and so it was Christmas..

 mostly another day here. i did put a pile of wrapped prezzies out for the puppies to dig into.  loads of toys and they picked up on the opening presents thing right off.  no instructions needed.

 spoke to family members and did some texting...otherwise it was a pretty chill day. my gift to myself i guess was the gift of rest.

 here is their pile.  Ivy kept taking her next toy up the stairs to unwrap and Tusker took his into the main room to open.  a few of the toys are already showing some wear.  they don't de-stuff really, more that they like to chew some toys into tiny bits. frisbee's are always at risk.

 finally made my way out to Prospect Heights for a nice walk.  they had a great time running and running.

 no major jumping incidents today so i was very happy with my well behaved puppies.

 a little treat in their breakfast food bowls. looks quite tasty right!!

 leftovers for dinner.  can't go wrong with that.

 not sure if i put this in yesterday but it's cute enough for a repeat i guess.

 tonight, i decided the tree was so dried out i would just take it down.  not that many ornaments on it anyway.  will have to see about taking the rest of the seasonal stuff down and putting it back in the closet til next year. so the tree is outside in it's bag awaiting the annual tree drag to the recycling center.  will be going with 2 new dogs....

 it was pretty cloudy out and a few flakes fell here and there.

 temp wasn't bad though.  one lost tennis ball.

 while i slowly removed and packed ornaments there was this thing on that was about this one family and their medical issues.  the couple had 3 kids.  at some point the eldest daughter got sick and turned out to have cardiomyopathy.  she got bad quickly and ended up getting a heart transplant.

 they did a check on the other kids and were told all was well.  they had a few more kids and then another kid got sick and turned out to have heart trouble.  a more intense check now showed that all the kids are already showing some issues.  another daughter needed a transplant.  after waiting many months she did get one...in the meantime a son had to get a pacemaker and then the first daughter at age 15 needed a second heart transplant.  the sons pacer had to be changed to an aicd/pacer so he could get shocked if needed.

 it was just crazy all that this family has dealt with and will continue to deal with.  anytime you feel bad for your situation you see a story such as this and you get that little reminder of how really really good you have it.

 let them wear their sweaters out there today. I've kind of thought they would shred them on the trails with all their wrestling but the sweaters were totally intact by the end.  i also figured...they will probably outgrow these sweaters by next Christmas.

 how big will they get?

 dreaming and snoring at this time.  these are my cute puppies.

 this is Tusker before he is about to make a run at Ivy.

 look how handsome he is.

 can't say it was one of those beautiful days out there, but walks are always lovely and therapeutic as well.

 they looks super cute in their sweaters...i may have to invest in more clothing for my kids. they don't seem to be getting Blossoms fluffy and insulating coat, so i may need to keep them warm.  :-)

 adds to the pics too. so far they aren't too keen on stuff on their heads. i'll have to work on that.

 romping.

 no moose sightings today.  a few times i thought they may be catching the scent of something.

 lots of dogs pics today.

 day went okay.  took me a bit to get out of bed.  wanted to mope i think.  the puppies opening gifts perked me up.

 Anchorage below.

thankful for: A. health and the health of my family.  we have been quite lucky or blessed, which ever your slant on that.  probably a bit of both.  B. dogs.  they make life much more enjoyable for me.  they encourage me when i am down and make me laugh when i need to be perked up.  C.  lazy days and the gift of being able to have them.

Happy Christmas Eve

 a few friends came over to share a meal with me.  much appreciated.  as a singleton and a bit of an misfit/introvert i am not always on everyones invite list.  don't think i'm not liked as much as not really thought of when party planning comes up.  discovered at some point during the day that i was not invited and these guys were....but still, true friends that they are, they didn't flake out on my little gathering despite probably having had their fill of the holiday stuff today. as you can see i am not the only one that was happy they came over.  Ivy is thrilled with her guests

 i think they are battling out who will be Ivy Rose's BHFF (best human friend forever) haha.  don't worry, Tusker got plenty of attention as well.  did a few of these art up your photo things the other day.  a few favorites so i thought i'd share them.

 missing my girl.  it does come in waves.  best girl!!

 had a rough walk with the pups the other day.  the next day we just cruised up Patterson for a bit more of a controlled training walk . that day things went well and the pups were back in my good graces...haha.

 here is an older picture of them on the bench on Patterson. took a new one that should show up soon...man have they grown.

 oh here it is.  pups wore their sweaters tonight.  these little head things they were less enthusiastic about.

 such sweet faces...

 until their leashes catch you from behind as they decide to go down a hill towards an off leash dog they see.  the leash took me off my feet and i went sledding without a sled.  no risk of injury really but did not do well for my temperment i must admit.  the walk out that day at Potters was fine, but the walk back took everything i had patience wise.

 it was all just bad timing.  loose dogs so i'd just let them off leash, then a poor soul would happen by and Ivy would be full jump mode, back on leash and then more off leash dogs and then a hare ran across the trail.  in between leashed times the dogs off leash seemed to find that one person to jump on.  so frustrating.

 again have to remind myself from time to time that Blossom did not come to me perfect.  she was a jumper and i did have to do some extra training.  the last thing i'd want to do is get pissed and break their sweet spirits.  Ivy can make you a bit bonkers but she is such a sweet love bug.  so much personality.  she just has a tough time containing all her personality...still learning.

 change sheets day...you can see how easy this is to do at my place.  dragged them off several times in my attempts to get the bed made. i really should use the go pro in these moments. i just forget.  haha.

