sub zero!! finally, it's really an Alaskan winter!!

 it does feel a bit chilly tonight.  i think i just haven't warmed up from the day. i got off work early last night!!  Thanks ER and House Sup's!!  so i did feel like a had a more full day today. we have amazing hoar frost right now.  cold temperatures and fog....always so beautiful.  today i did a long walk out in North Bivouac. gasline-powerline-tank and then off to side trails and out to the bogs.  then i drove out to Woronzof...no moose- and then i cruised over to Lake Hood for a few minutes as well.  so a lovely day.  i feel like it's much later than it is...makes it easier to flip around.  the theory is i should get to bed at a reasonable time

 i love frost.  it makes me want to run around in whatever daylight i have and snap lots of photos.  i know i do not do the frost justice...I'm just a photo snapper. 

 Tuskers beard was really pretty impressive today.

 this was sunset from my bedroom the other day.

 above is from the big walk i did the other day out Campbell Airstrip.  as the light gets longer and the kitchen gets finished i suspect i can start to extend the areas I'm walking in.  i have been staying to many of the usual trails. what i love about Alaska and it's rapidly changing seasons and weather is that you can go to the same place over and over and always find new things to see. 

 my handyman was over the other day and put the under cabinet lights in.  loving all the light in my living area now. 

 more skies from my room.  above sunset, morning below.

 i got a phone call the other day........and drum roll....my counters are in town and we scheduled for Tuesday for the install. hopefully, all the measurements are good and there are no hitches...so excited!!  this is the beginning of the end of the remodel in my mind.  counters go in, sink goes in with it..then it's hook up sink/dishwasher and disposal, put in range and just back splash left.  the to do list is getting so short..!!

 of course, i will begin a new to do list once it is done.  reloading the kitchen and then doing clean up around the house where stuff was stashed and has been ignored.  i can also organize the garage and dream of parking in the garage..with temps this week going lower and lower, that seems like a fabulous idea.

 I'll be happy to load and unload dogs without concern of them seeing a dog or cat in the neighborhood and taking off.

 with these colder temps it's fun to see Tuskers coat get a frost.  it's on his legs and trunk in addition to his face. I'm sure Ivy has the same but her coat doesn't make it obvious.  he just looks pretty cool.

 have been in the ICU a lot these past few weeks. i must say i was pretty happy to hit the ER last night.  though i kept busy. it's just a different busy. 

 was frustrated my last night in ICU as i had a patient doing poorly and way too many doc's to deal with...communication was not happening and not happening quickly enough...in the end i had only myself to blame for it all!!  when anesthesia came up, she said something about taking the patient down to the endo suite...i stupidly commented, "oh you are going down, i guess i thought you'd just do it bedside"....i guess she liked that idea...everything that followed would have totally been their problem had i kept my mouth shut and the patient just gone down...

 those of you who know me, know that keeping my mouth shut is a daily hazard of being me. 

 i have spare calendars...i usually do a drawing for them but with all going on, it totally slipped my mind...so i do have spares if anyone wants one just let me know and I'll accept $15 for each calendar.

 the open area of kitchen/living is really making me bust with happiness...i think it's turning out quite nicely. 

 so cool to have an idea, plan it out and then see it through.  i will say I'm pretty proud of myself so far.  it's been stressful...and making so many decisions on things was not easy...way too many choices!

 the handyman will come by tomorrow afternoon to make sure everything is ready for the counter installers....i probably could manage it myself but i think he would like to be involved...i figure when you have been working on a project and another group will come in to do something you want to make sure it's ready for them. 

 it's been fascinating for me to see all the details that go into remodeling of the space that i just would have never thought of.  he really knows what he is doing and i am grateful that my friend recommended him to me.  i think often of late of that country song line, "sometimes i thank God for unanswered prayers"....

 life doesn't always go the way you think you want it to go, but in general if you just let things go where they will, you will be okay...even better.  you think of relationships that you were devastated didn't work out or jobs you didn't get or  contractors that flaked out...

 life is this huge adventure and those who adapt to all the shifts get through it easier.   i see so many who can't adapt to the new paths their lives take and just get more and more miserable.  life throws you curve balls...you decide what to do with them.  there are those who pretty much decided at a young age how their life would basically go...if those boxes don't end up getting checked, they just seem more and more lost in it all. 

