The Last....Before I Fly Home

I have a knack for counting down the "last times" until I go thru a major event or change. For instance, when thinking about a cross country race, I would acknowledge to myself that the next time I had such and such class or the next time i went home, I would have finished the race and have ran my hardest. So....Today is my last day in Bethel,Ak. I also just finished my last 8 hour work day at the district office - so I returned and checked out my last keys to someone, I wrote the schedule up on the whiteboard for the last time, I went to the high school and helped shelf books for the last time, I made copies of checks, invoices, and a fuel receipt for the last time, I answered the phone saying, "Plant Facilities, this is Emily." for the last time; and now, I am picking up Ben from his classroom for the last time (unless God decides otherwise). I was truly impressed though with the people here - extremely friendly and kind. Even though I would have chosen to spend the 40 hours a week with my brother-in-law or sister instead of work, my job ended up being a great job with nice people and regular hours and I am assuming good pay ( i never was told how much I was making per hour - and didn't feel like say, "So...How much are you paying me to do this???" I guess i'll be surprised no matter what when i see the check finally. Anyways, it worked out perfectly, because I was able to fill in the slot of time Mary (the regular secretary) would be gone on maternity leave - She should be coming back this monday or tuesday - so the staff was very happy that i could fill in and wished me the best at going back to college. The past couple of weeks....I've been working (obviously), Kimber has worked her nursing shifts at the hospital, and Ben has worked around the house and been going to teacher meetings at the school in prep for school which starts this monday. He has been working a lot on his classroom - i never imagined how much work it takes to prepare on the teachers part - students just get the supplies they need and show up :o) I'm sure he is an awesome teacher though - his previous students come up and say hi to Mr. T whenever they see him in town -he seems to be a favorite. Last week, mom got to come up and visit - she and kimber hung out a lot - knitting, reading, baking cinnamon rolls - yummy! She had a great visit and I know Kimber and Ben were sad to see her go. Last friday night, we decided to be adventurous and go to the "fidler dance" - there was only two other white ladies besides us - they did "two step" dancing - it was cute to watch - I personally did not join in, but did enjoy seeing my mom dance with Ben as well as Kimber and Ben trying to figure out the rhythm. There were a couple of birthdays - so they made the girls go out on the floor dance one at a time - and then males would come up and pay to dance with her - weird....I was actually embarrassed for them - I would have died if it was me in their shoes. Most of the time that I have been in Bethel, the weather has been overcast and rainy -but a couple of days this week, we have seen some blue sky and it has warmed up above 50 degrees (i think i am going to go into shock when i get to texas with 90s and 100s degree weather plus humidity). Ben and I got to go kayaking again at hangar lake - I got some great pics of an army seaplane taking off - i guess the pilot picks up fishermen and hunters - we paddled up super close - the pilot even waved to us - i thought it was funny how he was wearing long rubber boots - but I guess it makes sense being a bush pilot. Tonight is my Last night - we will probably hang out and watch a movie - Kimber will get off work around 7:30pm. I haven't started packing - kimber wants me to take some stuff home with me - so that is on the To Do List for tomorrow - which i fly out at 8pm - and I get to spend the night again in Anchorage airport :o) (don't worry or feel bad mom :o) Pictures are coming soon - hopefully :o)