i've been shot....

 okay...so it was really just a tetanus/pertussis shot but it really did hurt!! haven't ever gotten the pertussis and working in pediatrics puts me at risk for exposure.  with my reactive airway issues, it probably is best to try to avoid the worst of it.  above is from my little trek out gasline/powerline/tank trail the other day.

 haven't gotten a tetanus shot since before nursing school started and i've been a nurse since.....hmm....'93!!  the last one hurt so bad i could barely move my arm!!  i've been nervous for a repeat.  worked with animals in my 20's and probably got a few more tetanus shots than the average, maybe my body just reacted.  this could just hurt more tomorrow,but i hope not.

 sunny again today...not a cloud out there.  boo hoo!!  looks like it will stay clear all weekend.  really not complaining.  everyone in anchorage seems ready for slightly warmer weather and a fresh coat of snow.

 the valley, meaning palmer/wasilla, have had some winds and a big fire.  sounds like it got pretty bad out there.  they do get much more wind than us.

 blossom prepares to cross the bridge someone put across this creek. rio had it a bit tougher.  doubt she could handle this.  i think blossom just crossed the water.  big ice patch after this on a slant so i worked around it.  i had on the new ice bugs on, but still decided not to risk it.  blossom was sliding across it and she has those claws.  i have no desire to slip on ice, knock myself out on said ice and freeze to death!

 strange hole in one of the other patches of ice i crossed on the powerline pass.

 the usual frost...am so hoping i can soon take pictures of trees laden with snow!

 ice patches.

 was online looking at potential cabin rentals for summer and fall.  have to wait and then hope i beat out other people.  lots of cool pubic use cabins around alaska,  but they are popular.  winter is the time to plan for summers.

 this is the trail.  work was pleasant the last two nights.  got floated down to the adult icu from the peds icu both nights.  the first night i was monitor tech.  it's a desk job,  but it isn't a cakewalk. there are 3 banks of monitors with heart rhythms that you are monitoring, plus you have the regular computer, dealing with patients getting admitted and transferring, family members calling and visiting, nurses needs...there are 4 keyboards and 4 different mice (is mice the plural of mouse in computer lingo?).  i wish they were colour coded as i was always going to the wrong mouse or wrong keyboard.

 it's while you are at the monitor that you are reminded that good alarm etiquette is always a kind thing.  so many nurses just leave things alarming in their rooms and it's so annoying.  the dinging and clanging is nearly constant and you are having to temporarily silence over and over.  one rang constantly, i finally asked the nurse to attempt to change leads.  i told her it looked like the patient may have a pacer, she said no, he didn't.  it looked like he did and that may have been what was confusing the computer.  awhile later it stopped alarming so much and pacer spikes began to appear!! one for the monitor tech...he was paced.  later his blood pressure was chiming off, i called again, soon he coded, coded again and then that was it.  it is odd to be a nurse stuck at a desk and not run to or react to a code really.  nothing i could really do there at that desk.

 was excited for the few clouds the other day.  always welcome!!  below are the latest icebugs.  not sure if you can see but they have metal spikes on the bottom.  i've wanted to get a pair with spikes so i could use them kicksledding.  will have to go out for a spin this week off.  not as warm as my other bugs but i think it will work great.

 my second night in the adult world i got 2 patients who were vented and sedated.  that is an icu nurse's dream assignment.  the nurse who had patients on either side of me didn't have as pleasant a night.  both patients were confused and pulling at stuff.  a chest tube came out, a rectal tube came out and that was apparently pretty impressive.  who knew anyone could poop that much!  they really just don't cover this stuff on those television shows where the doctors and nurses seem to have tons of time to sit around hooking up.

 of course, one co-worker in peds apparently was upset that my floats down to the adult unit count as floats and may prevent me from floating to the neonate icu.  you float in rotation.  i often float more than others.  mostly i believe that you should do what is best for the patient population in the hospital as a whole.  i work 12 hours no matter where i do it.  it is annoying when people get nasty or stuff that really is none of their business...just do your own job!!

