Happy New Years!

The week between Christmas and New Years was packed with activities in the evenings.  Every night the young and old met at the Hall to play games and square dance.  They stayed up all night and slept most of the day.  On New Year's Eve there was a church service and like Christmas eve, it was packed!  After the service there were fireworks and a "parade" of all the trucks and snowmobiles (Hali counted 49 machines in a row!) driving around the community.  THEN they all took a little break to go home to have a snack and recharge the batteries so that they could go to the Hall for some square dancing until 5 or 6am ( or later because I heard many snowmobiles going by later than 7am and we just KNOW that they were going home and not getting up for the day).  So was I partying it up?  Nope!  Unfortunately for me, Brian was working and so I had to stay home with the kids.  Most people brought their kids along to all the festivities but I simply couldn't - I still don't know anyone, I would have had to walk to all the places with all 3 boys (and it was quite cold), not to mention that my kids start yawning at 7pm!  No, I spent New Year's Eve on the phone with my sister-in-law Sara and Sandra, a Selkirk RCMP wife friend (whose husband was also working ;o).  Sandra and I did however go outside on my front porch for the fireworks and parts of the "parade".   

 On New Year's day we were hoping to go "in the middle" of Hudson Bay to go crab jigging.  This is  when bait is put inside (?) a sock which is tied to a rope and thrown in the hole in the ice.  The crabs pinch the sock and you reel it in.  Unfortunately, there was no way for us to go.  We hadn't driven the snow machines, we didn't have a sled to pull the kids in and we are not "in the know" yet.  It's really hard to get information about what's going on and, as mentioned before, we still don't really know anyone.  Having 3 small kids also makes living the experiences more difficult.  Hopefully, with time, we will find our way.  I know that I need to give it time - we've only been here 2 weeks.  I simply find it too bad to have missed so many interesting activities.  I guess there is always next Christmas.  

One thing I did get to experience a little bit is last night's game night.  Hali and I went to the school gym and it was packed!  There was a huge circle of women with a few in the centre intently searching for numbers written on tiny little pieces of masking tape stuck on the convex part of a huge bowl.  Essentially 3 sets of dice circulate the women and if you or your partner roll doubles then you run to the centre, grad the bowl and keep searching for the number.  Once you find it you peel it off and stick it on your hand and start looking for the next number and so on and so forth until the next set of doubles when the bowl gets snatched from you.  The winner is the team with the most stickers.  There was also a big draw with pretty good prizes (flights, generator, Nintendo DS, laptop).  The kids just ran around like crazy and had fun.  There were only a few casualties…  We didn't stay late because we were both so tired from the night before, but when we left the men and women were playing a game together in a circle (similar to the first one but using cut up socks in rings. Each time you roll doubles you have to put as many rings on your partners wrists and at the end the team with the most rings wins).  It was great to get out and meet a few people (I'll never remember their names but I have to start somewhere!)

Today we had the Butler family over for our New Year's dinner.  I somehow felt great comfort making and serving dishes from back home in Selkirk.  Colleen's rice/mushroom casserole and Miriam's Hawaiian meatballs (made with ground Caribou from one of Hali and Chad's hunting trips - not THAT'S organic!) were amazing.  Probably one of the best meals we've ever made - thanks girls!  We had a nice visit and the kids had a great time playing.

I hope this post is finding all of you doing really well.  I hope this Christmas season brought for all of you wonderful memories for years to come.  I know for sure that I will never forget this Christmas…

PS this was written on January 2nd 2011 but we had no internet access because of a winter storm so I had to post it at a later date.

Grocery Store Savvy

I'm still adjusting to the fact that every trip to the grocery store is an adventure (to look at it any other way would be dreadfully depressing ;o).  On my most recent trip I learned a few things that I need to remember for every trip in the future.  Here they are:

