black friday....really more like white friday!

pictures of the dogs frolicking in all our fresh snow!! could put it in sports mode and get clearer shots....but you get the idea!

just a few more bog shots. fresh snow! didn't get many on todays walk as it was really coming down. didn't want the camera to get to wet. the two below are from yesterday.

below is blossom pathetically looking down at me from the second story window. i had settled the dogs in with the intent of leaving them behind while i shopped black friday...but as i shoveled the heavy snow i kept looking up to see that sad face looking back at me. i know...i was played like a violin. i'm wrapped around that dog's paws and they got loaded up and taken on the road. as a reward i took them both to pet zoo and pet co. i had a coupon for pet zoo and pet co is close by. taking the two big dogs into pet stores is a handful, but we do okay.

that sad look is killing me still. poor blossom!! it's tough being so spoiled. below is another picture from yesterdays walk. today the snow didn't clump on her as much. we did the bog and i attempted to snowshoe it since it was deep. that snow was totally heavy though and it kept sticking to the bottom of the shoes. i think i carried an extra 5-10 pounds on each foot. i was hungry and exhausted after just a loop. walking would have been easier. probably tomorrow i'll head out on foot. cross country skiing may be a good option too.

the next picture is in the bog. i always love how the snow heaps onto all the limbs of the tree's. growing up in california i remeber they would sell christmas tree's and offer flocking. i thought it was strange at the time. now i can see why people who were from snowy places and lived in california may want that look now. not too many people out there. one skier which looked like the better idea in that snow. oh well. who knew?

i did get some shopping done and tonight i've been working on my christmas cards. spoke to jeff, my brother, he's all done with his cards, decorated the house...! ackk! made me feel so behind. i still need to work on the christmas letter for the year. not sure if anyone reads it, but i found i was writing the same thing over and over and over again. it is futile really, besides, my handwriting is horrible.

got to kohls after the "early bird" special. i had one thing in mind which was a gift for my brother, eric, as it's my turn for him in our family rotating gift exchange. i decided to take it to the check out and see if the price was the early bird one. i got lucky and they hadn't changed the register yet. that was like a $50 difference. i'da had to shop online or get something else. so...hope he likes it.

as i left kohls and sports authority i noticed the sunset (at 3:30). i decided to head to the turnigan arm and see if i could get a photo. i had to drive slow though as the roads were pretty crappy due to the snow. cars were in the ditch all over and apparently the seward highway is closed near seward due to an avalanche...so i didn't get quite the sunset picture i'd hoped for, but still nice i guess.

had a chance to relax this morning and read the paper. apparently austrailia has 6000 feral camels. they are in a drought and plan to round them up by helicopter and gun them down. sounds pretty brutal to me. our state does wolf control by helicopter as well from time to time. just seems like there should be a more humane way to decrease a population size. i mean why did they let the population grow to 6000 before deciding something should be done. seems crazy. i heard that in iraq they culled thousands and thousands of stray dogs. no infrastructure...i think it was upwards of 20,000 dogs. mind boggling.

in other news the catholic church is going to pay some retribution to members who were sexually abused by priests out in the villages. i guess, when these priests were discovered in the lower 48, they were shipped to small alaska villages. good plan. the abuses took place decades ago at this point.

back to the christmas cards.