unshackled/unhinged. seems the same to me.

 this election seems never ending and will no doubt continue on for weeks with rioting in the streets after the final verdict.  i suspect if/when orange loses he will not go down easily and his most extreme followers will not go down easily either.  get your supplies ready, have plans made, just in case.

 i have been feeling under the weather the past few days.  had to call out.  i felt the muscle aches and tired feelings start to kick in half way through my shift the other night. generally it seems my body just stops for 24-48 hours and then the real cold like stuff kicks in. it generally starts with sore throat, sinus, aches and exhaustion.  now the coughing.

 for a man that has claimed that, "nobody respects women more than I do" i'm finding it hard to believe.  as suspected many females have begun to come forward with their stories. more in the past week than the entire 8 years of the Clinton administration.  neither is good.  men thinking that the females around them are there for their entertainment.  seems the campaigns are comparing who was worse to women.  Bill or Orange.  both were not respectful.  of course, it seems like Orange has continued his predatory behaviour a bit longer, and at this moment he is the one runnning for POTUS so i would focus on him more at this time.

 many on the right say these are lies and the women are getting something for telling these false tales.  Orange himself, keeps coming out rudely debunking these women.  laughing, mocking, implying they are not good enough looking to get his time or attention.  if he really respected women he would probably say something more along the lines of "clearly these women have been impacted by this story, i stand here and deny that i had any involvement in their unfortunate events".  he's not listening to anyone.

 others in the party have tried to get him on message or to help direct him as he runs, but he seems to listen to nobody. seems to be a bit of a battle going on in the GOP.  yet another reason to lean towards just keeping a democrat in office until the GOP gets itself together.  not that the Dems are the picture of unity but just seem much more stable and in control.  at this point i'm more likely to ignore most of the other crap being tossed around and just focus on who i trust with the nuclear codes.  i'd said this long before HRC said it at the DNC.

 the video of Orange released impacted many women.  myself included.  i realize many males just see this as talk.  i don't think i ever heard my brothers talk about groping women without consent just because they could.  i suspect so many women are coming out about this because of the tape and because orange adamantly denied ever having done this.

 women have these groping/flashing/comments happen all the time.  mostly we report to nobody or just to a friend.  rape is hard enough to prove and extremely stressful for the victim to go through should they attempt to press charges.  for the non-rape assaults it's mostly just your word against his.  the events generally are very rapid and nobody sees what has happened.

 i'd guess most men do not have an inkling of what females just grow used to.  i suspect many of us females are hardly aware of all the tactics that have become just how we go through life.  as i go through my day though i am always on alert.  checking the others around me to see if they seem safe.  checking the back seat of my car before i get in.  when i walk to/from my car places i am aware of my surroundings.  i tend to carry my keys out of habit as protection.

 for all the times i have had males thrust their sex organs at me, attempt to grope me there are so many near misses.

 it is odd to listen to members of the party that has for years attempted to push their religious agenda on others.  deciding who should love who, who should marry who, who should get abortions or birth control.  the party that claims to hold the moral majority...it's odd to hear them weakly defend oranges words and possible actions.  suddenly words don't matter and it was just locker room talk.  all that really matters to them suddenly in a candidate for POTUS is the issues...really.  amazing and really just bull crap.  especially after all the time, money and effort they have spent.

 perhaps they have made us all expect less from the Dems as far as morals and ethics goes and we are just pleasantly surprised that they have some and shocked that the republicans don't have any more or less than them.  you can't have it both ways.  you can't claim to be some party of God and then allow a candidate like orange to be your leader.  you can't claim to be a steward of God when it pleases you and casually look the other way when it's convenient.

 one person noted that an apology followed by a "but" isn't really an apology. i have always felt the same.

 these pictures are mostly a smathering of shots from yesterdays slow walk in the bog and todays meandering walk at the dog park.  the lake is starting to ice up already.  will probably avoid it for a bit as i don't want to have dogs going through ice and get into scary situations with them.  it broke away pretty fast. there was a family of swans there today.

