who took the hacksaw out the dog door???

 it appears that no dogs were injured. they must have carried it out by the handle and just chewed on that a bit. bad dog owner to have left that at their level before i left for the evening. gatherings two nights in a row!!  thanks to MT and SH for hosting gatherings and generously inviting me...i guess we all have our moments of whining.  thanks also to JM for her generous offer to join her family for Christmas dinner. i actually saw that the iitoo was whining out tweets about being alone at Christmas...so that puts me at his level for the day...makes that even more depressing.  haha.

 Maizy relaxes...the dogs actually did quite well.  no jumping on the table and they even figured out how to use her dog door...not sure why it's been complicated for them since they have grown up with a dog door

 two doors in the hallway are completed, just one to go.  tonight i painted that one as well so I'll just need to get the details put on there. should be able to complete that by tomorrow. i figure my handyman may be over in the next week to do a few more things...put the under cabinet lights up and the pendant lights as well. perhaps we can even get the dishwasher and stove in. that is really all that can be done before the counters get delivered and installed. so i work on doors.  he put the trim up on the beam even, which turned out nice as well. painting the crappy trim and doors really seems to be brightening up the place.

 love home made gifts...this one by MT was super cute...doodle faces and all!!

 we had 4 pups joining the dinner, so that is always fun.  i had apparently been invited, i know we'd spoken of it at  Thanksgiving but i had missed the message about it at the Monday walk coffee. i think there were just a lot of conversations going on and i didn't catch it.

 so another very tasty fried turkey...have heard how great these are and i am sold...they really are great prepared this way. 

 Tusker was not at all concerned about meeting the Grinch!!  this particular Grinch has a super sized heart and dogs can see through a Grinch exterior.

 this weeks Monday walk...where we were joined apparently by dogs that have passed on...that is what we think when we see the little light on the photo...we also found a tennis ball, which is always my sign that Blossom has stopped by to check on us...never mind that we just filled a tree with tennis balls...

 the Holidays are filled with both joys and the reminder of being alone.  i tend to write things because i know that i am not the only one that feels it.  social media makes this worse i think...pictures of people out at holiday parties and that reminder that you aren't really on the invite list for the bulk of those parties...as i said though, i do tend to be a bit of a recluse at times so i don't put out a i want to party vibe.

 i have a lot of wonderful friends in my life up here though and even if we aren't big party people we do have some fun gatherings..often with our furs.  we also do hiking and sledding and all sorts of other non dress up gatherings...i should be careful not to forget the fun life i have.  it's not the usual social but in truth it's much better, at least for me.

 in general being in crowds stresses me out.  getting dressed up stresses me out as well often as i seem to have more and more trouble putting an actual outfit together.  I'm just used to hiking in all sorts of weather and my wardrobe reflects that. MT party was casual and SH party was pj's...

 hopefully i will have more gatherings at my place again once i get the kitchen complete and get my place organized again.  it's still a mess.  at least I'm starting to visualize where i will put stuff in the new cabinets. maybe tomorrow post walk i will try to get some stuff shifted back into the new kitchen space.

 my slippers in these photos were actually borrowed from Skelly's wardrobe...sadly, he is often better dressed than i am.  haha.

 a second child has died in US immigration custody.  this is sad, embarrassing and just wrong...anyone who can't see that...i just have no words really i guess.

 a flight made an emergency landing out on a remote runway in the Aleutians.  they were traveling from Asia.  they landed on an old military base on Shemya Island. 

 this is a Christmas gift to me from the puppies....:-)  the artist is Eli Halpin.  I'd seen the art on the chat of explore.org walrus cam. thanks for the info...i went to the artists page and now it's on my wall in the guest room.

 yes, i actually got brave post earthquake and put art back up on the wall. i still  have 4 more to rehang.  one i bought a new frame for as the other one crashed and was trashed, another was a post quake loss after i tried to put it up and it fell back down....that one the glass broke so I'll have to replace that before i can hang it up.

 sunset on our last sledding day. 

 love Ivy's look here.  KR gets her dog fix in at the gathering. 

 was happy to see the dogs chill at MT house despite not having had a walk...perhaps the mellowing is happening. 

 the appointed director of the Fish and game now is the guy who took funding from Round Island...he's also treasurer of the local Safari hunting club, big on trophy hunting and not big on protecting endangered species.  Sinnott, who used to work in Fish and Game and was actually qualified was unimpressed with all of the new appointments.  great to have him speak out.  those who are still in fish and game are no doubt scared to speak out on any of these appointments.  such a screwed up system that people with no experience or education related to fish and game get put in charge of it.

 the pups all look so cute in their festive outfits...and yes, the dogs as well are better dressed than i am.  haha.

 i will be excited to cook again in the next few weeks i hope.  okay, maybe 3 weeks...hopefully less than 4 though. 2 weeks left since counters were ordered, they shipped on the 20th...

 these are from the tree decoration day and from the walk before the sledding the other day

 lots of puppies, they had a blast.

 love to just watch dogs run, happily pouncing and carefree.

 rocks are still falling on the Seward Highway.  the pipe for collecting water has been removed now.  a women was there collecting post quake when a bunch more rocks came down.  they will need to deal with a problem that really existed before the big quake but was just hurried along on the to do list for the state.

 a few tennis balls dedicated to those dogs that have passed away...

 Blossom and Rio are represented.  i keep forgetting to grab a marker for Morgan....

 Tuskers sweater gets coated in snow...making Santa's beard look even better!!

 they both give me sad eyes when i go to put on the sweaters, once on they seem to quickly forget they are wearing them. 

 pretty surprised they haven't just shredded them off of each other at this point...see they are mellowing.

 seems like a Christmas for new puppies...a few friends at work are getting puppies and let their kids know at Christmas...both doodles of some sort.  :-)  a niece also got a cute little Boston. 

 painting door tonight and now I've been reading papers...catching up.  it's getting late...nearly 3 am...oops!! silly night shifter!!

 we had a crowd for the tree decorating day on the Monday walk...

 always a popular day in the woods.

 Tusker looks flat. 

 puppies at play

 these are at Ocean View Bluff Park before sledding

 pretty clouds

 trail not totally frozen over so we didn't get to far out on the beach. it's not deep but still, don't want to get feet wet in winter.

 the pups had a great day...they have many great days though.  they have a pretty sweet life.

 still not a good place to be if another big quake were to hit...liquefaction of soil is not a good thing.  the longer a quake goes on the more high the risk of this happening.

 crazy to not trust the ground you walk on...easy to believe it's so stable.  we expect the sky above us to bring on dangers, hurricanes, wind, rain, snow, lightning...we seem to trust the ground we walk on though.  earthquakes disturb that trust.

 worked three nights then had just one off and was back for Christmas Eve. i worked ICU that one night.  only had one patient until a 5 am admit, so not bad

 i had better get to bed...it is nearly 3 am...normal people are sleeping

grateful for: A.  friends, laughter and good food  B.  dogs in cute sweaters  C. progress in the remodel...i sense i am reaching the end soon.  :-)  i did have a dream last night that the stairs were getting redone.