on a more personal note...

I have been reading.

For those of you who know me well, I have never really been one to read for fun, so this has been a new concept for me to explore. Since I've been here (Friday will mark 8 months), I've read and finished 7 books, and I have 3 I'm reading now (though only one actively because it's so friggen good -I know I'm super behind on this, but I'm half-way through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). After I finish the series, I will be reading books sent to me by a lovely friend and mentor (the cuckoo's calling by Robert Galbraith - a.k.a. J.K. Rowling and Dear Life  by Alice Munro).

I have also been busy beading and sewing! Over Christmas I finished the beaded uppers/toppers for my moccasins, which I posted a picture of way back when.
Here is the progress:


I picked a patter for the moccasins that would require minimal stitching - just around the heel and the "crumpling" (as the sewing instructor called it) at the toes. I finished the actual body of the slippers in 2 hours.

Then I had to sew the upper on. To get the finished look around the edges, a thin strip of leather (this is moose hide) is placed between the leather and stroud (what the beads are sewn on to) before sewing. I hand-stitched this, but with a good machine you can do this.

I made the liners out of duffle (wool) using a pattern I found online, which seemed to work well and fit nicely!

And I added a beaver-fur ruff around them! I still plan to do a peyote-style beaded design to go around the back and ankle parts, but I will wait until I have time to do that!

I was also busy over the New Year making Laura's birthday present, which is uppers for her! She was expecting them without knowing the design, but I also surprised her by saying I would make the rest of the moccasin for her too (since she is so busy and also has several of her own sewing projects on the go right now). This is what she got: 

And today I scored a sweet deal at the shop across the street and got these beautiful suedes for only $60! I'll be busy sewing now! I think next up are the slippers for Grandpa's birthday and maybe some more to sell at the next bazaar! 

If anyone wants a pair, put your orders in now! 

7-10 Nights

It's been pointed out to me that I've been slacking in keeping everyone updated on what's going on with me these days.
So ok, here goes the update:

A few weeks ago I took a Supervisor's Safety Course run by the WSCC at which I learned a lot about how many safety regulations there are and how many I haven't been following as a supervisor/employer. Whoops! Our new policy and procedures manual will certainly be reflecting what I learned there. It was a 3 day course and really quite valuable. Scary, really, to think about how liable I am for all of the staff that I am supervising every day.

Work has been insanely busy and stressful and I am completely overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities associated with managing a barely functional daycare in the North. I have had a tremendous amount of difficulty with staff not showing up to work and constantly being understaffed and overworked. It has been a daily struggle to find casuals who are willing to come in or who aren't already working casually for any of the other programs in town. The daycare consistently has only half the staff showing up, making it next to impossible for me to get any administrative work done.
How much administration does a daycare possibly need? SO MUCH! Filling the role of the person who does the hiring/firing, staff discipline, etc.; the accountant (day-to-day accounting like purchase orders, invoices, etc., as well as payroll, paying bills, catching up on data entry), it's also year-end time...meaning T4s, funding applications, contribution agreement renegotiations and mega burn-out. I am totally the type of person to set expectations for myself that are way too high and that no one else has for me, but these are the things that I have to get done on a daily basis or everything will start to fall apart. For example, this morning on the way to work I realized I made a small mistake on all (42) of the T4s that I processed (my first time so cut me some slack) (and keep in mind that I have 5 staff at the daycare, so you can get an idea of the turnover in just 1 year), I also had to give half of my staff written warnings for AWOLs, send attendance reports to Cambridge Bay for funding, make invoices for parents and prepare a funding application that's due this Friday.

I am just hanging on to the ounce of hope that I have left that things will improve over the next couple of months once funding starts to pour in and we're able to maybe get some training for the staff. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I've been feeling so disheartened because things were going so well and I had staff showing up to work every day and it feels like now it is all falling apart again and I'm headed back to where we were when I first got here....just with a better paint job.

Anyway, I have been using my Aerogold Amex like mad so that I can have enough points to book my flights for May because I NEED a vacation. I'm thinking a Caribbean cruise of some sort for 7-10 nights.

Assets, revenue, liabilities and expenses

As some of you are aware, I spent last week in Cambridge Bay for accounting training, specifically geared to using Sage 50. After only having been home for a week since my Christmas vacation, I wasn't feeling too keen on leaving for another 8 days, mainly because my nephew is learning so much these days and I don't want to miss a thing, and also partly because CamBay is farther north, colder, and I didn't know anyone there.

After arriving at the Arctic Island Lodge, I was relieved to have my own room (and not sharing with the assistant manager, which she was also pleased with). Time to load up on groceries for the week and settle in for the afternoon and evening before the training starts Monday morning.

