lazy days and Mondays never get me down...

 always enjoy my days off.  i am an expert at getting nothing done but enjoying each day. 

 Monday walk successful as always!

 after coffee i headed out for a drive.  planned to hit the conservation center but i got the hours wrong...well actually google got them wrong.  so i got there right after it closed.

 the drive was super pretty though. 

 may head a bit north tomorrow.  not sure where or how far I'll get for the day.  the low tide is at nearly 1pm so may hit Reflections Lake/hayflats...then....who knows.

 a few last ones from the Oceanview Bluff Park run. 

 today we were out at North Bivouac.  it was chilly as usual this week but blue skies

 i do love clouds though too.  these were beautiful that day.

 so pretty that i headed up to Basher to catch the sunset

 always a great spot to enjoy the views. close to home.  the pups can run around chasing tennis balls and i get to enjoy the views.

 dogs seem rather unimpressed with views.

 they were really good driving in the car today.  they are getting good at dealing with me driving and stopping.  not as terrified that they will leap out of car onto the busy traffic.

 look at those adorable faces.

 they really are good buddies out on the trails and in the car. we shall see how summer goes for them with road trips.  as long as i stop often they should be fine.

 hope to get in some winter road trips as well though.

 kind of pretty out that day.

 each day is a new gift. 

 bad news happens, but i can only control so much of what is going on in DC.  good to spend a day away from it all.  listened to podcasts from ted talks.  always a favorite.

 these are from sledding yesterday.

 LM felt sick today so the sledding was nixed for today.

 KR took these with my camera for me...thanks!

 multitasking..of course, this looks like I'm riding a flat horse

 had a pair of doodles running along with me with each run.  the chuck it kept them interested.  last time Tusker got lazy and just sat at the top of the hill as Ivy and i sped down.  silly boy.  he never did that yesterday...tennis ball addiction. at least i do not have to worry about any other addictions in my furs.  they aren't hampered with the usual teen attitudes either.

 quite a few out there enjoying the day.

 liked this family...saw a friend posted a picture of them teaching their toddler skiing the same way today.  ready for the big hills no doubt.

 KR looks like she is posing for a model session instead of sledding...her sled was a wee bit slow on the hill, haha.

 the phone spent the night in rice and was healed by this morning. 

 the dogs were recovered as well and raring to get back out on the trails.

 had to hold Ivy back when i slowed to a stop. 

 she ran in front of me several times but we never crashed.

 Skelly will have to wait for another day to try actual sledding i fear.  i do have enough sense to realize that if i, a single women in my 50's,showed up on a local sledding hill with a skeleton the paddy wagon may be called.

 Ivy running very fast next to me. 

 looking possessed.

 last year i had to prevent a rape attempt on my poor girl.  there were no such incidences this year.  she is no longer capable of pregnancy though...such a relief.

 KR makes her way back up the hill. it's great here as there are few obstacles aside from other sledders. 

 selfie on the fly with Tusker running behind me.

 there was fog on the arm today, which made for some interesting shots i thought. 

 Ivy in the not so warm sunshine...but still much warmer than the shade.

 KR takes another run on a more speedy sled.

 we can't figure out why she always seems to sled to the left?  strange.  haha.

 Tusker runs down the hill  behind me...carrying the tennis ball always slows you down i guess. 

 plane landing and Denali in the view....not a bad sledding hill

 i cruised over to Lake Hood on my way to Woronzof to enjoy the sunset.  always a treat.

 love the planes and scenes out there.

 sun was dropping fast but not setting until nearly 5pm now!! 

 that makes us all happy.

 lots of planes and a few old cars.  clean, fold laundry, dishes...

grateful for:  A.  icicles and waterfalls, always so beautiful B. drives, so relaxing  C.  friends, walks, and Kaladi's.  night all.

driving in cars with dogs, no coffee

 they just looked so dang cute the other day both sitting up front.  that really doesn't happen.  Tusker gets the front. if Ivy invades it gets sort of messy...so i was all smiles to see them all happy together there.