 here they are.  yesterday i felt bad for the furs.  i was tired and probably more cranky than i should have been.  they have been really good despite me sleeping loads.

 they are pretty adorable dogs...all three. i'm pretty attached.

 watched "Suffragettes" last night.  women were treated more like property than anything not all that long ago.  we haven't had the vote for 100 years even.  pretty amazing how far we have come.  still, we are seen as property in many eyes.  something to be taken care of.  as a single daughter i could tell it was tough for my mom.  she wanted me married so she could feel i was being taken care of.  we are stronger than even we know sometimes.

 i was called in to the ward bishops office when i turned 21...i remember his words to me.  "we see you have no prospects for marriage, you may want to think about going on a mission". i was a failure, i had no place.  of course, i was a bit rebellious and on my way out of the church at the time.  i recall my response, "i'm not wearing those ugly underwear until i'm getting laid on a regular basis".  i'm sure he appreciated that.

 i've watched men get away with stuff.  a ward clerk that was a "secret admirer" to a 16 year old girl despite being married.  he sent her love notes, money, flowers...he was caught, but his position never changed at church.  this same man tried to always be the male member to go to girls camp.  us females could not be left alone.  we had to have at least one male.  we did do a pack trip without one once...we survived.

 at one job i was warned to never let myself be caught in the refridgerator with a certain older male coworker.  he wasn't fired, mind you, we just were warned to be mindful.  always on alert.

 someone said, why didn't these women come forward about orange sooner.  i'm sure for most of them it just happened and you try to just put it out of your mind and move on.  it happens to almost all of us. like i said, hard to prove it.  just your word against his.

 we at least have sexual harrassment laws for work places now. not that it's easy thing to prove or have changes happen.  but i heard recently that many parts of the modern world do not have these things still. they have to deal with a great deal more groping just because there is no place to go with the information. nobody will listen.

 women across the globe have it much worse than we do here, but it's amazing how many men still make these unwanted advances.

 it wasn't all that many years ago that women in the middle east actually had it fairly progressive.  then the religious extreme groups got into power.  things changed dramatically.  can't help but think that this can happen almost anywhere.  progress made can be undone.

 these are more moose pics from that bull the other day.  was debating going out again moose spotting, but after any activity i still feel pretty sleepy. dogs are napping.  i will probably nap a bit too.  was hoping a new bark box would arrive today.  boo.  will have to wait til monday i guess.

 i think this election matters to us all, it scares us all.  we all have strong opinions about it.  i just hope folks turn out to vote.

 it is an ugly time for our nation.  hatred exposed.  this of course, is what our enemies have been wanting to see happen.  they have been attempting, apparently fairly successfully, to drive a wedge between us all.

 for years, i saw the Dems working up to putting HRC in this spot and i always thought it was a bad plan.  not that she doesn't have some qualifications but just that she is so hated.  i think it's why Jeb Bush really didn't have a chance.  everyone in the USA wanted someone different.  i think that but then i realize that ultimately it wouldn't have mattered much who was put in there to run as POTUS....the divide between the parties is a deep cavern.  deep and wide.  no matter who ran, they would have had this ugly battle...probably not as ugly. i mean the orange guy takes it so deep into the gutter that the rats have even scurried away.

 a few more from Hallo Bay.  quite the mix.  this is the carpet that is under water at low tide.

 bear scratches

 we took a walk way out on to the tidal flats at low tide this day. it was so beautiful.

 didn't see tons of bears but i really enjoyed the walk.

 we were all a pretty mellow group.  probably i was most difficult as i stressed about the wind and not getting out and being able to make sure the pups were still taken care of.

 better run feed these dogs come to think of it.

 random feather.

 apologies for political talk...it's really stressing me out.  i worry about our nation.  worry what will happen in the next 4 years.  both parties picked less than ideal candidates and now we, the people, are pretty screwed.  still can't believe it's come down to this.

