fastest swimmer at the pool tonight!!

 liked this selfie i took out at Reflections Lake today.  had to get out of my walking rut. getting more light, need to drive further out and explore the world.  :-)  beautiful day as you  can see.  like my new hat.  just had stopped by REI for a parking pass for 2016 but this hat called out to me.  love winter wear and ski hats.  my hair doesn't always love it but oh well.

 these are at Cheney Lake, walked Blossom then got the kicksled out and we took it for a spin as well.  another beautiful day.

 one of my speakers for our REI event seems to be backing out.  annoying, will have to email him tomorrow and see if he's found a replacement.  hope he doesn't leave us high and dry.  we plan on some snacks and door prizes.  should be fun.  coming up fast.  our first event...you'd like it to go off without a hitch, but that never happens so hoping for the best.

 hit the gym tonight.  elliptical, rower, bike, free weights and then 25 laps!!  felt great. my shoulder was feeling a bit sore when i hit the gym earlier this week so i was happy that a few days rest at work seem to have taken care of that.  i was the fastest swimmer in pool...now i must confess that there wasn't really a lot of competition in the lap lanes...but still.  i think this one guy got out pretty quick.  he had joined our lap which already had two of us...when you add a third you then have to loop the lap...after he'd only done a few laps he looked at me said i was a fast swimmer and then he was gone...just me and the dude with the big growth on his face

 had great co-workers in PCU the last two nights...last night the swimming had come up in conversation. my co-worker had said she loved to swim but was a bit of a germaphobe and the pools grossed her out. thought of her as this guy with this big lump on his face got in.  he seemed pretty nice, but i did think...man if that thing pops out here i will make a run for it.

 lady screaming "hello" half the night.  not my patient, but it did make me sing that adele song all night.  at one point she screamed so loud the boys came running from another pod.  gave them the all clear.

 my first night i did holds in  the ER.  it actually went pretty well.  i think because i kind of took control and the charge let me.  still ended up with 9 admits during my 12 hour shift.  when i got in last night i had a note from  5N chart nazi telling me i hadn't completely filled out the admit section on vaccines...well guess what 5N...you can do your own admits now.  bleep,bleep, bleep...see if you fill out all the dots next time you try to admit 9 patients in a 12 hour shift!!

 these are in the bog...always a great in between shift place to take Blossom.

 i'm on week 5 of my exercise plan!!  :-) always makes me happier to work out.  hopefully, this will eventually pay off in the next few months...a healthier me!!

 tried to get the Byers cabin for labor day weekend...all three cabins out there were booked solid..dang it!!  got it the week before.  probably not many will be able to join.  hopefully, i can find some takers though.  so i have 3 cabins for the summer.  will need to send a deposit for the bear viewing trip so i don't miss out on that one.  a few friends may join me out there.

 these are back out at Reflections Lake.

 Musher Martin Busers son is still recovering from a bad car wreck in Washington.  sounds like a head injury...will take time, but he is young so hopefully he will be okay.  those head injuries are awful though.  he's not sure if he will run the race this year, understandable.  family comes first.

 speaking of Mushing....there was a race going on when we had our 7.1 shaker.  many teams were on a frozen river. the ice was pitching and water was shooting up between new cracks in the ice.  below was water..running river water.  the situation could have proven life threatening very quickly.  this was all happening at 1:30 am to boot...i'd be pretty freaked out.

 not sure now where i'd seen another story...but it was about the bigger 1964 quake and some guys who were out on Portage Lake when that quake hit.  they did survive but the guy was telling tales of how scary it was out there with the ice pitching...trying to get off of the center of the lake only to hit more large ice obstacles closer in and i think maybe even some water from the tsunami wave actions...which ultimately sounded like it drove them back to the center of the lake...meanwhile darkness was setting in.  i'll have to find that and re-read it.

 was thinking a wee bit about quakes as i was out on this walk today.  how stable is that land out there, probably not very and highly susceptible to wave action as well.  we survived though.

 and were rewarded with some lovely views.

 no puppy yet for me.  i'll have to wait.  would actually be nice to wait until fall if i'm going to get a puppy.  better to have more time for training.  summer gets so busy.  really do need to check into remodeling the place as well.  would be great to have a better puppy set up.

