each day an adventure in alaska: and so it's 2023

time does fly. this night was pretty standard. i was at work for the New Year. no fan fare. i was happy i was in PICU. they were sure to be more understanding about a breast injury. feels on the mend finally. what a way to start the year. there were a few moments of pain. mostly back to just uncomfortable though. i can breath and cough with minimal to no pain again. lifting and odd pull or positioning will remind me quickly though.

so, many trips around the sun for this gal.

got out for walks despite discomfort. mostly the dog park. today i headed out to N. Bivouac. i was thinking i'd grab my bear spray due to that pit bull attack out there early in December. no signs of the dog. my bear spray, i think it's frozen. in the end, i found myself getting anxious about the dog and potential attack. silliness really, but i think everyone is more on edge these days.

i started the morning off with getting breakfast..breaking my fast early. nice way to start the year, right. of course, that led me to thinking about perfection and how that mind F of my youth still comes back to sting me from time to time. we have to have goals, we have to be trying to be perfect. we are not perfect. it's good to strive for better, goals are fine...as long as we give ourselves a break from time to time and not trash ourselves for the times when we aren't perfect.

as usual i didn't eat all that much. the dogs got bacon and eggs for breakfast. i felt bad as i left them at home with the dog door shut for the night. i put piddle pads out but they were just fine, no accidents in the house tonight, there were some fireworks shot off around 11:30. cats went bolting, dogs started to bark. so i am very happy that i shut the dog door. tonight i just turned on a tv show loudly and sat with the pups, brushing. the cats will hopefully come out of hiding soon.

my friend in Homer has apparently lost her 10 month old lab, Sailor. i do hope he is found. he was taken out to go potty and fireworks went off and he bolted. i'm worried about our new friend and hope he is found safe shortly. my friend is back down in Homer looking for him.

Ukraine continues its battle against the invaders. they are tough. more and more comes out about things between the F put and tru making alliances. we will hear for years i fear of all the heinous things that could have happened or were attempted under this idiot. so many still believe all the bull and blame all the Dems for things that don't even make any semblance of rational sense. Biden isn't really in charge of the country, tru is still president, but somehow Biden is still responsible for anything bad. Biden is a double. all fake. it's insane the crap these fools have bought into.

a few of my rocks

i hear that the con family is selling a tru bible. such a scam and yet those followers just keep tossing money at him. we are hoping that 2023 is a year of some accountability. i'm not sure tru himself will ever be held accountable for anything, but i can dream. i am hoping for sure that many of his stupid enablers will be held to account. he always seems to find more.

i ended up taking a nap this evening so i guess my fast started early for the night. it all worked out. i'd had a big meal from Texas roadhouse before the nap. no trash or mail today. it's already the 2nd.

will try and watch at least some of the Rose Parade. i grew up in South Pasadena so much of my childhood New Years revolved around the parade. never attended a Rose Bowl game, but i'm no football fan anyway

when i was a kid the church sold Rose Parade programs. i went door to door or we'd group up at bigger float building sites and sell them. in retrospect the door to door thing was a pretty dumb thing to have a kid as young as i was do. we also went to the parade route some years and wandered around selling programs to the crowds...again i was less than 10 i think those days. crazy looking back. some fun memories...not door to door really but fun to watch them build the floats and be out on the street for the parade. being on a big bridge as those huge bands would march past.

later it was a 24 hour, 5 mile long block party. the church had a youth center located on the parade route so they would have a gathering the night before if i recall. friends and i would camp out on the street and wander in to the gathering from time to time. i was finding my way out of the church at that time so my group was often a bit of a blend of mormons who were also working their way out.