 my life was geared towards getting married, having kids and pretty much going to college to find a spouse to make that happen.  the only part of that that happened was going to college.  of course, i opted to go to several different colleges as i tried to sort out my life. 

 when you leave the path you were raised to live, you are left parachuting without a net for a bit...it was my choice, but it was a wild ride in my 20's.  trying to figure out what i did believe, what was true...when you doubt everything you were taught was true is true...it makes you question everything in life.  you kind of have to start fresh.  it took time and research to come to who i was, what i believed...none of that was in the big plan. 

 i am incredibly grateful that i jumped though.  i guess i had faith that there could be something different and that i would be okay.  there is a lot of anxiety and fear that goes with that leap, but as you crawl your way back there is also a lot of confidence and positive energy that comes with a successful landing.  the kitchen is the same...just another leap in life into the unknown.

 so soon i will have photos with an actual counter and sink in place!! 

 the government partial shutdown continues.  who's fault is it...that is always the talk...when it happened during Obama, Trump at the time said it's always the commander in chief's fault...then when he met with Pelosi and Schummer before it happened he said, that he would proudly shoulder the blame, after it happened he began blaming everyone else.  didn't see that coming...haha.

 below was the bog yesterday between shifts.

 Miss Breezy Chatterbug is 7 now..the old animal of the house, it's a pretty young house animal wise.

 looks like it should warm up and snow when i head with a few friends out to a yurt or cabin next Sunday...that sounds nice....camping in sub zero not perfect.  tomorrow's Monday walk will be a chilly one..the high for tomorrow is 2F. the low is -1F so not a lot of variance in temperatures tomorrow.

 this whole wall crisis is more of a hoax than an actual crisis...but many want to believe it's real.  there are not terrorists rushing our border...people who walk thousands of miles are desperate...sadly, most terrorists are more funded than that.  most fly to Canada and cross in or just get visa's and come here.  it's visa's that need to be monitored more closely....the system now seems to have too many loop holes and not enough monitoring and seeking out if folks have over stayed. 

 much easier to see poor people attempting to cross into our southern border to work as a threat than accept that correcting the illegal immigration issues will be much more complicated than building some wall.  truth, facts, reality...seem to be getting lost though. people choose what they want to and get sucked into the vortex of panic. 

 saw a very disturbing manifesto like note on a page of a guy i grew up around...it was signed...first let me say how ridiculous it is to think that signing some manifesto like thing on facebook will have any impact on anything.  it was all about poor trump and how mean people are to him.  how all trump haters have no morals values or ethics...funny because it seems to me that it is trump himself who has no morals, values and ethics...why so many decent people are defending this reprobate is beyond my understanding.  radical Christians actually believing with 100% certainty that trump has been sent by God to save America and Christianity. 

 news flash...Christianity doesn't need saving...and the only thing America needs saving from is Radical Christians who believe that Trump has been sent by God to save them.

 my sweet Ivy taking a nap.

 icicles with frost...

 the earthquake has probably been a bit of a boom for contractors up here.  lots of repair work needing to be done. 

 gotta think of the next Skelly scene.  he's still dressed for Christmas. i have taken down much of the Christmas decor at home...i hadn't put that much up anyway.

 my furs laid out for a nap

 took a few of these today.  they were looking down at a tennis ball....not too many toys left on the trees we decorated...looks like the decor has been enjoyed by other dog/walkers

 frost on the little free library out in front of the house. 

 Ivy sporting a nice beard

 the iphone photo's always load in strange orders. i use it a lot for snaps though.  easy.  today i did actually get out the real camera though.

 clearly i love these sweet puppy faces...much more pleasant for everyone to see their cute young faces than my old one...haha. 

 lots of nice pancake ice has formed out in the water....always pretty.  this was post sunset with all the pink.

 this one is back in the bog. 

 after another long walk...an attempt at a photo op

 down stairs doors are done. i may see if i can hit him up for a day of light fixture changing and get rid of several 80's fixtures before he signs off of the remodel.

 sleeping lady in the distance.  even caught a little of Denali today out there.

 i shall go find myself some delicious thing to eat.  can't wait to cook.  it's probably been good to have this break and gain a new appreciation for cooking.  I'm very excited to eat a few old favorites again.

thankful for: A. getting off work early  B.  hoar frost C.  long walks with the dogs, always fun.