hanging at westchester lagoon...

but not for too long. it was so cold out there on the ice. i got alot done today, errand wise, but it was also a day where i kept going the wrong direction or like out here, i forgot the shoes i usually use with my kicksled so i had to wear my cross country ski boots with my cleats over the top. those are not the warmest shoes. i would have maybe gone for a short ski, but after being out there for a bit i was getting too chilly. it was pretty though, the sun was setting. not too crowded. this is usually a popular place for various forms of skating. as you can see they have a large area wet mopped (is that what you call it?). there is a big loop and then a smaller one and a few large areas for congregating and making fires in cans. no lights though really. there is also an area for hockey playing on the other side. lagoon sounds small, but this one isn't.
above was my favorite picture of the day i think. just loved the lighting. i was totally loving the pinks reflecting off the ice. not sure i really captured that well, but it was beautiful.

blossom always looks adorable in her harness. she never pulls however. well trained dogs rarely do. sometimes you can teach them that once they have the harness on they can pull. the ice was pretty slickery and my kicksled was all over as well. don't think she had much fun on the ice today. probably too cold right on the ice too. once i pulled the frisbee out her whole demeaner changed. she went from okay, were on the ice to yippee...frisbee!!was supposed to meet a friend for lunch but she bailed. i think just overworked and overtired. hopefully she gets some rest. some of these nurses work 5 12-hour shifts/week. i don't know how they do it and stay sane. i'm of the work to live not live to work sort. i've been there where you put your heart and soul into a job and in the end, there isn't much reward for it. people mostly get pissed at you cause you are there. i am a good worker when i'm there but i find that it's tougher to be patient and kind when you are overly tired and burned out. better to know your limits.

finding myself feeling anxious about my future. bummed as i've really enjoyed going back and forth between the two units and now that my good friend isn't working in peds anymore i fear that my happy position will be messed with and eventually dissolved. it could get ugly out there. hate mini power trips, but i feel there will be some of that going down. i'm trying to not let it bother me, but change is hard for us all. i do believe in that adage of one door opening when another closes. that doesn't make it easy to go through those doors though. guess you can see a little pink. mentioned the radioactive floatsam in my blog yesterday. in todays paper they were talking about the ringed seals up north and how they are being found dead and dying. the seals have lesions in thier mouths and on thier flippers. the scientists doubt it's related to radioactivity from the tsunami, but the tissue will be tested anyway. i guess i can see how one would think this a possibility though i also haven't heard of any other populations of animals being found sick and dying between here and japan. lotta water in that space though so perhaps just not noticed. interesting theory though. the numbers are pretty high though, 60 dead and 75 sick seals. the article also noted that they had seen sick walrus but no dead ones. reports aren't just for alaskan ringed seals but also russian and canadian. always sad to hear of these die offs in these great animals. that is a kicksled for those who have never heard of one. there are two little rubber pads to rest one foot on while you pump with your other foot in the middle of the two bars. nome is short on oil for the winter. a russian boat has been trying to get through, finally got the okay for the international trek to get the oil to nome, but on the news tonight it was said they had to turn back. those folks will be struggling this winter with outrageous oil prices.

another little story i found interesting is that apparently there are still like 100 homes in bethel who have refused to participate in a city sewage system. instead they are continue the use of honey buckets. lovely...and great for the environment. unfathomable to me that someone could prefer honey buckets to a flush toilet, but it's all what you get used to i guess.

one happy pup!!and one less than happy one. another disturbing story in the paper today regarding the shelter in fairbanks. they apparently have warm cages available for after hours drop offs of animals, however, there are many idiots who opt to skip that humane option and instead leave the animals at the dump station. out in the elements. people can be such idiots. will have to fess up that i didn't make it to the pool today. blogs can be so cruel! no real excuse, just too dang cold and once i hit that couch i was done for. i put a fire in the fireplace and played games on my iphone while snuggling with rio. blossom in her harness...how adorable is that?this morning i did mange to get rio out of the house. took some coaxing, but i got her out walking. she seemed to enjoy it once she was out there. we just did the bog. it's good for her. westchester would have been too much for her. beautiful day in the bog. lots of cool smells according to the dogs and how often they stopped to sniff. i'm happy that humans have moved beyond the whole sniffing thing. really not appealing to me, but the dogs seem quite happy about it.was going to loop over and walk the neighborhood but since i had plans i cut it short. i drove by later, there is a guy over on that street that usually builds a huge snow creature of some sort. he's had some cool ones over the years. we've had plenty of snow for it, but i didn't see any signs of building yet. haven't heard anything about the annual building of snowzilla yet either. nice to have all my errands run and i should be good to go for work tomorrow. maybe i'll find out if there's been any changes initiated. i'm rolling my eyes as i write that. sharon did the schedule for these past 8 years and it all worked out. this girl does the schedule once and wants to change everything. it's gonna be a mess....AAAACCCKKK!! i'm pretty flexible, but don't mess with my schedule...!!!!! it makes me crazy!! of course, i suspect that is the point. off to sweet dreams before work reality sets in.