she finally did it...

 hoping Ice and rest will resolve this issue.  these pics are from June this year.

 worked the last 2 nights but had to call out tonight.  when i got home this morning i walked straight through house ignoring dogs as we are working on having a more chill home coming.  i put down my stuff and head to back door.  usually i then begin to just throw tennis ball repeatedly out the back door until that initial home coming excitement has abated.

 today Ivy was spinning and jumping in place next to me as i went to open the door. at some point mid spin i guess her butt totally whacked my knee from the side and next thing i knew i was on the floor in pain.  iced it but when i woke up it was hurting pretty badly when i walked.  fine if i just sit around though...not going to happen at work though so i had to call out for tonight.  hopefully, it's just rest and ice to repair...it's the same knee i had surgery on a few years back.  would rather not repeat knee surgery.  fingers crossed.

 work was ER and then Peds ICU.  heard of a death...it was in the news up here.  i had helped care for this patient and hoped the patient would come through.  so i was pretty bummed to hear about the loss.  it's part of work, loss.  you just have to learn to deal with a steady stream of sadness and loss when you are a nurse.  some losses hit you a bit harder than others though.

 dog park yesterday.  today was beautiful out but with my sore knee the most i could muster was back yard play time with the pups.  happy it was nice weather though as that did make that more fun for them and for me.  no matter what happens with me, i still have these guys that must get worn out each day.

 these are from a hike at powerline pass.

 flexing knee not too bad, extension is not working though.

 thanks for sparring with me my brother.  i do get curious about where the conservative side of my family is...so i ask from time to time.  most of my friends are more liberal leaning so it's good to hear the other side.  often in life hearing alternative views helps you see that in truth we aren't all always as far apart on issues as we imagine...though sometimes we are as far apart as we imagine.

 i have no proof of wrong doing as far as this current administration.  it took from the date of the break ins and the arrests in June '72 until late '74 when Nixon's role was confirmed and he resigned.  so for me this is not something that will be figured out as to if anything is going on in a few months, especially with all the lies and obstructionist tactics coming from this administration.

 we keep getting news of new meetings with various Rus that were previously not disclosed.  we get word of lies about these meetings, about what was discussed in these meetings, about who attended these meetings.  there are many security clearance forms that have been filled out incompletely and amended repeatedly.  we have the lead ethics guy quit in dismay as there are so many ethics violations he just doesn't wish to be a part of this.  he predicted that he would be replaced, not with the next person in line but instead with a more malleable person with less experience.

 threats are made towards those running the investigations.  if there is nothing to see, then let them investigate.  i suspect there will be something to be seen.  as i wrote it's rarely the extreme when it comes to the actual truth.  this will undoubtedly turn out to be not the "nothing burger" nor will it be the most salacious of conspiracy theories.  it will undoubtedly be somewhere in between.  with so many lies and attempts to thwart the investigations...it will turn out to be something.  there are many things in between that are also pretty disturbing.

 there is enough there to investigate i believe.  when will i be ready to move on?  when the truth has been given every opportunity to be brought to light.  when we know what, if any financial ties our iitoo has with foreign nations.  does this matter, of course, it does.  if Rus has anything over him they could use that to influence.

 a bipartisan bill appears to have passed regarding sanctions with Rus.  this has been of concern.  the concern has been that these meetings with Rus/iitoo staff have been deals to decrease sanctions on Rus and allow him to increase production of oil in his northern seas.  for years Put has been trying to lay claim to pretty much the entire arctic ocean stating that the ocean floor extends from Rus across the north pole.  what iitoo does with this bill, attempts to veto...we shall see.  yes, in a prepared speech he said what everyone wanted to hear in Poland...he can occasionally read a prepared speech, but usually he throws his speech writers under the bus with his actions and tweets.  what did he say in private with Put.

 transparency in this administration is almost non-existent.  why do we care about the taxes and his finances.  he was already being scrutinized before the election for ties to Russia money laundering.  why is he looking into how to pardon his aides, his family and himself.  you can't pardon someone unless they have committed a crime or been charged with a crime...if he has committed no crime, if none of them have committed crimes why bother with this.  if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck..it may be a duck.

 i realize out government has a level of corruption that none of us is comfortable with, but instead of just accepting this we need to be even more diligent in holding their feet to the fire.  in rooting out bad behavior.  I'm all for this on both sides.  we can't just look the other way.  we also can't just hold  only the people who least agree with our own stance accountable...we must hold all.  we can't expect certain behaviors from one party but not the other.

 we should all be calling our representatives and requesting transparency in government.  insisting on honesty in government.  all of these lies and omissions should not be accepted.

