a bit overwhelmed tonight...

 aren't these baby moose adorable?  these pics are a mixture from June walks.  these babies were in Baxter Bog that day i saw a total of 8 moose in one loop.  5 babies and 3 mama moose.

 grebe above and iris below

 Cheney Lake

 not crazy overwhelmed by the way, just things are starting to come together and that means crap needs to get done sooner than later.  we had a board meeting tonight.  Speedy was voted in as an additional member of the board...welcome speedy!!  we went over the to do list...which keeps getting longer.  i suspect once we have all the main stuff set up things will drop to a different level.

 for now though, there is just a lot to get cracking on.  got some estimates for bumper stickers and such.  too much for my blood with the IRS check getting sent this week.  it made me look at that kickstarter site.  i've got it all set up and everyone seemed to agree that this could be a good way to go.  would be nice to just raise some money to help get these meet our group stuff up and running.  make things like pamphlets and stickers and letterheads...paper stuff.  don't want any money coming to my bank account though so that seems to say open an account now.

 Katie has her to do list and Bob is working on letters we can put out on the web page and facebook pages for people to copy/paste and email/snail mail....letter campaign.  seems useless on many levels but at the same time you just want those in power to know that we are still here and have not stopped caring about this decision they have made in regards to the walrus islands.  i asked him to make a list of people to  be the recipients of this letter campaign.  we can't just quietly sit here making the group, we have to continue to make noise...even if it's just via a letter campaign.

 here is the first mama and her two calves

 too tired tonight but i'll try and get notes to speedy about changes to the pamphlet tomorrow. want to use my pictures or see if we can get ok for fish and game pictures so i don't get in trouble with copyright laws.

 today i took both dogs walking on a local multiuse trail.  ran into the family of a patient i had cared for.  the dad recognized me right away.  stopped for a minute. at first when you run into people who were patients or family of patients, you recognize them but there is a delay as to the circumstances.  with so many critical patients they blend. i know that sounds awful to people who don't deal with death and dying.  his son passed away.

 i think it kind of haunted me for the rest of the day...wish i would have said this or that.  i don't think it felt awkward to him at all, just that i wish i could have come up with some wise words or thoughts.

 my dogs were there and they just naturally took the attention and focus.  i told him about Rio being blind and her surgery, just to explain why she was looking confused and disoriented.  i'm sure things have been difficult for them and i hope they are healing.  he was out with their other son biking.  not sure how often they had been able to do that before.

 another moose and another pair of twins on the other side of the bog.

 she knew i was there.

 as a nurse you become programmed to forget.  outside of the hospital you pretend you have never seen people unless they acknowledge you first.  you hope in cases like this that their memory of you is of kindness and competency.  i think in this case it was.

 got a call from Rebecca in Sitka.  she really wants to meet up and talk about WARIS.  she could just read the blog....seems to be a large focus of late.  she's coming up to Anchorage in a few weeks i guess and wants to meet.  she said maybe i could just pick her up at the airport...then she said, "is that weird?".  i kinda laughed, that probably would be weird in the lower 48 but probably less weird up here.  it wouldn't be weird at all in Sitka i'm sure.  i've no doubt i will be able to find something for her to do.

 i'll have to write a note to our logo maker, Steph in Juneau as i have to create some sort of "reward" for people donating.  not sure i really want to be mailing a bunch of stuff so i thought perhaps we could do some sort of art piece with the logo and as people donate  money, we will put their name on the piece somehow larger and larger the more they donate.  the art piece can then be sold in some sort of silent auction on the web page later...?  any better ideas are welcome...haha!!

 so a full day at this end.

 started with me calling my brother.  he talks a lot, he knows he talks a lot but that never seems to change the fact that he continues to do most of the talking.  so i tend to call him when i have time to just listen.  he looks at my stuff so i think he knows more about what is going on in my life than i could ever tell from a conversation.

 need to get more organized.  i am bad about writing stuff down on little bits of paper, never to be seen again.

 i have a notebook and i'm trying to at least get stuff written down on there instead of the bits of paper. really should start keeping some sort of track of the time i spend on this stuff and then also for anything i buy, office goods and such.

 Rio had her bandage change.  i tossed her blinged up e-collar on as we went in..it was a hit.  they loved it.  i will have to get an appointment for her for sat to have the bandage and sutures removed.  no way she will let me do that alone.  too big and she really doesn't want her tail messed with.

 Val will come stay with Rio and the cats while i head off backpacking next weekend.  thank you Val!!!! she has again saved the day!

 dang, i really did do a lot today.  i'm usually incredibly lazy so the fact that i keep having stuff to do explains why i feel so sleepy now....that and it's almost 1 am.  tomorrow sound busy again and then back to work.   3 nights on and then i'm off for 8!!

 Rio had a birthday on July 4th....she deserved her bling i think just for that!!

 another moose and baby above and then the rest are from Homer or the ride down to Homer.

 always lots of bald eagles

 love the lupine. our lupine time is starting to fade and the fireweed is starting to really come out.  of course, the start of fireweed means a winding down of summer and preparation for fall and winter.

 of course, i'm already quite prepared since i have neglected to change my blizzacks over from last winter. i think my cross country ski's are still in the yakima.

 this moose was seen on the way down to Homer, just outside Homer actually

 these are from the walk.

 i know that is mt Augustine below and i think it's Iliamna above.

 it was lovely out there.

 Maddie joined us at the WARIS meeting tonight.  she was working on a pamphlet about WARIS for kids and we do hope to make a kids section on the WARIS web site.

 Bob was impressed at dinner that i knew our EIN by heart...it's the tax number you are given, also called your tax ID number.  i had to write it in on each page of the tax forms.  as a few times today my brain seemed to be slipping i was quite happy to recall that random number.  it was proof that my brain is still functioning.

 that is always a relief.

 white lupine are much less common than the other...so we were pretty happy to see these., chip above plays with his stick.

 he's pretty tough for a little guy

 tomorrow is another day...hopefully i can get through some stuff before i head to work.  i think ACC is still busy...we shall see where i end up.

 the cloud in the foreground actually loops around to the left there and then is continued on under that mountain. hard to show but it really was pretty cool looking.

 me with Cathy and Chip.  need to get her some sort of Thank you for crashing up here and watching Rio and cats...and for letting us crash there.

it's after 1 am...i'm beat.  thankful for 1- the help of my board as we go forward, couldn't do this alone and wouldn't want to 2- the coolest logo out there (reminds me i need to get that registered) 3- that there are still amazing places out there that haven't been destroyed by civilization. may we fight on to defend and keep them safe so that generations of the past may see how nature is without human intrusion.