1.  Always look at the packaging.  Most boxes or cans are dented.  While it may not matter much to have a dented can of diced tomatoes, but can you imagine what the crackers look like inside the smashed box?
2.  NEVER buy the bottom row of bananas from the bunch.  In other words, grab the bunch and remove the 3 or 4 bananas on the bottom.  They may LOOK haft decent at the store but within a day the bottom ones will be BLACK.  Those poor bottom bananas suffer every bump on the plane and they stoically cushion the top ones.  We've been here 1.5 weeks and I have enough bananas in my freezer to make banana bread for a small army (thank goodness I have a small army!)
3.  Inspect how much dust is on top of the item of interest.  You don't have to be a genius to figure out that lots of dust means it's been there a long time.  While there may not be an alternative, at least you can lower your expectations as to how fresh the food will be.
4.  Rule of thumb:  If it's relatively healthy it will NOT be fresh.  The Fruit Loops probably came off the plane that morning but the plain-1g-of-sugar-Cheerios have been there since 1963.  The cans of Pepsi get restocked everyday but the Ocean Spray cranberry juice was part of last year's Christmas stock (how can I tell that the juice was old you ask?  The cranberry juice bottle was RED, the juice had been in the bottle for so long that the red pigment had time to penetrate the plastic thus staining it red.  Seriously, the next time you buy cranberry juice, you'll see, your bottle will be CLEAR.
5.  The grocery store closes very early EVERY night.  Closing time is 6pm most nights and 7pm on Fridays.  So now I really have NOWHERE to go in the evenings.  Great!  It was an outing that I looked forward to.  It was the ONLY outing that I looked forward to.  ;o)
6.  Meal planning needs to happen during the grocery store trip.  Planning a week's worth of meals beforehand is futile because the ingredients needed will not be there.  So walk in the store, scope what's available then think think think...  Or better yet, just buy what looks good and figure it out later (those of you who really know me will know that this is really difficult for me because I am such a planner).

It certainly takes some getting used to but I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

Christmas Eve Surprises

The reality of being so isolated hit me on Christmas Eve.  That, coupled with wanting to be home for Christmas (Selkirk, Ottawa or Halifax - one of those three would have been just fine!), made for a bit of a lonely day.  So I was DETERMINED to go to the Christmas Eve service.  I was going to get out!  Even if it meant being out way past my bedtime (the service was at 10:30pm), having to go all by myself, having to walk there and back, and sacrificing sitting down and watching Christmas Vacation with my hubby.  I needed to get out and try to meet people and more importantly I needed to spend some time with my King.  My attitude needed a facelift.

I arrived on time for the service and the church was nearly empty. Had I missed it? Nope!  I'm learning that people here are in tune with Ward family timing.  Everything starts at least 15 minutes late.  By the time the service started, 30 minutes late, the church was PACKED!!!  If that wasn't surprising enough, there were TONS of children.  Babies, toddlers, preschoolers all the way to teenagers and adults all piled on top of one another.

Ok, it's time for another list.  My Christmas Eve Service Surprises

1.  Sheer number of people
2.  High proportion and number of children
3.  The children were dressed in their BEST outfits.  I'm talking about frilly, sequenced or satin dresses for the girls and collared shirts, vests and even a few ties for the boys.  Even the babies were decked out in smashing outfits.
4.  How well behaved the children were.  I mean, they were well behaved for a typical church service but considering the double whammy that it was Christmas Eve AND that it was soooo late, they were sheer angels!  Now after discussing this at our Christmas dinner, I was informed that children here do not have routines - at all.  None of this 7:30pm bedtime.  Everyone goes to bed late and they all simply sleep in the next morning.  If they want to nap at 4pm, great, they can fill their boots!
5.  How LONG the service was.  I didn't get home until 1am.  I felt so guilty at times because there I was getting really tired and cranky thinking "is it over yet?", while the 2 year old beside me sat there on his dad's lap smiling...  OK if the children can sit through this long service on Christmas Eve in less than comfortable outfits (I imagine) than so can I!
6.  While I didn't understand a lot of it (only some of it was translated), it was a nice service.  I enjoyed singing Christmas carols in French or in English (depending on which language I remembered them in) while they sang them in Inuktitut.  Tears filled my eyes while witnessing beautiful older men dancing in the aisle and praising God.  I was especially touched by a seemingly poor dad and his young son.  I assume that they were poor because they were wearing nothing but dirty t-shirts.  This man however was so warm.  He clearly loved his son and was wonderfully tender toward him.  They sat in front of me and I really appreciated his warm smile, hearty handshake and "Merry Christmas" wishes.