 above was in the driveway the rest were driving...yes i have been known to snap a photo while i drive. 

 my phone took a hit today sledding. Ivy was part of that scenario.  haha.  i was attempting photos while i was sledding and when my sled stops...well, Ivy feels it necessary to climb on top of me.  this is not helpful.  my phone got slammed from my hands and apparently snow got packed into the headphone jack area. 

 so now, the phone believes the headphones are in there.  i can't hear anything unless it has a button to push that says speaker or i put the headphones in.  i checked the Internet and did attempt a few of the tricks...the one video i clicked on at youtube the guy had done the same thing...sans Ivy Rose.  he was sledding though. currently the phone is in rice...figured I'd give it the night.

 seeing it's the 29th....better pay bills before i crash for the night.

 above was taken by K.Rode.  thanks Karen.  there are a few in here of me by her.  hard to get pictures of yourself sledding.

 pups are great morning snugglers.  Ivy above sleeping in the sun...dozing i guess really.

 I've been freezing these hearts in preparation for Skelly's next scene...as Cupid. the pups were checking them out this morning.

 i made a few attempts at Ivy dragging the sled back up the hill.  it worked well for a few feet...then, well, it stopped working.

 the hearts are the arrow heads of course.  they came out pretty cute i think. 

 another by K.Rode. you can tell because they aren't all dark.  haha. 

 these are back to me..before the near zero temps made the phone die. I'm sure the dragging through the snow sped up that process.

 speedy and syd came as well. 

 i hit the dog park before i headed over there today.  the dogs always love it there.  it's been super cold the last few days.  Campbell is always a wee bit chillier than the rest of town.  did the airstrip with a friend, MT, yesterday. I'd worked the night before so it was a nice chill walk.  there were 4 dogs though so they were pretty happy after the walk. 

 i headed over to JoAnn's for some more Skelly Valentines inspiration.  i later read that there had been a shooting a few hours before i arrived at that exact location.  Anchorage is a bit of a rough town by AK standards.  we have a thriving drug environment, which often leads to a thriving thieving environment and then the crimes that go along with drug sales.  it's a drug hub no doubt.  lovely, right? 

 i do have moments of pondering a move to a smaller AK community again.  i do enjoy the small towns and the more safe feeling.  saw no signs of the shooting.  luckily nobody was hurt and i hear arrests were made.  could have been worse...the trampoline fun zone is right there as well. i suspect there were loads of kids there on a weekend day. we aren't at LA standards but i still don't like that aspect of my town.  it's a great town and i hope we can take it back and make it more safe...that the trend towards crime doesn't continue. 

 KRode again below.  i worked the last three nights.  as i sit here i can't remember where i worked the first night....it was ICU i think.(nope ER) amazing how quickly you forget moving all over.  the next night i was on call for a bit then i got called in. 

 our patients come from all walks of life and for the nurses, such as myself, there are no VIP patients...this is not the case for the upper administration though.  they do believe there are VIP patients and we are supposed to act accordingly. frustrating when some people believe they are VIP and thus deserving of better care than others. i treat all my patients well and the same.  i believe this is how it should be.  i don't kiss any one's arse.  people who believe they are more important than others can be a royal pain though.  much eye rolling at the nurses station.  i just write cryptic notes that would make it clear to anyone in medicine what was happening. 

 service with a smile, right.  of course, things went fairly well for me.  i was able to boot most of the family out since i moved the patient from ER to ICU. the patient was fine so i just focused on the patient.  oh and since i was called in from home to care for this patient the family believed they had just been treated like VIP's. i kept hearing them tell other family when they arrived, "oh they called this nurse in from home just to take care of...".  it cracked me up. i could have been called in for a crack head with crabs...nothing special in calling in a nurse on call....but what they believed made it easier for me.

 these are from the beach at oceanview bluff park the other week. 

