awake at 4am...

for a few reasons. went to a wine tasting birthday party and often when i've had my fair share of wine i fall asleep rapidly and deeply only to awaken a few hours later. i think the main reason i'm awake though is that ms blossom still has an upset gut from her bout with the chicken carcass. came home from the party last night to more diarrhea/urine in the office. i thought i'd shut the door, but apparently i hadn't shut it tight and she let loose in here. clean up. this morning, she must have tried to wake me, was successful but just a bit too late. there was a small amount of diarrhea again at 4am in here. clean up again. poor pup! at least there wasn't any blood this morning. i made a batch of rice last night so she'll get a bland diet later today in hopes of helping her clear up. she is acting normal, her colour looks good and there hasn't been any vomiting. rio must not have gotten any. she's usually the dog with gut issues. she is happily snoring away right now. yesterday i headed to the jodphur trailhead in kincaid. was planning on doing the big loop i usually do, but i always see people take this side trail and have always been curious. so i headed that way with the dogs. the above picture is overlooking the dirt bike area out there. probably the reason i usually avoid it. no dirt bikes out today, but there was a group out there doing maintenence in preperation. there is this sandy area that comes up from the beach below and then goes above in this rather large swath of sand. kinda a strange thing. one wonders how this sandy beach ended up way up on this hillside. was fun tossing the tennis ball for blossom and having her run through sand. this area by the dirtbike area looks like it's used on occasion for beach bonfire parties. cool "art" on blocks by dirtbike area. the main trail i usually take seemed pretty muddy and this area was nice and dry. i know the trails connect up as i've seen a few people pop onto the loop i usually take after seeing them take off in this direction. i didn't make the connection yesterday. will have to explore again. it was pretty to be overlooking the beach below. i could hear several sandhill cranes on the beaches below, but didn't get a good look at them. the call of the sandhills really can carry though. love that sound. blossom enjoys the sand. rio came along, but much of the trail skirts the top of the cliffs there and is right on the edge. was careful with her and worried she'd take a wrong step and slip down the cliff. i was more relaxed on the return trip. just wasn't sure where this trail would take us on the way out. did run into several runners out there. obviously a popular route. was pretty.you can see the sand keeps going up this hill and then continues on for quite a bit. strange. read more of the "quiet" book. after the intro it actually gets sorta dull. just example after example of people who are introverts or extroverts. does make a few points of stuff that i've noticed as well. first is that most kids are now raised and encouraged to be extroverts, whether they are or aren't. kinda like how kids in my day were forced to be right handed even if they were naturally inclined towards left handedness. i remember loathing group projects in school. seems like there was more of an emphasis on that in college and it's one reason i tend to avoid returning to school. there is this forced group project mentality. i'd much rather work alone. one thing i've noticed at work that always makes me a little sad for the next generation is the constant noise. baby's and kids just aren't exposed to silence. they seem to always have television on in the background and frequently it's not pleasant relaxing noise, it's inappropriate noise for kids thier ages. jsut because a baby is asleep doesn't mean they aren't impacted by violent shows that thier parents are watching. this constant stimulation can't be good in my opinion. i think we all need quiet in our lives. now many kids have no idea how to exist in silence. many parents up here enforce no electronics rules when they go out camping, they are amazed at how creative thier kids become out in the woods. the kids complain at first but eventually that natural imagination returns. it's a huge loss that most kids just don't have these opportunities. the noise of our society is taking it's toll on the next generation. i love silence and often drive around with the radio off enjoying the silence. i think i tend to do this even more when i'm on a work run. the alarms and monitors at work cause constant noise and i think i counter that by enjoying silence whenever i can. many in our society are uncomfortable in silence.
my family growing up used to attempt these minute of silence things. my dad would attempt to have us have silence for say 2-5 minutes i think. usually it was my mom who would break the silence and start giggling. there are signs of life coming forth. break up is slowly ending and the real spring is starting to happen. i'm getting hungry. happy i ate a small amount of real food before the party. there were just some appetizers and the wine. i knew i didn't want to just drink wine without a bit of food on board. my favorite wine was called luna rose something. it also had the highest content of alcohol. was fun taste testing. thought about buying a bottle or two, but the place encourages you to buy a whole batch of wine or get charged triple cost for a bottle. i don't need 26 bottles of the stuff and am too cheap to pay 3 times for one bottle. some in the group were going in on a batch, but it wasn't a wine that i particularly liked. i think there was some bar hopping happening after the main party, didn't really hear about it til i was getting in my car. i was good for the night anyway, but i suspect that the group that went out after was planned as a smaller group. there were two tables of guests and i was at the second table, we had fun at the table, but it was a strange set up, like 2 seperate parties were going on. there was a third table, but that one never filled up. they must have expected more than actually showed up. they played a game of pin the penis on the hot dude. do hope this game and any other games like it aren't played when i turn 50. i've never been too keen on those bacherlorette games and the overtly sexual stuff. went along and everyone seemed to have fun with it, but not really my thing i will admit. blossom ponders the deep questions of life. not sure what those are for dogs, but she seemed to be enjoying the view. have spent way too much time cleaning floors this week. hoping blossoms belly gets better and that she doesn't get worse with this. hate when the pups are sick. feel so badly for them. she has settled back down for the night again. she went outside for a bit while i cleaned up. i'm sure she tried to wake me, but that wine will knock me out. woke with the start of a headache, but i took some fake exedrine and that feels better already. the trees looked cool coming out of the sand.blossom and her tennis ball brought some sand home. my newly cleaned element is probably a bit dirtier. wanted to go to costco yesterday, but it gets way too crowded on the weekends. will need a new printer/scanner. also need a new dog bed. moved the one that was up here and got soiled out to the car after i washed the cover and fabreezed the hell out of it. the old car one will become the new back deck bed and that old back deck bed will go out with the trash monday morning. need a new dog bed for the office, but should wait til this gastrointestinal issues is passed. quite enjoyed my day at "the beach". want to drive out to seward here soon. seem to have plans every evening this stretch off. nice to have a social calendar that isnt' totally blank, though i'm often cool with a blank calendar. chatted with my brother yesterday. mostly listened, but some people need more listening time than others. life can be unhappy when you let others control your destiny. my life didn't follow the path i thought it would but it's turned out much better. no regrets leaving the church i grew up in. i see that it doesn't always bring the happiness it promises. i always loved that poem by teasdale about taking the road less traveled...it has made all the difference. so often what you thought you needed to be happy is not at all what you needed. accept the life that comes your way, embrace it and live true to yourself and you will find that happiness. others can't make you happy, but they can sure make you miserable!some party pictures. tiffany, keri and kim above, below sandra and lesley.more party goers, gail, amy and linda. lena and i enjoy a few laughs and several tastes of wine. discovered that if you hold your wine glass just right you can't see those tricky signs of aging that occur on the necks of all people. not sure they've found a plastic surgery to fix the looks of aging on necks. above, sandra, myself and jennifer. below the birthday girl. you had to pay $20 and you got these tickets to use for taste testing. i had leftovers, mostly because the lady kept forgetting to take a ticket when she poured me a drink. definitely got tipsy. the rosa luna drink was the highest alcohol content at over 15%. it was a favorite of table 2.gail and lena.dog poop is cleaned up, dogs are settled, so i guess i shall attempt to sleep again.