I went back home tired, but the joy in my heart had been renewed.  One can be anywhere in the world but there is something special about meeting together with the body of Believers.  Hallelujah.

My New Best Friend

Boxed Mashed Potatoes.  Yup you read me right.  Idahoan boxed mashed potatoes are my new best friend for the following reasons
1.  They are the fluffiest, creamiest and smoothest mashed potatoes I've ever had.
2.  They take MINUTES to make.
3.  They are SO much cheaper than buying a bag of potatoes.
4.  They are effortless.

Hali, my neighbour suggested that I start buying them to save money (not to mention to save myself the frustration of buying a bag full of rotten or soft potatoes).  She even suggested that I make them for our Christmas turkey dinner.  REALLY?  "You want me to bring BOXED mashed potatoes to our Christmas dinner?"  Yup.  Well, Brian and I were impressed.  Actually these boxed potatoes were a big topic of conversation at last night's dinner.  Now I'm sure that they are stripped of every nutrient because they are so refined and yadda yadda.  BUT at least there's an alternative.  A really decent one at that!

Now I don't suggest you bring these mashed potatoes as your contribution to the next potluck or get-together, unless you are very good at lying that is.  "Wow, these are the best mashed potatoes I've ever had!"  "Yes I know, it's my secret recipe...".  It just seems wrong to bring boxed potatoes to a Christmas dinner but there you have it, the girl who prefers anything made from scratch, provided BOXED mashed potatoes and we all LOVED them!

Inuit Cultural Tidbits

1.  Lifting up eyebrows (opening eyes wide) means "yes"
2.  Scrunching up the nose means "no"
3.  The Inuit grieve the death of a person as a community.  Last year someone committed suicide on October 30th and they cancelled Halloween.  Usually all businesses and stores will shut down until after the funeral - essentially, the community shuts down.  If one was to make a meal for the family, one would do so AFTER the funeral.  I am learning a few things about how the Inuit deal with death because a 3 year old boy was run over and killed by a truck that his father was driving.  If we had been here even a couple of weeks earlier we would have known this family since Nathan would have been in this little boy's preschool class and his older brother is in Kindergarden with Benjamin.  I've been trying to contact Leonie regarding the Christmas Eve service (to see IF there is one).  I imagine she has not been at her store this since she has not returned my call...
4.  The inuit children are so darling and interested.  Every time we go out, the children gravitate toward us and ask us our names (by now most of them remember us - but I've got my work cut out for me trying to remember all their names).  They stand right by us or follow us and stare.  They smile shyly and have meek dispositions.  Yesterday, Hali and I walked over to the grocery store with the kids (now THAT was an experience - see below).  Inside the store I met 3 siblings:  Brandon, Cassidy and Brianna (one of the girls was adopted but I never figured out which one).  Hali was telling me that Inuit children learn to take care of other children at a very young age so that I wouldn't be alarmed by their "fowardness" with my kids.  Well sure enough Brandon became Isaac's little guardian, following him, helping him when he fell in the snow, playing with him and even pulling him in the sled all the way home.  The girls helped with the older kids and one of them pulled the sled containing all the groceries also all the way home.
5.  Inuit people, for the most part, are very friendly.  While at the grocery store an older man missing many teeth scooped Isaac into this arm with a huge warm grin.  Well, those of you who know Isaac can picture the LOOK he gave him.  The man warmly started talking to him and within seconds Isaac was pointing at the cart and telling him something in his jargon.   I wanted to take a picture but wondered what the man would think.  I regret it now because I imagine he would not have cared.
6.  Safety is not the # 1 concern.  They do not wear helmets while on their quads or snowmobiles, they drive fast even with their kids on and even if kids are on the road (or the side of the road) they do not slow down.  This made me nervous yesterday.  There are no sidewalks and the roads are not clearly defined.  We had a bit of trouble figuring out where the safest place to be was.  If there was a child in the way they would drive around instead of stopping and waiting - Yikes!

