Huh?!?

It has been so busy the past 19 days since my last post, not too sure where to start...so I'll do what I do best and do it the scatterbrained way...LOL...At the beginning of the month I was doing quite a bit of traveling with the girls and the high school hockey teams. Its always a lot of fun traveling with the kids - that is when the real bonding with kids takes place.


What else? Jayme Apesis and I were nominated for the King and Queen of the ERFN Winter Festival and we won, so we spent this past weekend participating in all the events and encouraging the community to do the same -- I had to set a trap, make bannock over fire, and even do a cow moose call -- it was pretty entertaining for everyone who watched...for me too! LOL


On Saturday, dog mushers from all over Northern Saskatchewan came to Patuanak for dog races....its funny, when I think of dog teams I automatically think of husky dogs, but these dogs were all mostly pointers or greyhounds , or a combination of the two. It was really interesting to watch and to listen to the commands the mushers give the dogs...something different!


Today is our last day of classes and then we have a week off for Easter break -- but...I am taking 3 of our 38 athletes to Regina for the Winter Games. Those 3 girls are playing broomball and we have other athletes playing hockey and volleyball....there will be about 60 of us from the community going in total...should be a lot of fun. We are leaving on Saturday the 22nd and the games will be over on Thursday the 27th -- so my Easter break will be with the kids --


Other than that, not much is really new....we should find out about our contracts for next year within the next couple of weeks -- looks like I'll be here again next year


Don't expect to see a posting over the break --- but you never know! Happy Easter and if you have time off, enjoy!

Hockey Week in Patuanak

It's been a busy week in Patuanak for hockey games....the good ole' hockey game....b/c of our extrememly cold weather week back in January/February -- the make up games are on now. Monday and Tuesday there were games in Patuanak -- the pee wee boys...then, on Wednesday I took the Ice Angels (the girl's team) to Canoe Lake for their game and on Thursday I went with the High School team to Buffalo. And that trip is where the inspiration for today's post comes from.

Fighting. It's part of the game. Unfortuantely sometimes, but nevertheless. The high school league is contact so sometimes there are fights. But this game was different -- this time, our one and only Gabbie dropped her gloves with 3 minutes left in the third period to fight one of the girls from the other team (in this league, boys can't check girls but all is fair when it is girl on girl) and consequently, both girls got thrown out of the game. Now, this happens quite frequently in hockey -- but this is the first time its happened to one of our girls! But this on-ice event caused quite a lot of drama after the game. The kids from Buffalo were kicking our kids' hockey bags as they walked out of the arena and while we were loading up the van, a group of girls pushed Gabbie into a circle/mob of girls and wanted her to fight.

This is when my "mama bear syndrome" kicked in. I grabbed Gabbie out of the circle, pulled her behind me and stood between our 9 kids versus their 35....phew....body guard! Nobody got hurt and we managed to get all of our kids into the van and drive safely out of town but that experience definitely made me realize a couple of things:

1. NEVER would I work in Buffalo

2. Our Patuanak kids are fantastic in comparison and they are very protective of us (but then again, I've very protective of them!)

Regardless, the experience has not deterred me from going with them on Monday to Ile a la Crosse -- they work so hard and its great fun travelling with them! So, there's my story for today...and some pictures for you to peruse! Happy Weekend!

The Ice Angels

Adele, Gabbie, Laura....with opponent :)

Ice Angels - when taking a picture on the ice, its important to remember

NOT to breathe!

High School Hockey - Kenny giving a pre-game pep talk

Patuanak Timberwolves