 i try to think positive...it's 4 years, we will carry on, we will over come...but it is pretty scary.

 out in the tide

 nap time

thankful for:  A.  blog so i can vent and destress  B.  that i was able to get out walking today  C.  that i have the ability to rest when i am  weary.  not everyone has that opportunity.

obsessed with Jellies in Seward...

 there were lots of really big jellies on the beach that day we went.  so fun to check them out...not sure i got the best photo's...i'm sure a better photographer would have done wonders, but it was still fun trying.

 dog park and bog these past few days between work shifts.  it's easy on rainy days.  we did work on some leash work.  this past week we also hit those stores to work on leash work individually.

 Ivy, the sweet heart has been making me nuts with her leaping behaviour.  so annoying and aggravating.  i do recall Blossom being a jumper as well.  stuff that works with other dogs hasn't been working on Ivy and instead has made it worse.  finally discovered the best thing is simply to turn my back and ignore her.  she then gets no reward for her antics.  any action i do otherwise seems to make her more excited thinking we are really getting a good wrestle session going.  my getting irritated is also attention that seems like a positive thing to her.  it will work itself out and i could already see less jumping when i arrived home using this.

 i try to leave the house calmly and i need to be better at arriving calmly as well.  don't think i posted this of Atticus in Rio's coat of many colors.  it fits great. hope it works for them.

rough today getting to Ivy's class as it starts at 9:45 am and i worked last night.  was on call but got called back by 8pm...all time and a half and i grabbed my ipod as i was headed to a sitting job all night.   don't mind at all doing sitter jobs when it's for dementia/alzheimers type as opposed to alcohol.  i think he thought i was someone else all night.  thanked me and told me he loved me.  of course, he forget everything i said literally within 30 seconds.  so sad.  can't say i was impressed with the primary nurse...what a grump...!!

 the night before i got to go home early at like 3 am...so that was really sweet!

 i think i was ER, ER, sitter.  amazing how quickly i can forget what units i worked in through the week.

 forgot to move pics over from the dog park the other day.  met some friends and their new puppy there...so cute!! next time i'll have to add those.

 these are mixed phone shots.  the light was beautiful in the bog the other day.

 i'm thinking of making one more little over night adventure next week.  gives me an excuse for avoiding something else anyway.  still not sure if i'll escape to Valdez or Homer. i guess it depends on what vibe i get from the hotels that allow dogs.  :-)

 Monday walks start tomorrow.  Tuskers class starts tomorrow as well, but dogs don't come to first class.  i must get his vaccines together.  my filing system has failed me of late.  need to take some time and clean it up.  want to get all my WARIS stuff more organized instead of just being in piles on my cardboard folding table.

 ivy didn't do so great at first in class today...probably in part to my tired state...but we both improved. one of the mastiffs must have been having issues.  not sure what happened there but they were having trouble i guess.  at the end of the class they said they didn't think they would be returning.  not sure what happened, but they are probably exactly the folks that need to keep returning.

 one little pup in there.  owner very quiet but that little puppy did a great across the room wait and then come.  Ivy was awesome at that as well.  the teacher on like our third time doing it had me sit down on the ground...that was a bit much for Ivy and she broke her stay.  i herded her back and repeated.  she was a bit too excited early on with the walking around the room to stay in heel very well.

 Tusker will be young in his class, hopefully, they don't get too tweeked about that, but i think he'll do just fine.  there wasn't a class for him opening up at the right time.

 getting back in training does help motivate me.

 i came home today and returned to the bed...i'd taken a 45 minute nap between work and the class.

