Unfriended....:-(

 it happens....the facebook unfriending.  i'm sure i've unfriended a few folks.  generally when i have unfriended people it's people who are really more like acquaintances rather than people who i would consider true friends.  it also probably happened months ago but i just noticed.  this person is still friends with many of our familiar friends and at least one of my siblings...so i see her "like" stuff.  today, i decided to look at her page and see if anything new is happening...and there it was.  do you want to friend this person?  but i thought we were friends?  i wasn't stalking her by the way.  she's an old and dear friend.  since she decided one day to opt out of the friendship i occasionally just think of something that reminds me of something we did together...  today was the first time i clicked on her name to her page for probably a year or so...maybe just lack of sleep from working and coughing.

 we were, for years, very good friends.  talked, took trips, laughed...the usual friend stuff.  i have no recollection of any incident...it was really odd.  this person seemed to decide one day that she no longer would be my friend but would just be my acquaintance.  total cut off with no explanation.  oddly, i'm still friends with her husband.  being friends with someone means something to me.  i have friends who i have had for years.  you just can't always know what is going on in someone else's head or life i guess.  still...disappointing.

 as you can see from the above pictures, we got snow again today.  love snow...!!  wet early snow or spring snow is great for making snowmen.  i decided to cheer myself up with some bigger polka dot snowmen!!  ended up with one on the front deck and one on the back deck.  it does look like weather should hold and so hopefully, the front deck snowman will be ready to greet the kiddies who come trick or treating tomorrow night. Blossom was less than impresses as you can see.

 that is really it as far as Halloween plans at my end.  hope it's just kids out there and not some psychopath who decides to randomly ring door bells and then kill people.  haven't heard anything more about that poor guy who was shot that way here in Anchorage. still hoping there was some love triangle involved.  i have told people you are safe in Alaska as long as you stay away from drugs, alcohol and love...those are the three most likely things to get a person killed.  probably true everywhere.
above is the beginning of freeze up on ponds in the bog.  not my most stellar walking week.

 Blossom looks so cute in the snow.their outdoor water bowls are looking a bit frozen as well...they have snow to eat now though.

 the ground isn't totally frozen yet as it hasn't been cold enough so i suspect this will mostly melt off.  we are supposed to stay around 30F this weekend and then get more snow next week so i would be thrilled if we got a good base coat of snow to start off winter right.

 my heart got beating pretty fast last night when i arrived at work. the first patient i walked into had a huge knife on his belt.  we are not talking about some switch blade...no.  this was a huge 10 inch mini machete looking knife.  thankfully, the guy gave it up to me when i asked for it.  how many other things get brought into our ER each day.  metal detectors would be nice.  you hear those stories about stuff happening in ER's.  violence. i've seen some crap there but give one of these nut jobs or drug seekers a weapon and all hell could easily break loose.

 they had dropped off the patient for me to take care of...i saw him before i got report from the nurse.  when i saw her and mentioned the huge knife she seemed to get defensive and annoyed that i'd brought it up.  scary that this huge knife in clear view made it through triage, security desk and the guy was in the ER for several hours before being moved to my section of ER.  leave crap like that at home...you don't need a huge knife in the ER!

 the pumpkins from last week get their first dusting of snow.  forgot to put the candles in them...the lids may be frozen on.  will have to sneak the candles in through the holes

 been tired all week.  coughing is exhausting.  was happy to get an on call the first night i was supposed to work.  never got called in that night.

 the next night i was in the ER...the acute section all night.  always fun.  since i'm float pool it doesn't happen all that often.  i'm chill with whatever.  a sick patient came into the trauma room so i actually ended up with a full acute area by myself for several hours.  survived it.  thankfully, my acute patients weren't as acute as they can be.  luck of the draw.

 took Blossom out to N.  Bivouac for a loop.  out to enjoy the snow.  she got to chase her frisbee. happy dog.

 you can now have 2 babies in China.  they have finally completely reversed the old rule established in the 70's.  concern is that their current population is aging..could cause trouble in their economy.  i remember reading about they having way more males than females and these guys were now having trouble finding partners...boys are held in higher regard and often baby girls were killed off in hopes of getting the boy child.  the girls that did remain must be quite popular when it comes time for dating i'm guessing.