 these were views out my bedroom the other night of the sunset happening.

 clearly this isn't a lovely sunset.  took the dogs to the bog between shifts yesterday.  at first i thought this thing above was the bits left over from a dogs squeaky toy. that is a mallard ducks head.  not sure why i was so surprised to see it out there.  nature is usually pretty good at disposing of everything soon after it dies, this head looks pretty well preserved. probably gone by now.  food is scarce in the winter.

 these are in the bog.

 try to entertain the cats.  pogi (the orange cat) is often accused of being overweight so i try to play with him for exercise.  my goal is to get him to get his two front paws off the ground at least 10x/day while i wave a toy over him.  he was pretty excited this day and even got all 4 paws up off the ground several times.  since he was feeling frisky, as they say, i got out this made for cats toy.  they really have come a long way in cat toys.  he seemed to enjoy it immensely!!

 today at the dog park there seemed to be a plethora of gloves that had been lost.  lost items are generally slung up onto signs or branches to make them easier to spot.  hate to think of all these folks going around without gloves in this chilly weather. we've been hanging probably 15 below zero to 15 above zero.

 the ice has closed in quite a bit since i last came out here. i still put blossom on her leash around the area that is open to prevent any mishaps.

 got there in time for sunset.

 i really should get the christmas cards out tonight and start that process. write the letter, address the envelopes, get started getting packages ready to mail out.  not sure which one of my siblings i'm supposed to have for christmas this year.  will have to investigate.

 the rest are back at powerline pass.

 took a few with the macro.  enjoying the frost.

 got a few christmas cards in the mail already. need to get the place decorated for the holidays, it always looks so pretty.

 still debating the real vs fake tree...may have to stop by a store and see what they have.  real trees will never last here through the holiday. if i buy one this early it will have zero needles by christmas.

 a few at the creek on the powerline trail.

 the matsu borough up here had a ferry built but there aren't docks built yet for it so instead they are now thinking of giving it away in order to cut costs.  why would you authorize money to build an expensive boat like this without having a place to land it on either side of the inlet.  apparently just maintaining the ferry in it's current location is sucking out nearly $90,000 a month. hope a few folks got fired over this debaucle.  government waste at it's greatest.  embarrassing.

 had to get some ibuprofen...arm is hurting worse...this is how it went before.  it just got more and more sore.  i made sure and got it in my non-dominant arm.

 off to at least set up the christmas card factory.

enjoy your day, seek out those who are positive and make you strive to be a better person.  see the tiny beauties that are gifted to us in our every day.

beach, more pictures..

 sitting here eating saltines to get my salt fix.  wondering if these are nutritionally any better than chips?  have cut way back on chip intake and have also cut soda out almost completely.  doubt i'd lost any weight yet.  it's gotta help though.  not that i'm grossly overweight, but after a certain age, weight seems to become attached to your frame.  we've bonded and now those fat cells are like parasites or maybe stalkers...i can't seem to shake em.  would prefer to keep control of the fat cell population.  control them, not the other way around.

 if you say diet to me though i stubbornly will eat what it is i'm not supposed to eat.  eat less, exercise more generally works.  probably just slower in your forties.  those fifties are fast approaching though so best to take control now.  it can't be something that i can invision improving with age.

 anyway.  more of yesterdays sunset at the beach.

 today i took both dogs and we went to north bivouac.  took the gasline to powerline to tank trail.  lots of cool frost out there so i got my macro out a few times.  it was cold, this end of town seems to always be 10-15 degrees colder than where i was yesterday.

 loved this shot above, so did many on facebook it seems.   i do take that into consideration at the end of the year when i make my calendar and several pictures in this years calendar were favorites on facebook over the year.  obviously, i must have liked them as well.  i take so many photo's through the year though i'm sure there were some good ones that i forgot about when putting together the calendar.  maybe next year.