 more and more bad news coming out of Syria and Iraq.  innocents starving, being used as human shields.  many trapped at the borders edge hoping to escape.  it is overwhelming to imagine the horrors that will be told if and when peace ever returns to the region.  no peace in sight though.  read too that another group of crazies were taking out many civilians and even burning children alive.  it's all very depressing...have no idea how we solve all the issues that face this earth.

 someone put some pretty designs in at Cheney Lake.  they are hot mopping a much larger area at this park these past few years.

 raven keeping watch over the lake .

 ducks take advantage of the small area of open water.

 was zipping up the stairs the other day and i must say my knee felt pretty dang normal.  still some clicks and weakness but i think my extra gym work out is helping improve and strengthen the joint.

 this lady was doing laps out there on the lake on ice skates with her little one in the stroller...looked like good and fun exercise.

 2 college students in Virginia lured in a young girl and killed her.  i'm always wondering how a conversation even gets started to lead a couple down this path.  who is the one who first says..wouldn't it be great to kill someone?  just so nuts...who has these sort of conversations?  crazy, psycho, sick people...do they have a dating web page just for people like this.

 some fishing holes out there on Cheney Lake.  mostly i just kept Blossom on leash.  didn't want her sliding around too much on the slick ice and being sore after.  my girl is 10 now.  i keep telling her she is not allowed to age.  it's been tough having Rio gone...don't want to lose my Blossom for many years.

 three moose hunters died out of Togiak when their boat swamped.  none had on life jackets.  this is a small community near Round Island...i'm sure it's a huge lose for them all.  2 folks were found murdered, as it turned out, at Point Woronzof.  family went down and put brightly painted rocks over the bloodied areas'.  i'm sure it's all made more creepy and sad because of those strange statue forms out there.

 a glider was used by Woods Hole scientists past summer i think to cruise over the arctic waters listening for marine mammals. lots of walrus sounds and whales.  still new but just another way to try and get an idea of populations and numbers.  cool when modern technology helps our walrus population and other marine life.

 looks like i may get to bed at a lovely time.  woke up at a decent hour today..got moving and out the door..less sleep today, but it should hopefully help me flip over to reasonable sleeping hours for my stretch off.  need to hit the gym tomorrow to get my weeks goals.  shopping in a few weeks is looking good!!

 thought these turned out lovely..so pretty out there today.

 need some water before i head to bed.  i have so much on the to do list.  exercise really does take some time...it's good time though.  always easier to do the fun stuff in life and put off the to do stuff of life.

 ok, well.  catching up on the news...i'm much happier not focusing on the election crap or at least not writing about it...apparently it's not high on anyone else's list to read about here as well.  there is enough Alaska related news out there i think.

 was reading about the Denali Doubles.  a sled dog race started by Jeff King.  guess it pairs an experienced team with an inexperienced team.  they go from Cantwell to Tangle Lakes and back. the road is closed in winter.  sounds like it would be pretty cool to me.  just to be out there is always cool...it's so pretty. i'll just have to do my Denali Highway crossing a wee bit early this fall..or just play up at the cabin for a few days and do the crossing of the highway over Labor Day and just head back home rather than camp out extra. there are other cool places to check out.

 hoping for some fun road trips this summer.  plans fill up fast.  it's stressful already...trying to get everything planned and set up for summer.  aack!!

 some signs of life out there already...way too early for real spring.

 out skating on Reflection lake...though if you are thinking about it..i thought it all looked a bit rough out there  not smooth at all in most places.  a few open patches to watch out for as well.

 never disappoints though.

 great to get out of Anchorage.  you get a bit stir crazy not hitting the road...the roads are pretty clear mostly in winter...at least the main roads.

 i'm sleepy...lack of sleep and exercise will do that to you

thankful for: A.  family...healing thoughts and prayers to my sister in law, she has surgery next week. hoping all goes well.  B.  being the fastest swimmer today...i know my competition wasn't all that, but it still felt great.  :-)  C.  that happy feeling your body has after a good work out.