mostly family...and more zebra's.

 on call right now.  that can change but i figured i'd go ahead and make another entry to the blog count.  i'm closing in on 1000 blog entries.  not sure if that is good or bad.  when you have done that much writing for nothing more than pleasure there is a certain amount of guilt involved.  have i wasted time?

 loved these open mouth zebra shots.  he does need a little dental work.  had fun taking these though.  the blog..well, it's therapy for me.  it's my place to clear my head and ramble on about things that enter my brain and spin around in there.  so i guess not time wasted.  some would say if you aren't making money or changing the world somehow you have wasted time i guess.  i haven't made any huge changes to this world i live in.  i like to think i do make a difference even if it's not on some grand scale.  we can't all be mother theresa.

 was wondering what a few friends from south africa would have to say about nelson mandela's passing. one posted a video interview with someone.  can't recall the guys name.  white, conservative.  i watched quite a bit of it.  he seemed to want to get the message out that mandela wasn't perfect that he'd been convicted of crimes and hadn't refuted the crimes or the conviction. that he had never been tortured while in prison and had only one negative thing to say, that the sun shone in his sensitive eyes and that he was refused sunglasses.  the man also mentioned his connection to communism and that he'd engaged in terrorists attacks that lead to deaths.

 for me, what is most important when you look at his life is that when he got out of prison and when he was elected and placed in a position of power he did something unusual.  he didn't seek out others to destroy them or cause others to seek revenge.  that takes a great deal of control, especially on a continent that seems to have a reputation for doing just that.   he had first attempted non-violence, but times and situations may not always be impacted by non-violence.  apartheid took away the power of the vast majority of the nations citizens. when you take away power you risk rebellion.  did he creat a perfect south africa?  i have no idea. i suspect things probably improved for some and got worse for others.  is it a more fair society with apartheid abolished?  i would suspect so.

 headed to rovers run for a loop.  just blossom and i.  i think rio needs a walk.  she is a bit restless tonight.  may have to get her back on those trails no matter how slippery they are.  i keep hoping for a good snow.  not yet.

 my nephews say hello to the zebra.

 ran into a friend out on the trails. she has labradoodles as well.  she said one of her doodles had just gotten stitches out after getting attacked by a malemute.  she said the older guy i see out there with his little dog had also had an issue with a bigger dog attacking his little one.  ran into him as well out there.

 wish people would do a better job at controlling their dogs.  so frustrating.

 delivered a few gifts, mostly for tanya.  she is going out of town.  i was headed to Target after my walk anyway so easy to drop off stuff.  i'm getting there as far as christmas stuff is going.  will need at least one trek to the post office...probably 2.  always fun.  need to get there sooner than later though.

 out walking at the dinosaur valley state park

 shopped on line at lands end for myself.  i always put something under the tree from the pets.  they are so generous.  mostly i just enjoy my tree, the pretty lights and the music.

 i'm scheduled to work Christmas eve and day so not much celebrating planned.

 we were laughing that this creation evidence museum existed.  very Texas i guess.  Bible belt stuff.  pretty funny though.

 the rest are family.  we don't always share the same views on religion or politics but we always seem to have fun when we are all together.  we are family and there is always that bond there, those shared memories.

 above is Tom and his eldest Carley.

 Tom, Eric and Ross.  my mom had seven kids in 10 years, which always seems amazing to me.  maybe more amazing the older i get.  that is not easy.

 my niece Claire and her two kids, Gavin and Jordan.

 Eric and Joel with Erics grandson, Conner

 my nephew Matt with Claire and Matt's cool wife, Janelle.

 my sister in law Claralyn with Jordan

 the boys and their toys.

 5 of the 7 kids together.  this doesn't happen very often anymore.  Joel, Ross, me, Tom and Eric.

 Joel is always being a goof for the camera.

 Jordon joined me with her grandma, Claralyn and Joels wife, Susan.

 Jordan took a few selfie's.  i'm zipping through so that i'm chill if the phone rings and i get called in.  hope i don't sleep through the phone if it does ring.

 above again is Janelle, Matt and Claire, below Tom and Carley.

 Darla made up a lovely turkey.  nummy.  i haven't had much luck finding breasts around here for my crock pot. last year they were everywhere.  turkey shortage?

 Eric carved the turkey and later was chilling here with Ross.

 we did go around the circle and say what we were thankful for.  a tradition.  while i was upstairs they did make a pact to not say they are thankful to be republicans.  a family joke as one thanksgiving my mom added that in to her thankful for list.  didn't matter that we didn't all share the same views on the politics.  Carley and Curtis made an announcement that Eric then put on FB.  he had to retract it as they weren't ready to go public with the news yet.  always best to err on the side of caution in those situations.

 i feel pretty safe posting that vague message here on the blog.  not many in my family or people who know Carley and Curtis will be reading this anyway.  it's pretty safe.

 Matt and Janelle and below me with Claire.  always fun to be able to catch up with these nieces and nephews.  spent a lot of time with them when we were all younger.

 haven't heard anything from work...time and distance sometimes works as well in life as it does in radiation.

 i have checked my work email and again no word there.

 peds used to do a christmas tree decorating contest between days and nights.  that is now peds in general vs several other units in the hospital and is being moved down to the cafeteria area.  seems like a good plan.  peds beat nicu handily last year, now a few others want to join in.

 our family has always played nertz.  it can get pretty loud and pretty competitive.  always fun though.  so the cards came out.

 should wrap a few gifts and get them ready to ship off.  i mostly have calendars to mail off.

 Claire and Jordan had a spa morning so i visited with Claralyn for a bit.

 cute kids, lots of fun.  got so snuggle with this little girl a few times and read her bedtime stories like i did with her mom when she was little.

 we met up to bowl the day after thanksgiving.  i rarely bowl and i'm not very good at it, but it is always fun.  of course, ross pulled a few muscles doing this rarely done sport.

 the kids had fun playing laser tag and video games at this place as well.

 then hockey. i try to hit some professional game when i'm out of Alaska.  Hockey is my favorite, followed by baseball, then basketball.  never been to a football game, besides high school.

 the game was exciting. the Stars lost, but the game had overtime and then it had a shoot out.

 susan was pretty offended by the ice girls that kept popping out.  there were also cheerleaders. never saw either of these at games in Los Angeles, or other places really.  i've seen games in several cities.  i've only seen cheerleaders and ice girls in Dallas.

 i think everyone had fun at the game.  tom got harrassed a bit for wearing his Oilers jersey.

 saying farewell to Carley and Curtis, hopefully it's not so long til we all meet again.  i know i live the furthest away.

i do love Alaska though.  keep hoping some family makes their way north, but so far nobody seems to be biting.