 Obama and Clinton were under tremendous pressure and stress yet they did not use this as an excuse to stop working.  they got stuff done despite the external pressures.  iitoo has every opportunity to get actual work done...if he wasn't off at golf every weekend or wasting time on twitter. someone needs to seriously limit his screen time. it's his choice to be petty and spend his time bullying those who are doing his investigations...which really only fuels the fire that there may be more to this Rus stuff.  whether he could be impeached because of what is being investigated remains to be seen.  I'd rather know the truth than ignore the barrage of misinformation and secret meet ups with Rus.

 we are still talking about Rus and our election not because they impacted individual votes in this election but because they could impact future elections; and because they did influence our election via social media, and possibly met with members of iitoo own family to give them information that they could use to influence the election by slandering the opponent.  anytime this happens, you could set up a situation where Rus is owed for helping.  we already have this situation with all these lobby's on both sides...the lobby's have too much power over our elected officials...do we want this same situation with other nations, especially nations who are less than friendly towards us?

 add to that our current iitoo may actually owe Rus financial favors and it could be a terrible set up for corruption.

 health care does need to be addressed but sadly McConnell seems hell bent on excluding the Dem's.  he's hell bent on excluding many GOP members as well.  hope one day they just decide to buckle down and work with Dems on fixing the ACA.  more people than before the election seem to want it fixed and are scared of the cuts being proposed.  i suspect this is happening because more and more people are realizing they are the ones who will be cut..something perhaps they didn't quite understand before the election.

someone accidentally dropped their gun into an outhouse toilet.  they fished it out with a long pole that had a big magnet on the end.  the video is funny as the guy doing the fishing kept gagging.  i think i would have just filed an insurance claim and been done with it.  of course, you would need to report it to someone i guess so whoever cleans outhouses doesn't accidentally get shot...or the gun gets stolen i guess...would not want to be cleaning that gun though. eek.

 darkness has fallen.  we are all talking about how winter is fast approaching, summer is ending...it's not over yet, but fall will be here soon.  July is almost over...where does the summer go?

 there is road construction everywhere...tis the season.

 trying to get my next schedule ready to go.  i have 2  2-day classes for ER coming up in Sept and Oct.  it was determined that i have to have these to work straight ER.  kind of silly in my mind as that unit already has a tough time getting any staff from the resource pool so now they are making it more difficult.  i have heard they are good courses anyway.  hopefully, i still have the brain capacity to learn more medical information. haha. i also need to get my PALS done in the fall.  after the new year I'm hearing we will go to doing quarterly check off's on all of these BLS, PALS and ACLS.

 our local shelter is loaded with cats so if anyone is looking for a pet cat the fee is only $15 at this time.  i already feel badly for my resident cat having to deal with Ivy Rose so i don't think I'll be getting any more pets.  my house is pretty packed.

 wild flowers.  always a favorite summer treat.

 the pups had fun on this hike...they have fun anytime they are outside really...dogs are extremely easy to please.

 beautiful scenery abounds up here.

 catching up on my newspaper reading.  it's been fairly depressing keeping up with the news this past few years I'd say.

 Bogoslof volcano has been a bit wild this year...it has erupted 58 times already this year. it's a ways out on the Aleutian chain.  don't think it's a huge volcano but these eruptions are without any warning really and there is a lot of international flights in the area that could be impacted negatively.

 rebuilt a cairn that we'd made for Blossom last year.  no new ashed placed there but we did leave her a few treats.  was laughing today as i sat and tossed the toy in the yard for the pups.  Ivy would run back and forth but Tusker would run one way and then go out of his way to follow the same path back each time...something Blossom always did.

 they each have their own unique personalities.

 been a strange and somewhat lonely summer.  seems like almost all I've done I've done alone.  it's easy to get yourself down if you dwell on the alone stuff too much.

 just hope this knee doesn't turn out to be more damaged than rest and ice treatments.

 never want anything to curtail my walking.  walking is so mental for me.

 both pups are very good rock climbers now. makes for good photo ops.

 as i watch other budding democracies falter and fail around the globe i am reminded that freedom is a gift and that it can be lost.  we often are under the impression here in our nation that our freedoms will endure but it is always fragile.  the checks and balances are not a 100% guarantee that our freedoms and our nation will not be damaged or destroyed. at this time the wealthy and the corporations and lobbyists are in control to a greater extent than ever before.  we all need to do what we can to curtail their powers and bring those powers back to the people.

 cutest mugs...love these faces.

 certain to make you smile no matter what bad news is out there

 these last pictures are out at Reflections Lake.

 always beautiful

 at the time these beautiful wildflowers were everywhere.

 shooting stars.

 it's nearly time for another icing.

 the puppies dash across the fields.  total joy.  they are happy dogs.  I'm not perfect but i think my dogs have a pretty great life with me.

 guess i shall turn in for the night.  hoping this knee is up for a walk tomorrow.  fingers crossed.

thankful for:  A.  a job and position in life where i am able to take a day to heal.  many on our planet would have to work through pain repeatedly and many have literally been worked to death on jobs where they were more indentured servants rather than simply employees  B. a yard and dogs that are so easily entertained.  C.  a beautiful day for laying around.