Happy New Year....2017

 out at dog park past 2 days walking pups. they are pretty beat.  had to enjoy the decorations they put up for a fun run that happened tonight.  looked pretty cool.  they did put out bags with tea lights and rocks early on in the day which probably wasn't the best plan considering all the dogs.  Ivy shredded one of them and relocated several others before i could stop her.  they were to light the way along the trail so they were sitting out every 30-50 feet.  lucky really that Ivy only destroyed one.

 chilled with friends tonight and got home early enough to try and monitor the puppies with all the fireworks in the neighborhood...and there were tons of them.  it was loud.  tried to be chill about it all with them.  i think at midnight it just got a bit too much noise for the poor pups.  i finally shut us all in the office and turned on music really loud.  i think it is starting to settle down in the neighborhood...though i am still hearing the fireworks going off.

 could see some from my bedroom so we chilled there a bit as well.  Skelly and i ring in the New Year together.  :-)  that dude is a party animal from many past lives!

 no Rose Parade tomorrow...i forgot but it was a question on our clever homemade Jeopardy game tonight...well done MT!!

 it was much easier to get the cool 2017 glasses on SH than on the pups.  they were not impressed no matter how many tasty treats i offered...SH on the other hand required no treats to participate in the fun!!

 do feel some anxiety over the New Year and what is happening in our Nation at this time.  i know many on the Drumpf side say let it go, move on or we are whiners or whatever.  i have voted in several elections in my lifetime now.  my choices have not always been successful in the election booths...i have never feared so much post election though.  there is just a lot of anxiety.  there are so many lies, hidden facts, strange and inappropriate tweets, calls...some say he's not even in office yet...but they keep acting like this man will suddenly become Presidential or grow up once he takes the oath...all evidence is to the contrary.

 the guy is over 70 and it is doubtful that he will change.  he has shown no interest in changing.  find myself hoping for good bad news when the phone chimes to let me know some news story is trending-breaking news i guess.

 still the GOP sorts defend him and his actions by bringing up HRC...she is gone...they are the ones who need to move on and just deal with this person who has been elected.  there is for sure some concerns over connections to Russia/Putin.  clearly Putin wanted him in office...does he have stuff on him?  i hope that secretly the GOP is plotting a way out of this.  not thrilled with his crazy VP pick either but it's a small improvement over what we have coming over the next 4 years.  would i be thrilled if he proved me wrong and turned out to be not as scary as all his talk and actions so far...sure, but again all proof is to the contrary.  i haven't seen anything between the election and now that brings me any comfort at all.  i'm looking...nope, nada.

 so i'm starting the year more anxious about what may become of our Nation.

 work again is done for a few days.  Tuskers class starts again this week.  Proofing.  Tuesday.  then Ivy starts the next week.  will be a busy 6 weeks with both of them in class.

 worked ICU, ER-Holds and IMCU this week.  the holds was the usual craziness.  not as many admits as i often have but they all seemed to keep me quite busy...took quite a while to get feeling like i was on top of it all.

 loved the lanterns.

 always crack up about perceptions.  i'm sure we all find ways to ignore our bad qualities.  always crack up when folks are destroying their bodies with one substance or another...but at the same time they will speak of their healthy diets...aside from doing coke or heroin or pickling their liver, right?  you can eat as healthy as you want but if you fry your liver with alcohol you may as well eat crap cause you won't live very long anyway.

 life is certainly not fair though.  some can consume large amounts of alcohol and seemingly do very little damage to their bodies while others are pushed faster towards death with the same amount of alcohol.  a few times i have just looked at an alcoholic and said just that.  if you are under 35 and already have bleeds or liver failure issues..quit now or plan to die young.

 we did get some fresh snow...my yard is packed down thanks to the puppies playing out there.

 we have taken some nice walks in the snow.  pretty sleepy tonight though i guess.

 Ivy is pink from sledding.  i still need to look at those pictures.  was planning on doing that tonight but the fireworks and wanting to try and keep the dogs from being too effected by it took extra time.

 hopefully, we will all have a good 2017...the world seems to be a bit of a mess all over.  where can we all go to hide?

 have pretty much worn these pups out every day.  tonight after the dog park they came upstairs when i did as i wanted to at least change my pants.  they crashed and never even came back downstairs.  i usually try to leave them with some snack but i opted to just head out and not bother with it.

 snuggle time on the bed with the cat.  it seems to be a safe zone.  anyplace else the cat mixes with the pups they will chase the poor girl.

 love Tuskers beard covered with snow.

 walked a bit with a lady today who had a sheepadoodle. after talking a bit we realized they were from the same breeder as my pups.she had a litter of sheepadoodles and a litter of labradoodles. i'm happy with mine and she was happy with hers.

 hopefully i will crash soon.  i'm ready to nap

 morning snuggle time is always great.  the pups and the kitty are pretty sweet cuddlers.

 well..then there is Ivy.  she can tend towards pouncing instead of snuggling...haha.

 still a few decorated trees at the lake

 this is of me attempting to make my bed the other day..puppies made this a bit more time consuming but also cracked me up.

 ashes..

 it was time.  these below are from yesterday at the dog park.  beautiful.

 always a bummer than work and paying bills gets in the way of my fun.

 the dog door often becomes a pounce site.

 will grab a snack and finish my champagne.  May the world find peace.   May hope find us all.  May we all find health and happiness in the coming days. Goals...generally pretty loose.  be informed and involved.  don't be complacent, speak out. train pups, get them to pass Canine good Citizenship.  perhaps work towards getting them trained as dogs to visit folks who are ill.  get my pool routine back.  get a plan for getting some stuff done on the house.  plan trips for summer fun. read more and get my little free library up and running.  help the walrus and Round Island...advocate...!

thankful for:  A.  family and friends  B.  wonderful pets past and present C.  health and the ability to get outside and enjoy the beauty we have been gifted with.