My stay at the hotel was decent, though the wi-fi signal was poor, and there weren't enough staff to provide housekeeping every day - this wouldn't have been so bad, but I ran out of coffee!!

The weather was very cold. Most days were 40 below feeling like -50 to -60. Luckily, just like home, it doesn't take more than 15 minutes to get from one end of town to the other, and most places I needed to be were within a 5-10 minute walk from where I was at any given time.

Just about every STOP sign in town had a hand print in the corner. I liked it.

This is Lena. She works for one of the agencies that provides funding to the Daycare. She also makes beaded jewelry. She was at the training all week, and we all got a kick out of her. I'd never seen her joker side before, as it was always straight to business, but it was so good to see this side of her! This is also an excellent example of what most Inuk women wear in the winter: Handmade parkas and kamiks.

And of course it was nice to see some beautiful sunset skies!

As for the training, I learned a lot of basic accounting: credits, debits (which in accounting are actually reverse to what they are in banking), assets, revenue, liabilities, and expenses. I learned some fancy equations, and then how to input all of our financial data into Sage 50 so that we have current financial information at all times. The trick now is to enter into the system every single invoice, bill, payment, withdrawal, bank charge, late fee, donation, fundraiser.. (you get the idea) since April 2013. SO much work, but once we're current, we can apply for so much more funding and finally be able to get the kids some new materials! 

It also helps that now I actually know what I'm doing and what happens with money. All of what I learned can also be applied to my personal finances...bank reconciliation, etc. I'm not quite a chartered accountant, but I'm getting there! 

I also had a chance to check out the Cambridge Bay Childcare centre, which is HUGE compared to ours, and has been open the longest in the Kitikmeot region. I didn't get any pictures, but it looks like just about any typical centre. Lots of colours, lots of materials, etc. I was jealous that they have separate rooms for each age group, as well as a staff bathroom, a big office and a staff room! Is it too much to wish that we'll get a new building one day that I can design?? 

most wonderful time

After spending a relaxing Christmas Eve with my sister in Calgary, I was on my way to see all the damage caused in Toronto by the ice storm. All I could see was beautiful ice-covered everything.

After days and days of travelling around, I finally had a chance to see my beautiful girl, who is now SO big (32", almost the full length of the wrapping paper tube she's hiding in).

I had the most wonderful time with my family for New Year's Day.

1200 beads

For Black Friday weekend, our neighbour had a sale at her fabric and fur store (in her garage), and I picked up some beads to try my hand at beading. I've been oogling over some of the beautiful beaded moccasins since I got here 6 months ago, and decided that after successfully making my own kamiks, it was time to make some!

This upper took about 1200 beads (individually stitched) and around 12 hours to make. One more to go before I can start cutting the pattern for the rest of the moccasin.

Last night we celebrated Winter Solstice (the darkest and shortest day of the year) by lighting up some sparklers to brighten the night's sky. 

We didn't all have it quite figured out...

This morning was a community pancake breakfast. For $2 a plate, we couldn't pass it up! 

And I thought it was about time I showed off my awesome sealskin and beaver mitts that I got at the Christmas Bazaar in November, made by a woman named Suzie! My family and friends here are calling me a "lifer" now that I have office Nunavut mitts and plan on staying here for who knows how long! (they would say for life)

Christmassy feel

Walking to work this afternoon after my lunch, I took the time to stop and look out over town. There is a very Christmassy feel, even with many of the Christmas lights hiding between the houses and behind the blinds.

(For those of you wondering, this photo was taken at 3:44 pm. The light in the foreground is from the street light just behind me)

cutest little one

I've been caught up in the excitement of Christmas shopping, Black Friday & Cyber Monday sales, and being able to see the Northern Lights as I'm walking home from work at night and again walking to work in the morning.

I spoiled myself a little bit by buying a new camera that will actually let me capture pictures of the day-long night sky, so be prepared for a lot more blog posts with images!

The Daycare closes it's doors for the holidays this Wednesday night, and I am SO looking forward to my Christmas vacation in Toronto!!  (I will be taking A LOT of pictures on this trip!)
Though I don't get back until late afternoon on Christmas day, I can't wait to see all my family (even Carlin!) and friends! In fact, you better book your time with me now because my calendar is filling up quite quickly!!

In the meantime, I am excited for Christmas activities to pick up around town and to get out and enjoy the -52 winds! One of these activities includes the Daycare's children performing in the Christmas concert this Tuesday, my nephew included! This will be his first performance ever, and he will for sure be the cutest little one there!