3 years...

 so it's been three years today since i lost my Blossom.  this is my last visit with her at the vets.  i never got to see her again, in  a few hours i got a call saying she had passed away.  it was devastating...it's still pretty devastating. those of you who know me are aware that i am pretty attached to my pets. above is Miss Breezy Chatterbug..and yes that is her full name and i use it often.

 the 4 year anniversary is in the next week or so for Rio Catalina.  I'm still pretty convinced that Blossom was bereft without her Rio.  as much as i adored Blossom, i knew that without Rio there was just a void i could never fill.  i tried to fill it for her with the puppies...getting two as i felt that this way she could have her space while they played together.  i think it actually did work for her.  she could have fun with the puppies when she was feeling up to it, but step back when she was not in the mood.  she aged a lot in that last year without Rio there.

 after she passed i felt badly for Ivory Rose.  i suspect i had put her in a bit of a position of having to fill the hole left by Blossom.  she just wasn't completely able to fill the hole left by Blossom at the time....eventually, as she does with most who get to know her...she wins you over with her absolute joy for life.

 it was a rough year.  these two have grown in my heart with each passing day.  the kitty gets a lot of love from Ivy and Tusker as well.  i am sure happy i had them to focus on...i suspect the loss of Blossom would have been much more catastrophic for me if i hadn't had them.  they kept me busy to say the least.

 walking the other day, the ice is back and there has been wolverine alerts in Anchorage.  this trail is within a few miles of my house so it is reasonable to assume that a wolverine in the neighborhood is happening.  wolverine are known to be pretty solitary.  seeing them in the wild is a rarity even in AK. 

 i haven't spotted this one...but this is the first time we have ever had signs at trail heads with wolverine warnings.

 due to the warmer weather the bears are still out there as well.  carrying bear spray..not sure if that would do anything with a wolverine though.  i haven't heard any, what to do with a wolverine training.  we always have the bear and moose public service announcements...but wolverine...nope.

 then the dog park is not safe either.  the otters/beavers are always a risk for attacking dogs.  some even have made attempts to chase down humans.  there was an attack on a German Shepherd a month or so ago at Taku lake by river otters.  there was one this past week at University Lake.  i suspect that was river otters as well since i have seen 4-5 of them out there swimming around on the lake. the other day a dog barked and the group of otters immediately turned and booked towards shore, the same area the dog had been barking.

 some nice ice formations out there.  winter is trying to work it's way up to Alaska.  of course, many parts of Alaska do have snow and ice. 

 i worked ER last night.  pretty busy at first.  i ended up going home a bit early, which was great.  i had a little headache which turned more wicked when i woke up later.

 it came with waves of nausea.  no vomiting though so i was grateful for that.  it's still lingering a bit.  you end up with that circle since being dehydrated, hungry and tired can all be triggers.

 i did hit the pool again for 25 laps so i suspect the muscles may have also been a bit more tweaked.

 my goal will be to try and hit the pool twice a week at first. get my body used to the swimming gig again.  it does feel great when I'm in the pool though.  my knee is better.  not perfect but it's healing and the pool is the best therapy I've found for knees.

 skimmed rocks again on this frozen pond...love the cool sounds it makes. i have not explored much of late. the darkness kicks in.

 so a sad day and a sick day so not a fun day.  still tried to get up and move around a bit when the headache had down moments.  i kept hoping it was going away only to have it return.  i called out.  working with a bad headache sucks.  i was wiped out all day anyway.  you nap but you don't really get sleep.  may just take something to knock me out tonight.  that should do it.

 the last season of the big bang arrived so i have started watching a few of those...didn't see any over the season figuring I'd just binge watch it.

 the ER was full of ICU patients...i took three up.  one section had been closed over the weekend...that parts is open and was filled up through the night.  crazy.

 some ice in the little creek on the Monday walk .

