Rio, the friendly ghost...

 so now that i am home it appears the tv has ceased turning off and on....perhaps it really was just Rio Catalina.  this is the second time I've left where the tv has acted up.  i used to always leave the tv on when i would leave Rio Catalina home alone.  she was a blind mastiff with separation issues.  so now I'm starting to think that she lingers with me and still gets upset when she is left home alone.  can you have a dog ghost?  these swings in Roatan were a hit with the kids

 so now i have a new tv that is in the box still.  if it is a ghost, then won't the new tv just do the same thing?  i tend to figure Blossom is around when i find random tennis balls out on the trails.  Rio, though, she was pretty attached...she was also pretty attached to Blossom...so i figure if one is here the other must be as well.  I'm cool with dog ghosts.  this is twice now though that this has happened when i was away.

 the first time the sitter told me that not only did the tv turn off and on it also changed channels.  i remember i texted and asked what it turned the channel to and she said it was Disney i think.  i texted back, good, if it had been changed to fox news I'd have to get an exorcist in. above is me hiding in the shade on Roatan.

 so what to do? return the tv?  think I'll wait  on the off chance that the tv starts doing it again.  silly Rio.

 finished up 3 nights of work. it was great the first two, i worked ER and they had me scheduled in the back of the unit so i could morph into a hold nurse...but in the end, all the patients got rooms both nights so i was allowed to go home after 4 am.  this is always a treat because it means i get to bed super early and can get up and get a good walk in, maybe a few errands. 

 random animals were found all over the place, freedom.  this mule was at the private beach in Roatan. 

 last night i started out in IMCU and was there until around 3:30 am...at that point the charge came over to me....they approach you in a way where you can tell they have what they feel is bad news. like most float nurses though, we are pretty chill about changes in the wee hours.  floor nurses would be very upset by having their assignments totally changed up. 

 i was needed in ICU so i gave report on my two patients, we each had only 2 patients and they can take up to 3 on that unit so now the other two had 3 each and i headed to ICU.

 it was just a few hours left to go so pretty easy night and then i was happy to check back and find out that the one patient i had been more worried about over on the other unit had a rhythm change back to normal so that was good.

 these were leaving Galveston on our first day. 

 almost done with the iphone and dolphin pictures i think...

 but what a great experience.  always feel a bit guilty but the plus side of places like this and zoos/aquariums in general is that often when people have the opportunity to get up close to these animals it makes them more apt to fight for the ones that aren't in captivity.  their lives don't seem too awful, they are in ocean water and ocean fish come and go through the fences.  never as good as being wild I'm sure but hopefully a good life in general for them.

 this is when we first got to our room....our stuff took hours to get moved into our room so that first night we dined in the clothes we had on. Melvin came in later and made our room up into bunk beds, which was great...

 a few boat shots. it was 11 stories...a few more below deck no doubt for the crew.

 there is a bar on the 4th floor in the center of the boat...this is looking up from that area.

 a last shot from the iphone...CB and i at the Houston Rodeo

 these are from the Houston Zoo with CB and my brother JP and his family.  liked the sculpture above.  very cool. 

 this zebra had a rather large end i thought..clearly well fed.

 giraffes were hanging with ostrich.  when i was a volunteer zoo keeper at the Los Angeles Zoo i got to work with the Giraffes and the zebra's.  i opted out of the elephants.  in training we had to do either snakes or elephants. i chose snakes.  I'm sure that seems like an odd choice but often the folks who work with elephants get a rep for being arrogant...when you go in to the elephant area as a newbie, they pretty much have you scooping poop all day.

 the commissary at the Los Angeles Zoo was run by a jerk who when i was sent there had me sitting around counting dead chickens one by one, until the hours were passing and he ended his little joke on me and just stuffed dead chickens in bags uncounted.  there are always jerks you meet along the way.  just because you are an underling and especially because you are female, they will screw with you. 

 my brother, his daughter and her two cuties.

 my yard is melting at a steady clip, it's like a full month ahead of normal.  every few days i take a bag on the yard and pick up the dog poop that got missed.  did some raking up front as well today. 

 did some nice long walks between shifts this week because of getting out of work early, which was great in this warm weather...warm is relative i know...it's been in the 40's, which for us is sublime!!

 i laughed with our guide out of Costa Maya because he said in Mexico, it's hot and hotter....i said in Alaska it's cold and colder.

 it was for sure hot here at the zoo in Houston.  man it was hot and so humid.  i felt like i was dying. amazing how for sure it probably felt great to them while i was feeling drained. no doubt a bit tired from the travel as well still

 fun to see everyone.  i hadn't seen HJ kids, she and her husband visited here before they had any kids.  we had a great visit while they were here.  nice to be able to spend time with them all again that weekend

 i appreciate that everyone made time to see me, it meant a lot to me. 

 April is education time.  i have all these mandatory things to get done.  drag.  hopefully, i can find some time to sneak down to Homer and/or Seward.  it's time to get out and explore with the puppies and with friends.

 so far plans in the works for a paddle and for a trek to Sitka with some ICU friends.  we've planned it for several years...hopefully we get it together this year.a nice foursome will be perfect.

 it's a totally chill group.  we've traveled before. 

 my nephew and his wife JP and AP...first time I'd met her.  she is super nice and he is always animated and fun.

 loved all the pretty flowers everywhere.

 it's spring somewhere...here it's just break up

 the tiger was moving which according to my niece is a rare event. 

 he even got in for a swim. i got to work lions, tigers, mountain lions and pallas cats as well when i was a volunteer zoo keeper.  love the big cats.

 just so beautiful.

 my fit bit says i only slept like 3 hours today so hopefully i get some good sleep in tonight.  final Monday walk of the season tomorrow.  then ER skills fair at 4 pm. house wide skills fair next week then i have a triage class for ER the week after that. 

 the rest of the trip pictures will be from the big camera. 

 tiger butt

 will work on more newspapers tomorrow. fun to read up on the iditarod stories even after the fact.  always fun stuff. the other news is all pretty depressing.  it was great being on holiday away from all wifi options for a bit...we all need that. fun family photo below...my sil joined in

grateful for:  A, chats with friends and family today...lots of calls  B.  early spring warm weather, gets me out in the yard early...perhaps I'll even have a yard this year.  C.  snuggle time with the pups.  :-)  happiness is a warm puppy.