Greg was obviously gay looking back but none of us ever spoke of it. in the church, especially back then, it wasn't a topic to bring up. he was a great guy and we had so much fun with him and with our rebel group. we hit the comedy clubs, especially when Brad Garret was playing at the Ice House Comedy Club. we went early for dinner, which got you meet and greets and front row seats. Brads set was always hilarious and he was super nice when he'd stop by our table.

always felt bad because years after i left L.A. i heard that Greg has died of Aids. so much was never said and you really hope he knew he was loved and accepted even though we all went along like the word gay didn't exist.

don't have any written down resolutions. be decent. get more fit, de-clutter.

enjoy adventures with friends, family and these furs that i share my life. live for this life over striving so hard to get to some unknown place in the after life that i miss this. more and more i feel badly for those who have lost so much of this brief time on earth worried about strange religious demands for the next life. none of it really ever made sense.

holding back on experiences out of some blind loyalty to a plan that has no validity. holding fast to the iron rod and trading your free agency for blind obedience. it's fine to have faith and hope in a thing, it's sad really to allow that hope and faith to curtail a full life and full experience. time is too short and the experiences of this life are too vast. do not hide your light...shine, glow, radiate!

Ivy is twitching behind me. someone said, dogs live a short life and their walks are the highlight of their day. does add that extra incentive to get out for those walks.

i'll go sledding again. you can use caution, you can use common sense. you can't use aging as an excuse to hide away.

want to get more fit not for some perfect body...those days are long gone. just so i can have more flexibility and energy to take in what i can, while i can.

these are at the dunes here in Anchorage. always a favorite spot. as we get more light, i will feel the need to explore further and further out and enjoy the beauty out there.

these silly pups bring so much into my world. the cats as well, entertain. my life is pretty basic i guess to others looking in. dog walks and snapping photo. it's all those small beauties that inspire me. what ever/however this earth is here, the details and diversity are amazing. there are the huge, more obvious things but there is also so many small, incredible things that many just step past and never see. i have a gift of finding the smaller beauties as i walk with these dogs. they could care less how fast or slow i walk, just that we are out there.

these are from this past month. more snow shots. it's a great winter really. lots of beautiful snow to explore

still tennis balls and toys hanging on the trees out there. Sunny snagged one and as Ivy and Sunny had lost the tennis ball we brought super quickly, it was nice to be able to grab a tennis ball out there in the woods for Ivy to enjoy again.

i may have a buyer for my skate ski's. i just never got the hang of those things. haha. part of the declutter idea. Christmas is put away and the closet is cleaned out. this buyer is hopefully legit...works at Prov so we shall see. i'll hold it for them for the moment. another person was saying they just needed to hitchhike in from the valley. more sketch...i'm sure there are ski's to be found out there.

i still have regular cross country ski's. that movement pops my toe in and out of joint so i'm not sure how much skiing i will engage in. it won't be skate skiing though.

another friend is retiring...excited for her and a bit jealous. my day will come. what will i do...more of what i do now but without the annoyance of work. haha. congrats GT.

this as just after the first dump that week. within a few days the little free library had pretty much disappeared under the snow bank.

i keep meaning to go out with snow paint and paint some flowers into the snow.

love these pinks.

he sure looks handsome in his coat. just the harness these past several days. it's in the 20's so nice and warm.

will probably just switch the Skelly's over to Valentines attire. not that i am big on valentines day. i'll be working that one. leave it to the people in love. that is not me. love was always stressful. that perfection stuff screws with that as well. you are raised to be subordinate to a man and i was never good at that role. i did get the never good enough and so i think it just always stressed me out. i mean the truth is i am just me and there is always going to be someone better out there.

i was just never into competing for affection. if it wasn't right, it wasn't right. there are those more pure loves...i feel if it wasn't that deeper love, well, it was way worse to be entangled and in hell than to be free and single. there are trade offs with each choice so you just have to accept how that goes. none of us really can have it all out there. we make choices and we strive to find the most happiness that comes with those choices.

expectations will destroy your heart so it's best to release expectations and just enjoy what comes.

in pain last week, i was lucky to capture some great sunsets from my room. i have some pretty decent views

i also enjoyed some great snuggle time with the pets. mostly i slept, took ibuprofen and watched Big Bang and the like and played games on the phone.

always makes me think of how difficult it must be for people who live with chronic pain. mine was self limiting so that really helps mentally. i knew it would improve as things healed and muscles relaxed.