Fur Rondy Snow Sculptures..

 realized i was missing all the fun fur Rondy activities.  it's always a fun weekend...and i missed out.  a friend from work joined me over there, have fun and give her some photo tips that she's been wanting.   it was getting late and they were closing her down but i was able to get to the snow sculptures.  this year if you want to see them get over there...we could have another melt at any moment.

 quite a few decent ones despite some rough snow conditions this year.  perhaps they will destroy these for the ceremonial start.  make a snow trail through town for the dogs with em.

 of course the bible was well represented. though in truth these cross dudes look more like they are about to break out into dance.

 went for a swim again, which again felt fabulous!!  my knee feels so great after a swim.  great incentive to get back into it and stick with it!!25 laps today.  lots with the kickboard, but mostly cause that really works the knee and feels terrific.

 other than swimming i've been bogging it this week.  bummed as my new phone has this cool health related app on  it.  the first day it showed all my steps taken...over 11,000 that day but then i've been unable to get any data from it....not sure what is up.  suspect i hit the wrong button in my enthusiasm.  don't see one for swimming but it supposedly notes stairs too...not sure how it all works but will have to try and figure it out.  otherwise the phone is super cool.

 love my new canine photos that i made for the screen/screen savers.  those pups are sure cute!

 three nights of work behind me.  trying to think of where i worked this week.  you would think i could remember a thing like that. it's coming back to me.  the first night i worked ER all night.  steady but not killer.

 are these totally cool walrus fun!!??!!  loved the walrus sculpture.  of course, i was all....i put the walrus in the shades...hmm.  they do look cool in shades.

 next night was crazy busy.  loads of trauma's. by 4 am though they had enough people so i said to see if the sup needed me elsewhere...the adult icu grabbed me up and i soon got a patient in as a direct admit.  in the time i would have been waiting another patient had a heart rhythm issue so i helped out. then the rapid admit and get ready for the next shift.

 got bounced a bit the next night as well.  you can totally tell i was digging the walrus, right?

 i was in the adult icu all night last night but i started with one patient which i had to quickly turf to another unit and take over 2 other patients, one returning from OR as i arrived to get report.  that nurse then went to care for another patient that was arriving from the cath lab with a balloon pump in.  after that my night wasn't bad.  sedated the one patient more cause you breaka you face...you better not pull out your endotracheal tube...lest you find yourself with an emergent trach.  i avoided that.  my record is still clean and i hope to keep it that way...hopefully i'm not jinxing myself by writing this but i have never had anyone accidently extubate themselves...i've laid on a few and pried a few very strong people off their ett's or just held on for dear life while a co-worker got ett saving drugs.  been in icu's for years...that is a lot of patients with ett's and many near misses.

 i recall one super strong/big/tall teenager with a death grip on his ett...it took several of us nurses laying on him to keep that tube in.  after it was all done there was stuff all over that had flown across the room in the struggle.  nurses should be strong and fast.  had a slugger the other night...trying to change his attends and put on a condom cath to get urine.  threats of death were lodged at me...

 liked the troll under the bridge...complete with warts.

 the funny thing with that old guy was that when i returned to check on him a bit later he was all calm and asked if we'd clean him up.  i let him know that we just had and that he'd threatened to kill us all, did he not remember that...he didn't. poor old guy has dementia....he apologized.  not that he didn't threaten me later on again.  got him in his wheelchair to wait for a ride home so i put him at the nurses station to wait, he kept following me around in that wheelchair, some other patients family was laughing watching him follow me all over.

 i kept putting him back in this one spot so that he wouldn't get run over by the many EMS dudes and their stretchers.  at one point they were flying in with great regularity...the paramedics had been directed to put a pt in one room that was still full of folks so i put her where i'd taken out wheelchair guy...had to clear and clean the room while they waited and she screamed in pain...Karen..you would totally understand her discomfort.  ( you were way braver though).  lots of blood spilled that night i can tell you.

 my other favorite arctic friends...polar bears!!

 so not much fooling around at work this week.  a bit beat today, but happy that i got in a walk and a swim.  no moose in the bog today but yesterday there was a bull laying down.  will toss those pictures in another day.

 so Jesus sculptures and the big puffy dude from Ghostbusters!!  such variety!!

 my friend practicing with her camera.

 and having me set up my shot of myself...so i took her picture.

 sans makeup and fresh from the pool.  hopefully by this summer i will be more fit and less fluffy!!

 just looked outside for lights...looks like some great displays further north.  can't believe it's already March.  the Iditarod is right around the corner and a trek north for me too....i'm excited though not planned at all.  get stuff, throw in car, drive, throw stuff in hotel and go wander and take pictures.  should be cool.  never been to fairbanks this time of year and have always wanted to see the ice sculptures they have...may be able to catch a bit of that, though i think it's a bit early still.  not sure.

 downtown was a ghost town in parts...then you'd see some homeless dude wandering around with their bags.  it's a tough world out there.  i really do have it good.

 we were laughing as i texted my friend that i was at the ark, her response..."what's an ark".  she clearly had a different upbringing than i did.  haha.

 it's actually nice to go close to closing to see these.  way fewer people to battle and the lighting isn't bad

 i did get some of my education stuff done last night at work  we always have education stuff to do..not that i really learn much from all the required education as we mostly just have to prove to JAHCO over and over again that we know the same things so IMHO  JAHCO has really made it tough for hospitals to give staff actual education as they have to spend so much time and effort proving that we know the same stuff every year.  brilliant plan created by some person in an office that has no idea what working at a bedside is like.

 some people get cranky with the wait in the ER and with all the ambulances coming in i guess there was a bit of a wait out there the other night.  people can be so clueless though.  you came to the ER for what....and you expect to be seen immediately?  amazing.

 right before his pick up came, wheelchair dude started screaming and carrying on...he was peeing.

 nurses/doctors...people in the medical field have some bizarre and twisted senses of humor...we have to, it's a survival technique.  years ago i had a patient that decided she was going to be going home with me when my shift ended.  she watched me all night.  wouldn't stay in her room, was out at the nurses desk.  in the morning i took a chance and had to make a run for it as soon as she glanced the other way.  man could i hear her screaming as i got on the elevator.  that nurse surely had a rough morning because i had left that old gal behind.

 this one below was pretty, i guess it's a wave with a mermaid (it loaded sideways) it could also be a bit more vulvular looking i guess.  hmm.

 of course, this guy shows up all over these days.

 doubt he'll have the longevity of Jesus but Olaf is here to stay.

 doesn't Jesus look like he's about to do a disco dance?  i should crash.  looked out, saw clouds, no lights.  i'm sure they are further north, but i'm going to call it a night.

grateful for: A.  SWIMMING and WALKING!!  B.  that our shifts last only 12 hours and not 24.  C.  pizza at the desk on busy nights....take that JAHCO!