 'til we're back in Wisconsin...we live in a dry village up here, for those of you just tuning in), and trying some darker, more complex, more dangerous brews :-P

That's one thing we're finding out about homebrewing...once you start, you're hooked. And for every batch of beer you make, you come up with a dozen ideas for more beers you want to make. I'm not sure if I'll have enough time over Christmas break, but I'm already dreaming about what would happen if I tried infusing a cream stout with a little bit of peppermint leaf...

Back in the Saddle

Well, here we are, back in the village, back in school, back at it. It's amazing the things you can forget in a month or two. Like how nice the sunsets are (not to mention how late, and how long they last...when the sun's moving at crazy angles, it seems like sunset lasts an hour and a half sometimes!)

We're finishing up our first week of school today, and I'm actually feeling pretty good about the year so far. My mornings consist of being an in-class aide for some math classes being taught from the District Office by teleconference. As long as I stay on top of things, I think my mornings will go pretty well and be fairly low on the stress meter. My afternoons, on the other hand, could get interesting. I've got the whole Junior High (mind you, that's only about 25 kids total), split into two classes for Keyboarding/Computers. Mind you, there's no curriculum...I'm making it up as I go along. So that could get interesting. Added into the mix, I've got a P.E. class. Yeah. Try to contain your laughter.

As far as everything else goes...lemme see...

Getting settled into our new house. It's so nice to have an actual house this year, as opposed to the ex-classroom we were living in last year. Now we have rooms! With doors! And even closets, too! And more than one window! And more than 6 inches of counter space! It's the lap of luxury, let me tell ya :-P

Speaking of luxury...we've even been able to watch the last two Packer preseason games, seeing as the second was a Seattle game, and the Seahawks are our local NFL market, and last night's game was nationally televised on Fox for some reason. I think I've already seen as many packer games this season as I did all of last season. And they're on nationally I think 5 times during the regular season, too! Thank goodness for that stretch of the Thanksgiving Lions game and then the NFL Network!

What else, what else...hmm. Loki's loving it being back up here. Back to swimming and frolicking and jumping off of docks. I'm never sure how much he really remembers of people and places, or if he's just good at getting comfortable as long as we're there with him, but something interesting happened when we got back. He got out of the house when we opened the door one of the first days we were back, and he immediately ran out of our new house, over to our old place, and across the boardwalk to where his friend Bailey lived last year. Unfortunately, Bailey and his owner Christina have moved to Oscarville for this year, so Loki didn't get to go in and play, but I thought it was cool that he remembered where Bailey lived and ran right there...I guess his memory is pretty good.

And with that, I think I'm out of stuff to share at the moment...that, and I need to go to class. Hope all's well, and talk to you all again soon!

On the ball...sort of

Just because I feel like I can't really move along on this blog until I give you guys some wedding pic fodder, here we go...maybe I can be persuaded to post some party pics later on, but for now I'm sticking to the formal pictures of the main players. Honestly, it's 'cuz most of you out there either have yourself or have at least seen a lot of the pictures from the reception...even those of you who were there and have...ahem...fuzzy recollection of the evening :-P

Here's the wedding party, in all it's glory. Note the sober groomsmen and clean, intact dresses...it was all downhill from this point.

The MacDonald family shot from before the ceremony...

...and the Przybylskis. We're not much for family portraits, and certainly not much for the tuxes, so enjoy it!

And here's the happy couple. Mind you, I chose this one to post for a specific reason, aside from the fact that I like the bridge. You see, Sara's an inch taller than me already, and with the heels she was wearing...well...in most of the pictures I look like a munchkin. Here at least I get a little boost. Hey, it's my blog, I make the rules!

Hoyey!

It has been brought to our attention by our friend Sara (whose dad runs the friendly neighborhood National Wildlife Refuge), that the episode of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe that was filmed in the area will be broadcast next Tuesday, the 28th. So if you watch Dirty Jobs, or just want to see what it's like up here in this neck of the continent, be sure to check it out!

Back in the Village...just a quick note

Woo! Got home yesterday late morning, took a nap, started the unpacking/settling in process...good times. Phone line wasn't transfered over like it was supposed to be my now, but it should be today...if I was supposed to call you when I got home, sorry!

I have a lot of backed-up posting (not to mention email) to catch up on, for sure...but it'll be a day or two until we're settled in enough to really make that a priority. But it'll get there. Oh, and FYI...we're back on filtered internet, which means no Facebook, no Myspace, no MSN Messenger for a while. So if you want to find me, drop me an email, comment here, or dust off the ol' AOL Messenger (AIM) if you have it...my contact name is 'przybby'.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi and let y'all know what's up. More to come, of course :-)

So...what's new with you?

Not much here, really since the last time I posted.

Oh wait.

I guess I did, like, get married and stuff. I suppose if you're being picky, you could count that as a "blog post worthy" event. The party certainly was so. The stories...and the pictures! Once I have enough of them in my grubby little hands to pick out the best, I'll be sure to post some, I promise.

Let's see, what else? Our batch of beer is bottled and conditioning...should be ready to drink right about when it's time for us to head back to AK this weekend...so sounds like a good excuse to have a party and get everyone to help us drink the 2 cases, right?

Right now we're just in boxing/packing/preparing mode...a few more days and it's back up to the soggy tundra! More (and more thorough) posts to be had then, rest assured :-)