Driving/Dog sitting/Doaching (Ok its actually coaching... but I wanted to use alliteration)

My roommates have been making fun of me for my super detailed blogs… so if they start getting shorter, blame it on peer pressure :) But, with that said, its time for the next edition of Jill’s adventures in the tundra.

I have been here for almost three weeks and it already feels like I have been here wayyyy longer. We were told at the very beginning to treasure the times that you get lost, because it will never happen again. For those of you who have ever been on a car ride with me when I didn’t know where I was going (like every time I went, well, anywhere) you will be shocked to hear that I haven’t gotten lost once. It’s pretty simple because no streets leave Bethel so, if your street dead ends… you know its time to turn around.

Speaking of streets though, guess what? I’ve been driving, a lot! I drive a Pilot (a Honda? I don’t know cars so I won’t pretend to know) a short bus and I have been dog sitting this week so I have had a little blue two door to drive to work. My boss also doubles as the drivers ed teacher in town so driving with her in the bus was terrifying. “Jill, stop BEHIND the stop sign next time.” “Don’t forget, your mirrors stick out a foot and a half on either side, you could’ve taken that guy’s head off.” But, surprisingly, I must have passed because now I drive the bus to pick up kids in the morning and drop them off in the afternoon. I also drive the Pilot to drive kids to their jobs in the morning.

One downside of driving, and I guess of living in Alaska in general, is that on Wednesday I had to scrape frost off the windshield. IN AUGUST. I was so pissed. I’m still complaining/worrying about the cold but everyone tells me that I will survive. I’m not convinced yet.

But, other than being worried about the cold, I had another terrifying experience this week. Like I said, I had a car this week because I was dog sitting 2 dogs, a 120 lb Akita (2 Akitas can take down a grizzly bear, fyi) and another dog that likes to hump legs. Sweet. I also had to feed the Akita two pills, as in open the dog’s mouth and throw pills down its throat then hold its massive jaw closed until it swallowed. The first day I had to call in reinforcements, aka my roomie John, because I was convinced I was going to be Lucas (the Akita)’s dinner. But after that day, I showed that sucker who was boss. Or whatever.

Oh and guess what!!! I’m a boss. Well not really, but this past weekend I was asked to be the JV volleyball coach at the local high school, BRHS. Unfortunately, my boss at BABS wouldn’t let me do that so now I am just “helping out” but either way I am getting to play volleyball and coach, which makes me so happy. I’ve been running practices and everything. They even gave me a whistle. :)

Now this is real long and I’m gonna catch a lot of crap about it from my roomies, but whatever. If you know me at all, you know I like to talk. And write. So there you go.

Love and miss you all!
Jill