Yes I know.. it has been a long time since I blogged.. And yes, people are reminding me that I am not on top of things.. I am still alive for all of you worrying.

I have been one busy girl- Willie went on vacation to Edmonton and Calgary and I felt like I worked for the both of us (yes I am trying to rub it in to her)! Ah she had a great time away, coming back all refreshed and with a bunch of new clothes.. lucky girl. We did make it to the trapper this weekend for a little dancing and a drink. I haven't been there since New Years, so it was good to go.. still nothing new at the trapper! Saturday night, Willie and I ventured over to some of the Aklak boys house (pilots) and played POKER.. Even though I have no poker face what so ever, and really haven't played alot (aka..don't know what I am doing), I was one of the last 4 people playing for the WIN... No I didn't win, but out beat many others.. Maybe next time I can kick butt!

Weather has been a blistering -38 to -44. Darn cold, but sunny and "warm looking"! Not so warm when you are walking around town, but I guess you can say it is bearable.. I have not got frost bite yet. See what I mean.. it looks warm.. but really really cold..

What have I been up to:

Well a whole lotta nothing. Well I did get out for supper on Tuesday night to say goodbye to Nikki one of our residence at the hospital, and also did get out for supper on Friday night. Had a relaxing night sitting at the Mackenzie, home by 10pm and then over to the neighbours to chill!

A few funny things happened this week. I apparently don't like to sleep in anymore. My first day off I was up at 0530 am wide awake and ready to eat pasta. So I whipped some up and enjoyed that in bed as I finished off my first "trashy novel" (Nora Roberts-kim are you impressed). The benefit to waking up so early was I got into my scrapbooking and got about 10 pages done, plus played molly maid and cleaned. Oh yes and wasted time on the internet, as I always find time to do!! Then Feb 7th, I was up at 0400. I thought what the heck. So I read some more of my new book, saw 5:15 and thought oh it is 7:15am Ontario time and it's the old man's 65th birthday, so I called. He was surprise! And yes I am almost certain I was the first to wish him A GREAT BIRTHDAY!! Love my Pops! Still waiting for my Filet Mignon to come in the mail.

Then back to nights.. I think I have worked nights for about the last 3 weeks. Ah well cannot complain! The weather has been wonderful. Cold but the sun has been shinning lots. I think the sun starts coming up around 1030 and sets at around 4-5ish. I don't have exact times. The frost on the trees just sparkles in the sun. I get out as much as I can for a walk, even if it is to pick up a grocery or two. And now onto another week.. Off Monday then on Tuesday for 5 days.
have a wonderful day everyone!! Miss you all so much!

More Tuk...


The Northern Grocery Store.. the one and only store. And yes we did the Grocery Store Tour.











This picture is taken as I am standing on the Arctic ocean. The houses are little cabins on an island. Where we were walking there was a large crack through the snow into the ice.. Don't worry didn't see any water underneath there. Neat once again.. And again, no trees anywhere in any picture. We are above the tree line.


I held a PINGO-

what is that you ask: They are formed in areas of permafrost when ponds or lakes are drained. When the wet lake bed freezes, the ice below expands and is forced upwards. A pingo consists of only permafrost and grows constantly in a cone shape.

I went to Tuktoyaktuk

via the Ice Road

Feb 2nd the trip started, 5 of us piled in the car and headed out on the sheer ice of the road. Took about 2 hours to drive to our destination. The sun was shinning and the sky was so blue. What a great day to have an outing!!

Tuk isn't that big, so we made the best of it- a whole 3 hrs worth. And yes we saw it all.

The end of the Trans-Canada Trail.














An old Church.. Have you ever seen antlers on a church before.. I haven't. The first for Me!














Then the community freezer. This was the highlight!. I had all intentions of going down into the levels of the permafrost to check out the freezer. When we got there, there was no one around, but to our luck some people came by and we got to go down. I always get scared with ladders, especially this one, 40 steps straight down, icy looking etc. Scary!



These pictures really don't do the ice crystals justice. Families share the freezer space behind each door. Behind each door is a large open area about 6x6 in size. There was no food in the doors we went in, as they were "defrosting" the freezer- basically chipping away ice, so families had to empty out all their food before the work began. Some of the workers said the smell was 100x worse before, as they had to clear out 100's of years of food from some people who have not opened their door for years. It did have a dried meat smell, bad but not too bad.

Look What Happens When WE Get a NIGHT OFF!!
And the First of a New Month!!