The river was horrible to travel on when Christina and I headed up. It actually reminded me of what it is like right before breakup. There were a few inches of water everywhere and I almost swamped my machine a few times. I was reminded of a couple of years ago when I had crashed my machine in similar conditions heading from Bethel to Oscarville. Just thinking of that got my heart pounding and made me extra cautious.
When I finally got to Bethel I was a nervous wreck and my clothes were soaked through to my underwear. I parked my snowmachine in front of the library and decided to walk over to the college. That was a bad idea as it was slick ice between the library and the college and I took quite a digger on my way in. So, not only was I soaking wet, but my ass and my hand were hurting like hell. Plus, I had to do quite a dance on the ice as I tried to retrieve all the gear that had flown in the air as I went down. As I entered the college I was near tears.
I walked past the room where some of my classmates were taking the test. Since the weather was so cruddy the only person to make it in from any of the villages was...that's right...me. The rest of the test takers were my classmates from Bethel. It took a few minutes to get all my gear off and get it hung up so it could dry. After shedding my clothes and hanging them up in a different room I was finally ready to join my classmates already taking the test. With my two soggy backpacks full of books I walked into the room and took my place at the very back of the room.
When I had taken my enormous digger outside the college I had been more concerned about my computer than with my own body and I held my breath as I turned it on. I pushed the button, heard some whirling noises from deep within the machine and then....a black screen. I stared in disbelief at the black screen. Sensing a breakdown of one of his students, my professor was instantly by my side asking me what was wrong.
"My computer...it's,"sniff, sniff, "it's black. I fell and...it's black!" I managed to get out.
"Hmm...and I suppose all your notes are on there, huh?" he responded. When he said that the damn of tears broke. I held my swollen hand over my mouth and just nodded. Although I recognize he was trying to comfort me and assess the situation it was completely the wrong thing to say at that moment.
"Ok...let's see....ummm," was his response, "well, there are other computers you can use and I know the technology people are still here. Why don't you get settled and then we can figure this out."
I simply nodded. Just to be sure that it wasn't working properly, I turned my computer off and then turned it back on. I held my breath as I heard it start up. I again heard some whirly noises happening inside and then...YES! the login screen popped up.
"It works now." I managed to croak out suddenly embarrassed about my leaky eyes.
I got settled in and ate the two pieces of chocolate my professor had put at my place as a little "brain food". Still sniffling I then ate the other two pieces he had put at my neighbor's place. I then stood up and grabbed the two chocolates at the place in front of me. I figured no one else was going to be making it in so the chocolate, by default, was mine. Finally, after some self medicating via chocolate, I was ready to take my test.
The next four hours of my life involved shifting continuously in my chair because my wet corduroys were making my already sore butt even more sore. I shifted constantly looking for some relief. That was pretty much my main concern. I also wrote an answer to the essay question that was posed to me. I was so happy when my professor told us time was up. I emailed my test and got a ride to my friend Brian's.
At Brian's I changed into comfy clothes and was finally able to relax. Although there was a terrible windstorm going on it felt good to be inside a warm cozy house surrounded by friends. We also took a ride in a suburban all the way across town. It was crazy to be out in such strong winds. The next morning I had to wake up early so I could take my other test. Brian and I compared dreams and came to the conclusion that the wind makes us dream some pretty crazy things.
My ride to the college showed up early and I had to run out with a mug full of coffee. I spilled the coffee all over my corduroys on the way to the college. For the second day in the row I walked into to take my test with wet pants.
Over the next four hours I answered some more essays questions. This test was a bit harder and more time consuming so I had to devote less time to eating the snacks my professors had sitting out. A little after 2:30 I emailed my test, packed up my stuff, hugged my professors good bye and was out the door.
I got a ride around the building and my friend dropped me off at my snowmachine. There I found that the wind had torn my little trunk hatch off the back and I found it laying in some bushes. What had been a little broken before was now officially really broken and it's been causing me annoyances since. It blew off again on Sunday but luckily Christina was following me and was able to retrieve all the stuff that flew out.
On Sunday morning we headed up to Bethel to see the start of the K300. We missed it though. We did see the start of the Bogus Creek 150 and it was fun to see all the dogs lined up. The two teams below are two rookie teams. The picture on the left is of the youngest rookie and the picture on the right is of the oldest rookie.
I brought Macy in hopes that she would finally understand the concepts of pulling. I still see her all harnessed up ready to gracefully pull me on skis. It's a dream of mine to soar through the snow with my trusty little dog pulling me. Usually when I harness her all up she starts to move and looks back meekly every three seconds or so and then tries to run away from the approaching skis. She never runs forward though and always ends up running to the side and then trying to get behind me. That doesn't work too well. We never really get too far before I unhook her and just let her run. Macy enjoyed the race very much.
It was too cold for her though and some friends brought her back to Brian's.
The rest of Sunday was a lazy day. I arrived back home after watching some football at Brian's house. After a nice hot shower I sort of lazed around. Christina convinced me to watch Mamma Mia and although I still prefer the live version the movie version wasn't too bad.
So, that's it. My weekend. It wasn't too bad but I did find myself wanting a "re-do" at about 9 p.m. last night. There's always next weekend though.
2 people had their say:
Hi Erin,
Its Poopita. Sorry you had such a hard time. Its too bad we don't have classes together anymore, I could have helped you. I hope you don't mind but this blog did make me laugh a bit. Well, just when I flipped over to rendals blog about how you were grumplestiltskin. That was funny. I miss you very much! I hope that it is smooth sailing from here.
Hey There Lil Girl,
You really amaze your Dad and I you know that? I don't think I know anyone else around here that can do what you do. We are so proud of you. And I also know you did great on those exams. But I wish your day was a little better though and I hope your arm is feeling better. Talk to you soon. Love, Mom
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