 Blossom is a great dog and part of that is because i put the work in up front to train her.  it's not easy, but it is worth the effort.  it can be frustrating to me when people with dogs that don't obey them, because they didn't do that work up front, act like my dogs are just naturally behaving the way they do.  give me a little credit.  yes, it does help to start with dogs/breeds that are more naturally wanting to please but it's still a lot of work to get them there.

 this jumping phase is very frustrating, but i'm trying to look at the big picture.

 aren't these jellies cool.  you can see them next to the dogs...they were easily a foot in diameter often.

 didn't see any star fish out there that day though.

 fall colors are pretty dramatic in Anchorage right now. figure i should hit some good ones if i head to Homer or to Valdez.  there are some pretty dramatic waterfalls that way, which i would love to capture in fall.

 dating is tedious...at least for me...mostly because often the people that I would have interest in are not the ones that have interest in me...then when people that you have no interest show interest it becomes something you have to deal with.

 other peoples expectations and other peoples disappointment. i don't like to hurt others feelings or lead people on to think there is a chance when there isn't but it can be difficult to walk that line..especially when these are people that you will continue to deal with.

 my face was swollen last week.  it looked pretty hideous.  i like real people and real people responses.  my bull meter is not tolerant of platitudes.  even when i was younger and dating quite frequently...salesmen types were the guys i ran the fastest from. they will say anything to sell themselves to you as a product more than a person.

 i'm sure there are some women who would love to be told they are beautiful when they so clearly are not.  half my face was swollen beyond recognition.  i was not beautiful.  laugh, joke, but don't try to spin it somehow.

 puppies love lights...there were these pumpkin toys that squeak and light up...they have been a total hit at our house.  i need to hit the other petsmart and buy out their supply. Tusker is also pretty keen on the laser light i'd bought for the cats.  between indoor playtime to night and the dog park in the rain today...they seem pretty spent.

 i'll have to start loading pictures soon so i can put together this years Betsy calendar.  always good looking at pictures from the year and remembering.  so often you think your life is somewhat droll, but it does look pretty fun in pictures when you look back at it.

 Ivy continues to avoid the deeper water.  comes close, swims a few strokes but looks to panic a bit when she is trying to swim and get toy in water so she abandons the toy and heads back to shallow water.  as soon as Tusker or Blossom get back to the more shallow water with the toy, Ivy is there to try to steal it.  silly puppy.  she has loads of personality and makes me laugh with her antics.

 Tusker is my sweet, snuggle pup.  all three dogs have unique personalities.  so fun...all of them.  Blossom seems to enjoy having them around for the most part.  having 2 young ones seems to allow her to choose her level of involvement at any given time. some times she hangs back and other times she jumps into the play action.

 look at that sweet face....i'm in love with all of these guys.

 the cat Miss Breezy Chatterbug is making head way in her relationships with the pups.  she is clearly enamored of them yet is still playing hard to get with them. it cuts into my rest as the cat will lay down by my head and then let out her usual meows...that gets the pups riled up and they try to get close.  if only the cat would just keep quiet...but the truth is she wants those puppies to give her some canine attention.  so bizarre.

 Blossom investigates the jellies.

 they are pretty big and the colors were cool too.

 watched this jelly and others being tossed in the surf.

 it was Tuskers first time actually swimming in the surf.  he did really well.  Ivy looked a bit anxious at times, but she seemed to enjoy wading as long as her feet were able to touch ground.

 even though she appears the braver of the two she is really the more wimpy.

 don't think i'll have to mow the lawn again.  i really should rip the crap out of the beds and take the weed whacker to it all.  that thing is kind of powerful though.  i think it scares me a bit.  haha.

 Ivy lays in wait

 i'm sure they will all figure out that they have it all over Ivy in the water.

 on land...well, then it's a fair fight

 guess i should crash.  fun day tomorrow with the walks starting and the class starting.  that is my so so exciting life.  :-)

grateful for:  A.  on call time.  but also for call back pay.  B.  kindness  C.  the many wonderful pets who have shared my life.  i've had so many wonderful dogs, cats, rabbits, mice, frogs..the list goes on.  i'm always grateful to God for my connection to animals.  life would have certainly been more depressing and lonely without that.