 I'll have to watch Miss Breezy Chatterbug on Monday...every Monday someones cat has needed a trek to the vet.  it was Steamy this week with an abscess... it appears both cats are on the mend.  Mondays are proving bad for cats this month though.

 loading with water...right now, the headache is gone.  fingers crossed!!

 watched a few of the impeachment hearing.  the GOP did it's usual crap...pushing conspiracy theories and ignoring the facts of the situation.  trying to trash the people who stepped up to answer questions.  these are people who have very solid and patriotic histories...unlike a certain potus.  he's lived a life as a scammer...amazing how much the Christians must look the other way on this one.

 despite all the crap they scream about the Clintons foundation it was the Trump non-profit that was shut down due to him misusing the funds.  despite all the crap they scream about bill Clinton and the sex stuff, trump has a long history of misogyny. 

 all that Christian bull about being the religious right and so pious has flown out the door. the evangelicals keep trying to pretend that he is pious as well but they just look more and more ridiculous. 

 all those GOP members who like to claim they are the fiscally responsible party need to pay closer attention to the deficit...not looking too fiscally responsible to me.

 with all of this impeachment it gets down to the basics.  he withheld funds in exchange for a promise of an investigation into his rival.  the president of Ukraine was going to come through and had planned to make an announcement on CNN...when does that happen.  the whistle blower report came out and 48 hours later the CNN announcement was gone and the funds were released.  now they act like oh the funds were released so it's all fine

 sorry. it's not fine.  extortion, bribery, abuse of power....these are all high crimes and misdemeanors.  the public trust is what matters.  he is not to be trusted.  who else has he promised what for what. 

 they all try to trash the whistle blower and out the whistle blower.  they are no longer needed...the information has been collaborated. we need to have a means for whistle blowers to be able to speak out...that is how we can attempt to keep corruption out of our government.  the lawyer for the whistle blower did offer to have the whistle blower answer written questions.  so amazingly all the crap the GOP claims to have not had access to is bull.  they were in the closed door meetings. 

 they didn't actually argue the facts of any of this, instead choosing to focus on screaming about process or trashing the witnesses or pushing conspiracy theories that are just that theories...most of which have actually been discounted. 

 the rest of these are in Seward in June.

 spoke too soon...still a wee headache on the top of my head.

 they scream here say but have refused to release documents and have refused to have any key witnesses testify.  if he's in the clear why not have them testify?  why doesn't he just testify?  they want less here say...quit obstructing and allow for testimony. 

 humans and koalas are lost in big fires in Australia.  very sad.  there is also flooding in other parts of the world. 

 RBG has the flu and Carter had to have brain surgery to drain blood it sounds like.  these elder but super active and positive members of society have had their share of health issues.  i hope they both hang in there a bit longer.

 it is funny that the GOP don't seem all that concerned with finding out who wrote the anonymous book and op ed.  it does appear the whole place is a mess...we will no doubt be hearing horror stories for years to come on the dysfunction.  of course, Haley is promoting her latest book and she has nothing but accolades for trump.  he does like pretty women though. 

 the Palins are in divorce mode.  he let her know of his plans through an attorney. last i saw they were putting it out there that they were trying to work it out.  who knows.  what a crazy family that has turned out to be.

 the taxes are closer to being released....why again, is he so hesitant to show those.  his buddy Stone is in trial.  it's looking more clear that trump was in the know on this stuff..he seems to like to throw his old chums under the bus.  they seem mostly willing to be thrown under the bus. 

 i suspect Tillerson, Bolton and Kelly all have big stories to tell one day.  Bolton already has a book deal.  it's amazing how so many in GOP love these guys until they start to speak out against trump, then suddenly they are deep state or idiots or whatever...never trumpers.  it can't possibly be true that everyone who speaks out against him is deep state/never trumpers.  it's so ridiculous and yet, that is where the GOP is.

 it is pretty sad that in the many years this nation has existed many of us have been through 3 of these impeachment hearings.  Clinton was impeached for the high crime of having sex and lying about it...yes that really put the nation at risk...unlike a guy who holds up funds for military aid in order to force an investigation into a make believe conspiracy theory. 

 love how so many of the buildings in Seward have these shingle art pieces.

 a few favorites

 my new walking spot in Seward.

 also odd to me that the right will scream at a guy for kneeling for the anthem but then turn around and talk trash about gold star families or highly decorated veterans.  they have lost their way, that GOP.  trump took them down the path of no recovery i fear.

 they accepted it.  in their hatred of Hillary and their silly notion that they were somehow the victims of the modern world, they rode the train to hell. 

 trump tears people down.  he doesn't raise them up.  they made the choice.  they must live with it...so far they have chosen to stay on the train...next stop hell. 

 the pups do some tennis ball chasing

 so cute in the grass

 the beloved tennis ball

 her ears are her wings

 well, off to take drugs and hope for a better tomorrow. 

thankful for: A.  my time with Blossom and all the other amazing animals that have shared my life B. those career civil servants who know what integrity is.  who serve with dignity and honor.  thank you for speaking truth to power...lets hope there are a few who actually listen  C.  fun TV shows that make you laugh even when you feel crappy.