 my last night was an easy night in Peds.  Lena and Kim seemed to do most of my work.  nice patients and families.  :-) 

 my in between shift sleep was interrupted by another earthquake.  this one was north not south.  so it turned out to be a 4.3 out of Sutton.  it was shorter but a wee bit stronger feeling since it was closer no doubt.  Anchorage has had 824 earthquakes in the past 365 days. we have 11% of the worlds earthquakes and average about 1000 quakes per month.  of those, over 300 have a magnitude of 4 or greater. we tend to get one 7-8 sized quake per year so hopefully we are good for a bit...over 8 average q 13 years the stats say...so anytime now i guess. that is from the earthquake center in Fairbanks i believe.

 embarrassing moments for fox and their conspiracy theories without a shred of proof.  they were convincing all their listeners that there was a secret society in the FBI.  it was all a joke.  they simply move onto the next conspiracy theory...over and over without ever coming to  ending that has proof of anything, and yet the theories go on. totally without any hard evidence, nobody being indicted or found to have done any wrong.  evidence and facts are of little importance or value.  the theory is believed all the same.

 three dogs on an iceberg.

 the iitoo has saved us from washing machines and solar panels by putting tariffs on them.  seems random.  not sure what else there is to that.  odd

 just hit me...i was in the ER the first night i worked.  just took me a few to click.  there was an article on drug addicts and i suddenly recalled one of my last patients of the night. boom...there you go. 

 poor Micah had to deal with my two beasts...she is bigger than them but all you see is her head in this one pretty much.  i think she enjoyed it though.

 beautiful clouds that day.

 oh, the other big news this week...the iitoo did order the firing of Mueller, but was convinced that was not a great plan. 

 put is apparently trying to amp up voter turn out for his campaign.  he has taken out any competition but he wants a large voter turn out so that it looks more legit.  apparently, people find it unappealing to show up to vote when there is no hope of anyone else winning.  he wants big numbers.  i hope hardly anyone shows up.  I'm sure he's looking for a way to stay in power even longer. i believe his stay has already been extended. 

 once again, i have not accomplished much today.  seems the story of my life. stuff that really matters does eventually get done, but then there is all the stuff that should get done as well. 

 last night i ended up taking a nap too early, but i was really tired after working my 3 night shifts.  i figured I'd just rest for a few but i crashed.  i try not to get too bent about it.  if you need sleep it's nice to be able to just sleep.

 i do always hope that i can stay awake and then get to bed at a reasonable hour so i can flip.  i think that is tougher when i just do the 3 on, 4 off thing.  just goes through February then I'll be back to 3 on 2 off, 3 on again. 

 Micah.

 Ms Ivy Rose. i watched, "the room" the other day while i was on call.  i had held off watching for fear it would be scary or violent, but it was good.  interesting, sad at times.  the things people are made to endure.  you hear of cases like that from time to time.  women held hostage after being kidnapped.  some of their plights go on for years, some we probably never discover.

 probably was going to be a decent sunset this night, but now that sunsets are getting later I'm not always going to be out on the trails for it. it is nice in the winter having sunsets so early...hike and watch it.

 i do feel ready to wander a bit further from Anchorage soon.  with these cold temperatures but long days...clear skies make for safer travel.  the aurora has looked a bit flat this week though

 the dogs had some great chases that day.

 we also got this little rainbow. 

 you can just barely see it below.

 a few bears were burned pretty badly in the California fires but have been doing well and healing from their burns with the assistance of fish skin. thankfully, the bears did not eat the skin away but were able to heal fairly quickly...they are hoped to be released back into the wild soon...it may have already been done.

 a mountain lion with similar burns did eat away the fish skin...does seem odd to imagine that a bear wouldn't eat fish skin off..they love fish. 

 there will be 14 athletes that hail from AK in this years winter Olympics. 

 look how small Ivy looks next to Micah.  Ivy is at least 70 pounds...so she's not really tiny.

 she does look less small in this one though i guess.

 guess i will go pay some bills and crash.  hoping the rice helps the phone. 

thankful for: A. missing the gunfire B.  fun day sledding with friends C.  warm clothes on a cold day