How can a person who lives alone cook so much?

Never, ever have I been so busy. The kids are going thru the work like crazy. I can't believe how well they are working. I have strong competition with the hockey arena for homework time but it seems to get done. Today Victor was not in school at 9 am. I was rude and suggested it was because his homework was not done. Soon there was a phone call from his mother saying he was at nursing but I was still not a strong believer. Then poor Victor shows up at 10 am with the homework done and a real injury to his eye. I had to tell him that I had doubted him and was so glad that he had done his homework. That guy will be able to get away with murder for awhile as I feel mega guilty.

With Valentine's just around the corner I am hosting my annual dessert party on Sunday. I have been baking pies for the past week. But the best items are all last minute baking: my world famous Brazilian coffee roll,the almond paste 8 layer chocolate torte that in my family is called Rank Cake ( the first tim e I made it I was only 12 or 13.. it was on the cover of Good Housekeeping and it was not a ssuccess... Dad said it would have tasted good overseas... meaning in a POW camp.. but I managed to pull it together and it is super good), a wonderful cherry cheesecake, my chocolate cheesecake and of course my chocolate pound cake( that has a good story to it too... I was serving it one night in Sallulit when a gentleman started to cough... I thought he was having a heart attack... so I yelled... are you OK? is it your heart? Once he stopped coughing he said his heart was Ok when he came in the room but after all the whipped cream, chocolate and sugar he was not sure.. I still think about that when I serve that cake. I wonder if I should stop making it but everyone loves it). I am also making my chocolate ginger snaps.... man oh man they are good.

On Friday there is a pot luck at Annie's so I have two big pots of beans on. I will also make a huge pan of squares that are so like a pecan pie.

And there is the cake to do for Luc's birthday on Tuesday. As well there is all the cooking for the school for the 14th. I keep saying you have to be part camel to be a teacher. I carry loads of stuff to school each day.

I am also sewing like crazy. Diane's birthday is Monday so I did two cushions for her. Marie Andree's birthday is soon after so I am working on an apron for her. The vice-pricipal's wife is having a baby any day now so I have made the cutest little coat and matching vest for the new baby. Since this is teacher appreciation week I am also working on a shirt for my classroom right hand, very important person, Lissie What is in the air? I keep thinking maybe I should discontinue these new vitamins.

The students had their Culture class this morning so Lissie and I cleaned up the room. What a difference , now I can actually find things . Teachers may be part camel to carry things to school but we are also part squirrel. I find sheets that other teachers have made up and I think I can use it. How I am never exactly sure. Lissie is great at organizing the books. She has done so much remedial work with the slower students that they are ready for a more advanced book. Keeping all the books in order is a full time job. She is excellent at it. It is wonderful for me and the students to have a helper in the class. She can take part of the class for extra help or watch the others while I give extra help. Also when the students have trouble understanding the math directions in English she can redo the directions in Inuktitut. We work very well together. There are 17 students registered in this classs and that is too many for a second language classroom. Having a helper makes it better for me but also much better for the kids.
Lissie also keeps me from being so lonely. She has a great sense of humor and it is great to have some one to laugh with... or is she laughing at me?

Our weather is very special right now. There were ice crystals in the air this morning so we had a rainbow over Salluit. There is no wind right now so all the chimney smoke is going straight up. The sun is brillant today. A beautiful day here. Many of the kids are skating on the river ice. There are even hockey games down there.

With so much sun these days it is not difficult to be in Salluit. The scenery here is the best in the world. I often wonder why I love it here so much. I get in spells where I complain too much but I have made a home of sorts here. The teaching goes well. I thought that it would dark all winter here but it is only Dec and Jan that are really bad but then I am not that far north. Yesterday I was watching live TV from Cape Canaveral in Florida. I was amazed at how light it was there at 7 am so perhaps I am farther north than I think... I am just getting use to it.

I must go clean off my desk before the kids get back from gym class. Then the class will be perfectly clean.

P