 wore my new icebugs with cleats already in.  they aren't as warm for my toes as the other ice bugs i wear.  those are the best boots i've found though for keeping my feet warm in this weather.  i figured today was a good day to test out the new boots as there are 3 large patches of ice to get across on the trail i took today.

 frost on bark above, sleeping lady below.

 saw some folks heading down to ice skate on this pond thing a few weeks back, it looked pretty lumpy today to me.  wouldn't be great ice skating.  the kicksled would work.

 a few clouds showed up out there today and the sun is about to set again.  probably another lovely day for sunset watching, but really sunsets in alaska this time of year are always pretty awesome.

 stayed up late and watched the latest netflix movie, "the decendants".  it was pretty good. there were a few awkward things with them flying about when a family member was dying or being removed from the machines, generally people hang out for that part, but whatever. hollywood always takes liberty with the way things really are.  george clooney is always good to look at for a few hours.

 back to work tonight.

 should take my envelopes and start getting the christmas cards ready to go.  still need to write my annual letter.  easier than trying to repeat everything on every card which seemed like how it ended up.  in these days most people are on facebook and have already kept up with you if they wanted to.  still nice to send out cards in my opinion.

 traditions change.  i'm still debating the tree thing.  i get a real one every year, but it's spendy and messy and they just don't last long up here.  the fake trees are spendy as well.  may go for it though.  there are nice pine smelling things are pier one that will give me that pine smell without the mess.  just depends on if i see one that looks fairly natural and is priced decently.  then i think i'll buy one after christmas at a cheaper price, but they rarely have the best ones available at that point.  decisions, decisions.  eventually, they end up in landfills so i dont' like that part, while the real ones are easily recyclable..but then there is the fuel lost shipping trees to alaska...no simple answers.

 loved my day out there as you can tell.  i get into photo mode when i'm alone more easily. my brain just clicks in and i see the world differently. i had a camera in my hands at a pretty young age.  my feeling is that makes me have a section in my brain that sees as the lens instead of through a lens.  you can have fancy gear and take classes, but still some people just have an eye.  i think i am one of those people.  it is just a fun way for me to relax and appreciate the beauty of my daily walks.

 the sun doesn't get us hot enough for these ice chunks to melt.  the ice chunks end up on land after the tide goes out and the residual sea water drips off the chunks and freezes as it fall.

 never know what will happen at work.  should probably lay down for a bit again.  despite sleeping in i still like a nap before work. sometimes that is just a 20 minute nap.  my front room is toasty warm all the time.

 i have a new national geographic magazine to read so that is always fabulous.  was reading about the giant sequoia's of northern california.  quite impressive.  always great photography in there.

 another of sleeping lady

 in the distance in this one you can see redoubt, our local volcano.

 sometimes the ice lays out in these totally cool smooth sheets.

 this is the ice out on the water as the tide was rising.

 shot a video but it really doesn't do it justice.  can't hear the sounds or see how rapidly the water is moving in.

 that is denali, mt mckinley, to those in the lower 48, denali to us locals.  i've lived here long enough to be a local.  moved to ketchikan in 1995 and to anchorage in 2001.

 liked the rays coming off the sun in this one.

 blossoms breath in the cold air.

 frost on the beach.

 blossom with mountains on the kenai in the background.

 more of that smooth ice.

 some low lying clouds.

 it's all pink outside now. love that.

 ice chunks on the beach, waiting for tides return.

 in it comes.

 so amazing.

 blossom could care less about sunsets it seems.  throw the toy...that is all that is on her mind.

 so animals appreciate a sunset?

 clearly, i was a bit obsessed with this cool form of ice.

 this frost was mixed with the beach sand.  the beach has a small area of sand then it quickly becomes mud.

that is the end of the day, yesterday and now today. off to nap before work.  enjoy