 another round of Presidential Debates i guess. i was working.  it's a pretty unimpressive field on both sides if you ask me...sometimes i'm happy i don't have any kids.  it's all quite depressing, how things are going in politics and in the culture in general.  there is good stuff out there. i'm not being a total pessimist. i'm just saying..wow.

 hoping the worst of the coughing is getting behind me.  i try to avoid the medicine as soon as i can. coughing is tiring but so is the medicine....have felt like i've been sleepy and lazy all week.  just have to remind myself it's the same as it always is...this too shall pass.

 out in stumphenge...not frozen yet of course. no bear tracks seen which i do like.  where to go tomorrow?  there will still be bears out there for a bit.

 looks like moose are feasting on the pumpkins cut up all over town.  so far my pumpkins have survived.  if they survive i guess you can take them to the wildlife center and donate them..as long as they have no paint or designs items that could harm the animals of course.

 little critter tracks.

 made an appointment for both dogs for Monday after the Monday walk. i'll probably have to miss coffee though to get them there.  want to get Blossoms labs rechecked.  hoping they look more normal now.  Rio has been having issues more and more with her walking.  it's getting worse. this week i made sure and give her pain meds every day just in case it was just pain related..poor girl.  seems vestibular to me.

 haven't seen anything new in the news about who killed all those walrus. no word of anyone being prosecuted yet.  do hope they are able to prosecute these folks.  some nasty people out there...

 haven't been able to push calendars and stickers this week.  work was fairly busy when i was there.  hopefully, i can get some pre-christmas sales out there.  i need to make a flyer for work and maybe for fish and game...see if anyone is interested in helping us.

 if they are going to drill for oil in Alaska i'd much prefer it to be on land...though that is sensistive as well.  stay out of the ocean until they have a clue how to do it safely.  i heard one native lady interviewed up north and she simply said it's easier to clean up a spill on land than in the ocean.  that is true.  i've seen the mess that has been made up in Deadhorse first hand...it's tough to believe what they say about when they are finished drilling for oil they will return it all to how it was before...not possible and not realistic..and if that was really their plan you would think they would be more careful to keep it as clean and possible in the now to make the clean up later easier.

 made my sad little snowman...way too plain...so the food colorings came out!!

 way more fun!!  then i remembered all my pumpkin kits for Mr Potato Head...had only used one of them...they were perfect.  :-)  cute and happy snowmen again..until the next melt.

 kind of looks like a polka dot elmo..haha.

 Blossom was pretty happy to get out on the trails today.  i was too. it always feels great to get out walking.  need to build back up to my 10,000 steps/day and then add back in swimming and other exercises.  i do want to get back in better shape.  don't we all i guess.

 we were talking the other morning about how we felt so self conscious about our bodies when we were younger and now we'd love to have our younger bodies back.  we had no idea back then how to accept ourselves and be grateful for what we have.  i'm still grateful for the body and health that i have.  i see people every day who are much less fortunate than i am.  i'm big on walking and have been for years...need to pick up the pace more though and i have skipped a few more walks this past year than i ever have over the last 20+ years..that laziness needs to cease.  i really want to add back in yoga and free weights...both things i enjoy.  don't need to go nuts on any one thing. i think you should just keep altering up what you do...aside from my walking and swimming routines once i get those back on track.

 looking down on my happy snowman!!

 Rio unimpressed with the new arrival to the yard.

 i keep having to put these little leashes on her to guide her around.  i have to help her go up and down the stairs now.  she wants to be with me.  feel badly that she wants to come up and down these stairs as i know it's rough on her.  if only i was as popular with humans as i am in the dog world, haha!!   the steps seem the worst for her but even on level ground she seems challenged...no issues with her appetite though.  that's my girl.

 it's only 9 and i'm feeling ready to go to bed.  maybe i'll settle in with a movie.  Rio is already up here anyway.  night..

thankful for:  A.  snow...always love the fluffy stuff.  B.  making my 10,000 steps today...mentally it just feels better  C.  that pumpkin bread...breakfast all week!!  thawing out more as i'm about done with these loaves..took one to work last night.  i think it was a hit!!  also i got to leave work this am early...4 am..so maybe i'll be on a better schedule this stretch off.