count down to Christmas begins!!

 walked with new puppy George out in Eagle River today.  Briggs Bridge.  a bit icy but we all survived. loved these tiny ice crystal stars in the mud.  we saw several of them.  can't say as I've ever seen fairly large stars like this...they were 1/2 inch to nearly 1 inch in diameter maybe.  so fun!!

 some of these are meeting George after the Monday walk last week.  he's gonna get big!!  1/2 malemute, 1/2 aussie i think. super cute.

 the size difference will change dramatically over the next few weeks/months.

 finished my last night of work on Thanksgiving eve.  slept great after a night in ICU.  kept fairly busy.  then i woke at 1 and realized the Friendsgiving meal i was attending started at 2pm not 7 pm.  oops!!  booked in to shower and hit the road. 

 it was a very fun and relaxing night of fine eating and game playing.  before i realized it the time was after 10 pm!!  the dogs got to attend so there were 4 dogs and 6 humans!  8 hours of play was great for these tykes.  they were tired but ready to romp again today. 

 we played Mexican Train dominoes. is this politically incorrect.  it was discussed but thankfully, there were no battles or anyone offended.  it was just a comical conversation....like can one build a wall? we also played another card game that i won, but can't recall the name of.   i have always enjoyed games and feel like we should all be gathering for game nights more often. 

 headed to Potters to watch the sunset.  it's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow i think.  there is a good low tide at sunset tomorrow so perhaps a run down to the beach would be fun. 

 we had a pretty powerful wind storm the night i was working.  i was worried about fences and limbs coming down at the house and dogs escaping.  the dogs were fine when i arrived home so i was happy.  the dog run was all tweeked from the wind and a few items had been moved around in the yard but no damage.  whew!!  i did see lots of limbs and fence sections down on the drive to dinner last night and when i was cruising around today.

 from reports there were gusts over 100mph.  so pretty strong.  seemed like the Hillside and Turnigan areas were hardest hit.

 that took away almost all the snow and left patches of ice...since the snow packs down on the trails, that means the trails themselves all become ice skating rinks...as well as the side roads and side walks.

 we all took turns holding the baby...knowing we may not ever have that chance again.  he's already getting too big for it.

 today was a great day to get out there and pick up the dog poop! that is an exciting day in my world.

 my brother texted hoping i could fly down and watch his teens for 10 days while they cruise.  i would have easily done it if i lived closer...and i did do it for many of my siblings...well not 10 days, but i did do a lot of baby sitting in my younger days when i did live closer.  i will see if a partial could work out but flight times, dog care here and not having enough vacation days will probably make it unlikely....i feel badly as these are the days when you do wish you lived closer...but overall, i love life in AK and am really happy i landed here.

 i did laugh as in his text, he generously mentioned he'd pay airfare and that i could bring a friend, girl...he specified.  nice that he thinks i may have flocks of men who would desire to travel with me...or even one man who would, but at the same time it also gives me a glimpse into how i am viewed and always will be viewed. 

 i mean i did have my fairly slutty days but i would never have and never did behave in any way disrespectfully when around my family.  i left the church but that in no way made me become a terrible person.  in some ways i think it's just naivete on their parts....or they really do think I'm some wild, sex crazed maniac. was friend that's a girl also mean that i shouldn't bring a lesbian lover?

 another sibling had called me when his daughter and her husband were coming to visit to warn me that they are very conservative...i had to ask him if he thought I'd be doing lines of coke in front of them? what is it they expect from me.  i mean i rarely drink anything but milk and water. i have never actually tried any drugs and my sexual encounters were always within the confines of a relationship...granted my relationships did not always last an extended period but i am pretty dull really.  to have people assume the worst of you and feel the need to point out correct behavior is odd to say the least.

 it just shows me that no matter how old i get or how many years i am out of the church i will always be seen as someone who left the church and is therefore suspect.  how can we ever have normal relationships if they can't ever just accept me for who i am?

 if they go out with business associates and they order a beer with the meal i presume there is no issue.  that they would not make a request for them to not drink.  if a business associate had lost their home in a quake or something would they tell them that they are welcome but their live in partner is not? 

 always love train tracks.  no trains went by as i was there. i am always careful

 it was cloudy everywhere else but we did have this patch of blue skies.

 after i headed over to Bells Nursery...they have a tiny Sees candy store inside the nursery.  sadly, they don't have any milk chocolate patty's...my favorite.  i had them create a box for me...what is Christmas without See's. :-) 

 this is the big snow plow and this is the view you would have if you were on the tracks and one was coming at you.  I'm sure this plow took out more than a few moose.  looks like a bad way to go!

 more of these cool ice stars.  you can see the pine needles for size comparison. 

 view from Tudor Rd.

 i stopped by the shelter, always like to see what animals are there.  there was a boxer looking dog which began to bark immediately...nope!! one kitten, it was already getting a meet and greet for a home.  one big malemute/shepherd cross out being walked.

 got the bills paid and a few errands run so it was a fairly productive day.

 i have enjoyed dominoes the few times I've played.  we always had dominoes at the house, but we never played.

 we played Nertz, Gin, Hearts, Spit, Uno and Mile Bornes? what was that one? we also played Life and Sorry, occasionally Chinese Checkers. lots of solitaire...oh War of course. Yahtzee. it was usually myself and my two older brothers for most games. 

 no computer games since we didn't have computers...we did get pong when it came out.  it was pretty dull so it did not interest us for long. we were pre Atari and Nintendo and Wii. 

 we had a pool table and ping pong tables seemed to come and go.

 the rest are Homer pictures..

 the fire weed was nuts so i was driving up roads checking it out .

 so beautiful!!

 that is the spit in the background.

 wish i had seen a big moose in the fireweed...would have been cool pictures.

 you can see a sea of pink on the mountains all over the place.

 better in this one below.

 photo's never really show how amazing it all is but i sure had a fun time with all those flowers.

 many months to go before this happens again. 

 do need to start planning treks for next summer.  want to finally hit Katmai bears and the land of 10,000 smokes. have never been to King Salmon so it may be fun to take that route out to Katmai. 

 maybe i could do a little walrus viewing with that, weather permitting of course. walrus permitting as well. 

 maybe i will start to work on Christmas cards...though i see a stack of cards from last year that i never got addresses for.  it's becoming a lost art. 

 hoping everyone had a lovely holiday. 

thankful for : A. no slips on the ice  B. puppies...who doesn't love puppies  C.  the great food of Thanksgiving, great company...so relaxing.