Kids make everything more "interesting"

It once took my friend Jenna an entire day to make these beautiful alligator cookies.  They tasted great and looked fabulous.  Well, I'm not sure what our gingerbread cookies will look or taste like, but it's definitely going to take us all day to complete the process.  We (when I say "we" I mean myself and my 3 little, ahem, "helpers") managed to get the dry ingredients mixed before lunch.  Once Isaac was down for his nap, Benjamin, Nathan and I took advantage of our "alone" time to finish the batter.  I was just about to take the batter out of the refrigerator when my neighbour called to borrow the rolling pin (the one I had borrowed from her - along with the bowls, hand mixer, cookie sheet and whisk).  So now the baby just woke up and the cookies aren't rolled or baked (not to mention that the dough has probably chilled too much by now ;o)

Gotta go get my baby and I think that "my" rolling pin is at the door!

4:10pm
Cookies are rolled, cut and baked.  While doing all of that would have simpler while Isaac was napping, it certainly would not have been as funny.  Isaac, I think, is very smart (of course I think that I'm his mommy!) because he catches on to things VERY quickly.  Not 2 seconds into the process that he was right in there trying to pound the batter and using the cutters (even on cookies that had already been cut!).  Isaac was also my batter monster.  If he is sick with raw egg poisoning I promise you that I TRIED to keep him from eating the dough, but the little turkey grabbed every little morsel he could.  Not to mention that every time I turned my back he was on the table ripping pieces off the cookie sheet.  Benjamin and Nathan thought this was absolutely hilarious and of course that's all Isaac needed to keep going.

My little helpers also wrapped daddy's Christmas gifts this morning.  Well, Isaac managed to crumple every single last piece of wrapping paper, running away with the rolls a few times.  Then he ruined the scotch tape dispenser and also ran with scissors.  Benjamin and Nathan did a great job with their wrapping and I'm sure daddy will be sooooo proud.

Today, in my heart, was a bit of a sad day.  My church friends usually get together on Thursday mornings and here we were with nowhere to go and missing our dear, dear friends.  So this is what I took out of simply being home just the 4 of us:
1.  How thankful I am for my 3 rambunctious little boys.  They keep me busy, they make me laugh and while they make every activity one hundred times more complicated, they also make everything way more interesting (as long as I take the time, the patience and the right attitude to include them).
2.  It's going to be a LONG 4 years... (ha! just kidding!)
3.  It's not easy making new friends.  It's risky putting oneself out there and waiting to see what the "verdict" is.  I've never liked making new friends.  I am far too sensitive for the "I wonder if she likes" thing (besides I feel like I'm too old for this! ;o)  It's also very humbling to feel so needy and dependant on one single person because you have NO ONE else.

3 days 'till Christmas

Last night I braved the store.  It took me 5 minutes to walk and I was back within 25 minutes.  I was thinking of all of you in the South trying to do last minute stuff.  Trying to find parking, last minute baking or gift buying...  I said to a number of friends before moving here that I would be happy not to run one more errand, not to go to another mall or to make one more return.  I told you the truth and so far I still mean it.

This is a strange advent season for me because so much is different.  I don't have any baking done (and I probably won't be able to since I have no bakeware, mixer, bowls or many ingredients for that matter!), very few houses have lights, there may or may not be a Christmas Eve service, and the reality is that we don't have much to do (no family here and, well, only 4 friends - Hali, Chad and the kids!).  I guess this is the perfect year to focus on Jesus' birth.  It's strange and sad that I'm not even quite sure what that means or how to do that.  The comforting thing is that I know Jesus will show me.  Usually Christmas is a time that we like to help those in need around us, but we don't know anyone!  It would have been nice to set up a hamper but no program like that even exists here.  Brian and Chad are responsible for distributing the toys (I'm not sure who donated them) to all the kids in the community.  I think I might like to join Brian with our boys in doing that...

We are having Christmas dinner with the Butler family, which is really nice because even though I have a turkey in my freezer, I don't have anything to cook it in!  I was planning on making Miriam Burzuik's Hawaiian meatballs with Colleen Irwin's wild rice casserole along with the Ward family shrimp dip (we brought canned shrimp with us on the plane ;o).  I guess now I will save that menu for New Years.  First however I have to make sure that I can find all the ingredients at the store.  I'm a little worried about the wild rice.  Actually, I'm A LOT worried.  We'll see I guess.