Dr Pepper cures Diabetes!!!

 it's amazing what you learn from your patients!!  haha.  one reason many people fail at taking care of their illnesses is that they so lack understanding of them.  i'm often amazed at how quickly people are discharged after getting some of these new diagnosis...so complicated but so little time and energy really goes into education.  of course, some folks are just nuts and no amount of education will get through to them.  clearly...it is entertaining some times though.  it's all you can really do some nights.  it's not worth the battle and stress when you won't be able to get through to certain patients...so you enjoy the entertainment factor while trying to do the best you can in the situation

 top picture is in the log on the loop around little Campbell Lake.  opted to head there today as pups got their last set of vaccines so we were on that end of town.  they seem to know to get into this log now as i keep taking photo's of them in it.  will have to compare and contrast a few from this last few months.  they are nearly 4 months old now.

 braved a trek to PetSmart with all three in tow.  tough to manage filling the cart with big bags of dog food while dealing with the dogs, but i think it went well.

 another trek to University Lake.  they are fans by the way and they again hopped right on to the bench they saw. funny pups.

 flowers blooming.

 2 nights in the ICU this week and then a night in ER doing Holds. ended up getting off work early.  everyone was well staffed. i did almost have to stay and do a 1:1 but in the end.  they decided to stick with a male staff member...last thing i want is to get beat up at work.  always a possibility.

 my risk this week was for back injury.  Haldol is wonderful but sometimes patients are weaker than expected especially after they have nearly come at you a little before this.  thankfully, some people are too weak or sick to carry out the threatening behaviours they send your way.  be kind to your nurses!! we put up with a lot of crap!!

 pups keep getting bigger and bigger.  todays weigh in had them both at over 34 pounds.  Tusker is nearly caught up to her weight.  he was 34.2 pounds while she is 34.8 pounds.

 after the vaccines we headed to Kincaid.  ran into a young moose and then the young moose's mom and i am there with 3 dogs on leash and suddenly i've got a yellow lab running towards me...did not want these moose to freak out.  there was a recent moose stomping incident or was it two different ones...can't recall.  i know 2 women were stomped though. a dog ran off but was eventually reunited with one of the injured women.

 the second park i went to this afternoon was the sight of another attack.  first the report was a person had been stabbed there, next it was a bear mauling.  a  black bear that did not appear put off by humans was killed and then now they are surmising that it may have actually been a moose stomping.  no moose have  been killed related to this.  they can do some damage though.  the guy who is injured is apparently unable to confirm or deny what really happened.

 i did the main loop avoiding the side area more near where whatever happened happened.  pretty flowers but i didn't see any cranes, figured they have all moved on.

 when i returned to the car Ivy was sleeping in the drivers seat so i had picked her up and was holding her. the trail host person came up to the car and begins to inform me that no dogs are allowed on the trail.  i informed her that i was well aware of the rule and my dogs had remained in the car.  i was probably more defensive that i needed to be, but it does get annoying being accused of stuff that you totally did not do.  also being blamed for all the actions of the bad dog owners out there.

 we spoke for a few minutes after it was clear that i was not in violation and she was not wanting to accuse me, just wanting to inform.  she told me there is actually a crane family over at the other side trail blind area that have a baby.  so i decided to head over there.  she assured me they had killed that bear...this was before the news came out that it is suspected to be a moose now.  thankfully i did not run into this moose though.

 above is signs of moose activity.  they take the bark right off the trees and munch on it.

 Ivy has lost her incisors..so we are deeply into the teething stage of life for these guys. any thoughts of leaving them out on their own are gone until we get past the teething stage....i was sleeping on the couch and when i woke Ivy was chewing on the coffee table.

 i put chili pepper on it...they sneezed but licked that off the table..so that won't work.  haha.

 then i put Gorilla tape on the edges.  not that this will totally protect it.  i will for sure need to sand the table down later and do a repair job on it.

 these are at the estuary.

 the bird i saw when i went to the blind wasn't the sandhill cranes though. never spotted them  instead it looked more like a juvenile bald eagle or similar.  hope it didn't eat the baby crane. i just had my zoom on me.  she said binocs would work to spot the family.  so i was probably just not spotting them.  i'm not a birder really.

 was listening to NPR while i was driving around today.  Muhammed Ali had his funeral so it was interesting listening to parts of the eulogies and just learning more about his life before and after boxing.  not that our family watched a lot of boxing but i do recall us all sitting down to watch a big fight Ali had when i was quite young.  i remember him saying the "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee".

 quite the character in his day.  made his impact on this world in more ways than just boxing.

 they also had a fisheries report.  they were talking about the walrus who have hauled out a ways away from Round Island in a place they did not previously seem to haul out.  concerns for how this could impact the fisheries activities this summer and if the walrus could be impacted by this.  they spoke of how they are monitoring the haul out and rules that are in place to protect walrus, which are a federally managed species.  they are on the list to become classed endangered but have not been classed that yet.

 in my garden dandelions make me nuts, but put a camera on them and they are quite the amazing plant.

 very sufficient seed scattering abilities.

 this is blurry as i tried to crop it in to id the bird.  so the bird is actually quite large. Golden eagle vs young Bald Eagle.

 confused the pups me coming home so early. i let them out in the yard and then made a gated area adjacent to the dog door.  that probably just confused them more.  oh well.  hopefully, we all get some good sleep time tonight.  i'm sure they will be awake and busting to go early in the morning.  i haven't converted them to night shifters yet.  haha

 more from the dog park.

 pups haven't started swimming but do enjoy wading.  probably Ivy more than him.

 one day between shifts i thought, i'll bath them...hoping this would lead to them doing lots of post bath zoomies and allowing me more chance to rest.  not sure it helped, but they did get pretty and clean.  Ivy will shed for sure and Tusker will be a low shed dog i think like Blossom.

 don't see no curls on her yet.  he's still all wavy.

 gotta hop in the shower and crash soon.  i ended up waking up just in time to throw on clothes and load dogs for the vets.  good to get actual sleep though.

 happy dogs playing at the dog park.

 they are a cute pair because of their contrasts.  some folks are surprised that they are from the same litter.  of course, i'm going to have to watch them as they get a bit older here and get them snipped before it becomes an issue.  i think he will get the big snip first.  keeping them quiet post op will be difficult to say the least.

 both of them attempted to get on this irregular bench but were not able to.

 i have really thought that Miss Breezy Chatterbug was unhappy with her new fur family friends...then i noticed that as the pups spot her on the stairs and run over to the bottom of the stairs she will be seen running to the bottom of the stairs as well.   this is progress.

 more dogs on benches.

 you can see his color well in this.

 kids were out on the lake canoeing.  may have to get them in little boats this summer.

 our street is repaved.  i always enjoy watching the big machines do their thing.  entertaining.  in truth it didn't disturb my sleep at all, though i really felt the house shake a few times with some of the work they did.

 Ivy did a meet and greet and then joined Blossom.

 then she returned to bench only to have Tusker decide to use her as a bench.

 fresh snow on the mountains...there had been more but i think this was later in the day.

 Ivy take the wheel....she will be all grown up and driving before you know it!!

 better get to bed...

thankful for:  A.  so many safe hikes and trips.  you just never know when it's your time.  not sure what will actually kill me but i've had many close calls it seems...death by bear or moose stomping are not high on my wish lists of ways to go.  B.  my sense of humor and that of my co-workers. i'm sure some would think us unfeeling for laughing at crazy patients, but it's how we survive.  C.  my furs....people may come and go but the furs are always with me.