 3 nights work down of course.  the first night i was put on call.  i was the only one on call so i knew that would not last too long.  the plus side is i'll make extra  bank.  came in as a sitter in ER and then ended up doing general ER duties.

 ER can be crazy...i mean certifiable crazy as far as patients go.  it seemed like that night we had an abundance of off kilter folks.  Holidays, Solstice, Full Moon..?  not sure what was up that night.

 Tusker shows his excitement for the holidays.

 cleaned house a bit and remembered all those years as a kid when my mom would put us to work at the last minute trying to get the house presentable for the Christmas Eve dinner guests.  my Mom was not too neurotic about cleanliness.  my Dad would have also gotten the tree late since he didn't want to spend that amount of cash on it.  the tree never came right into the house though.  nope..it went to the garage and my Dad would begin rebuilding the tree into the beautiful tree he was not willing to spend good money on.

 he always did a great job i will say. our trees were beautiful!!  he'd take off a limb here, bore a hole and glue it in there.

 Christmas Eve was when our families gathered for the big meal and pinata...that is how i remember it i guess.

 omg...look at that sweet face.  not sure what we will do tomorrow.  maybe a drive would be good.  depends on the weather.

 my next two nights were in the IMCU. not there very often but both nights actually went fine for me.  got to be a bit of a hero the first night.  a situation came up and was able to come in and calmly fix the situation.  nice to have folks be grateful for my help and just so appreciative

 there is another dog under the comforter.  above, Ivy decides she should have more attention than Blossoms memorial quilt.  they wanted to check it out...i've been so enjoying it.  such a wonderful gift.

 the rest are from the walk out a Potters to McHugh.  it was clear in Anchorage and then went i hit Potters, fog.  never cleared up. socked in out there.

 kind of spooky i guess.

 liked the effects though.  this was before my patience was worn thin by these sweet pups

 woke up a bit early to get the turkey in the crock pot.  turned out good i think.  grew up helping make big meals of many folks. in some ways i think it's actually easier for me than cooking for just me.

 there are always those times when you miss family living far away.  you do have to follow your own path in life and that can mean sacrifices for us all.  in the end, i have a great deal of happiness in my life.  the choices i made were the right choices for me.  i have never regretted those...and actually the further away i am the more grateful i am that i did make those choices  and that i did not fear the consequences that were laid out.

 as  i prepared to move from South Dakota to Ketchikan a person asked me, "what if you hate it"..and i just remember saying, "but what if i love it, what if it's the best thing that every happened to me and i skipped it out of fear" i find as i look backwards over life...fear will hold many back. fear is a powerful emotion...as is jealousy, hatred...all those baddies.  if you don't keep those emotions in check you will be lead down a road to the least happy.  change is always uncomfortable, change is scary, but it is also exciting and change makes you stronger and braver .

 today we just hit the dog park.  pups were actually really good today out there.

 did skip the walk yesterday.  these guys seem fairly chill.  they love the walks but aren't really too demanding.

 i try not to allow myself to wallow in pity.  we do all have those moments i think where we feel excluded.  we are all just moving along the track.

 so many options for social media these days.  have to remember that everyone on those sites tends to put their best selves out there.  it can be easy to look at the scrolling pages of folks lives and feel somehow passed over.

 i am tired tonight.  3 nights work. up early today to get all ready. walks and more walks.

 funny when i have the whole house to clean i will sometimes go off on some cleaning tangent.  usually something that has bothered me for some time.

 wood pecker

 when i was really little Christmas was crazy fun.  we seemed to get so many gifts.  i suppose our wants/desires got bigger and more spendy.  the gifts dwindled a bit.

 at this stage in life.....not much i really need.  we all love the excitement of a gift given and a gifr received though i suppose.

 fog bank...

 that was also where things with pups went a bit haywire. below, in my frustration i decided to do some sit/stays out there.

 no matter how frustrated i may get they sit there happy, wagging tails.

 getting back to seeing some sunshine

 the sky did lighten up.  felt like i was almost getting to above the fog bank.

 finally drove up and up and up until i was above the fog.

 looked so pretty above the fog bank.

 those folks up in those hills have some great views but i was starting to get a bit nauseated just seeing those houses on the hills.  no way...couldn't do it.  i'd need more solid ground and less chance of sliding down a hill in your house.

 it will always be a moot point though as i won't be trading up to those spendy houses any time soon.

 looking down the road.

 getting tired. nights catching up on me.

 pretty afternoon. i had work that night but was happy for the brief on call.  did lay down.  don't think i actually slept but i did rest a bit which does always help

 better shut it down...we did have a few bites of good news these past 24 hours. i'll happily take it in.

 look at that sun in the fog!!

 Good Night, Merry Christmas..

grateful for: a. sacrifices made for my peace and freedom.  B.  friends who are full and tired and still act awake and hungry.  C.  the Christmas spirit...folks may try to kill it with negativity but it seems to bounce back all the time.