Birthday celebrations!!

 at my age my own Birthday is hardly worth celebrating but puppies...how fun is that?

 don't worry, no chocolate was eaten...they did nibble on the bottom of the cupcake. they seemed to like it! didn't light candles either.  anyone need some 1 candles?

 generally don't do loads for my dog birthdays.  obviously it means little to them and is only for my own entertainment.  lets just say...it was entertaining.  :-)

 a few from my snow shoe yesterday too in here.

 no room for the surprise moose encounter in the neighborhood today though.  those will have to be shared another day.

 loved how Ivy's face looked in this shot.  caught her with her eyes part way closed but it came out funny.  she is Ms Personality in this house.

 she is for sure a bit more scrappy being in heat.  i do have pity for the poor girl being a female myself and having had to deal with girly stuff.

 she would be great in a tampax commercial though.  it doesn't seem to have slowed her down one bit!!  she is leaping at great heights.

 my chopped up hair happily hidden under a hat. gotta love winter.

 yes, that is CNN.  i do watch a variety of news shows from time to time.  mostly it was back ground noise as i got ready to walk the pups....and took silly pictures of them.

 funny on the trails today.  almost everyone i saw i know.  small town.  when i first arrived there were 3 co-workers that were meeting up at the same time. i think a few of them thought i was with them.  i got to parking lot and saw another car there with a dog so all i was thinking was bolt from car and get my dog in heat out on the trail away from any other dogs.  as i was booking i hear my name called out.

 probably a wee bit awkward as i've walked with these folks before and i wasn't not included. i'm sure i could have joined them but they seemed to be sticking to main trail and i wanted to get out in the back woods quickly.

 then when i was out there a cross country skier started booking towards me, it was one of the docs i work with.  run into him out there probably more than i see him at work.

 then ran into the one group of folks i don't know.  thankfully, i had grabbed up Ivy as they had an intact male.  everyone was chill and he cruised past when i told him i had a girl in heat. in the parking lot i got the kids in and then looked over to see some familiar doodles. it was jillian.  so i popped out to chat with her.  it's been awhile since i've seen her i guess. i heard from Stan (another trail friend) that she had been traveling.  anyway, she hadn't heard about Blossom so we talked a bit.

 i put these festive "it's my birthday" ribbons on the pups for the walk. i really thought they would have shredded these off pretty fast but they were on the whole walk.  despite wrestling.

 it was a beautiful day up here today...

 walking always fills me up and relaxes me.  i still have some sort of sinus thing brewing. have been sleeping way more than usual.  actually i'll probably crash soon after i finish this.  i'm usually awake til after 1 am so the fact that i'm ready to crash is odd.

 such cute puppies.

 when i got home and out of my car the puppies and spotted a moose across the street.  since the pups had spotted it as well, i got them into the house fast so we wouldn't have any situation with a moose.

 i came back outside and grabbed my camera.  one can never have too many pictures of moose, right?  the moose was young and was in my neighbors front yard across the street. then i spotted the mama moose coming down the street towards my place, but still across the street.  at that time my card said it was full, so i reached into my car and dug in my pack for another card, changed it and then...

 when i popped out of the door of the car i saw that the young moose had walked silently right into my driveway...it was within 10 feet of me at this point.  it stepped into the deep snow for a bite of my little tree branches and left me alone and i left him alone.  a nice little moment though.

 more immigration stuff.  there are for sure things i agree with in some degree but then there is reality.  it's easy to say, they are here illegally so we will just kick them out, but reality is much more blurry than that. our economy thrives in part due to this symbiotic relationship we've had for years with the illegal aliens.  families have lived for decades here illegally.  i think it will be distasteful for the public to watch kids torn from their parents...no matter how much you are against the illegal aliens being here.  looking around at work most of the more tasky jobs fall to immigrants.  many of whom do several of these sort of jobs to get by. they are hard working and driven.  in truth much more than many Americans born and raised here. for many a work ethic is lacking, but those coming in as immigrants/refugees often have a very good work ethic.  it's sink or swim.

 probably find the most compromise when it comes to illegals.  the immigrants and refugees come here legally.  i suspect the visa program is where we have some work to do.  many come on visas legally but then never leave.  for sure if they are caught for any violent related crime they should go.  traffic ticket, probably not.  seems there should be a way to grandfather in those who have been here years, or find some way to bridge that somehow.  the flow has slowed by all reports.

 i do not have all the answers...but i do know our economy and our nation rely on immigrants, refugees, illegal and legal aliens and folks working under various visa's.  the fear and concern that is being generated right now will have repercussions for years to come.  highly educated and trained folks will just find work in other nations that are more welcoming and we will be screwed...especially medicine.  so those who will soon find themselves without insurance again due to the current will also find it hard to find a Dr period.  up to 25 % of our MD's, especially rural are not from here.  we don't have enough.

 i was also thinking of the impact on travel.  travel to the states will probably also take a hit.  who wants to be harassed at the airports and risk being turned away despite making vacation plans or who will even consider coming here for university if you may be screwed over part way through.

 too often people seem to want a quick fix and life is much more complicated than that.  quick fixes have long term consequences.

 all i need to do is look at my self done haircut to know that is true.  haha.

 Breit--- lost Mi--.  no great loss, but i've never really known who this guy was.  drama!!  makes me wonder if Breit--- is filled with all those annoying stir the pot folks that we all have to deal with at work.  there are always those people.  creating drama where no drama needs to exist.  gossiping and turning people against each other.  can't stand those folks but they exist in every work place.  i have been the victim of that.  still cracks me up.  i totally confronted the person and they really looked pretty silly when the truth was put to them.  the best way to shut down these type of people is to just confront them.  silliness.  i'm still baffled as to why this guy and conservative alt rights were cozy to begin with.  talk about strange bedfellows.

 the ribbons look super cute...right?

 another week with minimal accomplished.  feel like i have slept all these days off.

 had the frisbee out the past few walks. try to keep them directed forward or toss it into the deep snow.  they are not 100% on the retrieving though so that worked better when i was wearing the snowshoes.  easier for me to retrieve it.

 frosty eyelashes.  it warmed up a bit today for sure.  guess it dropped down.  i went to dinner with a friend and when i went to leave i realized the sunny day and turned cloudy.

 did enjoy the sunshine though.

 nature fills your heart and soul i find.  when you are sad, you find peace.

 snow is beautiful and silent.  love the crunch of you and the dogs as you walk in it.

 not sure the puppies have any interest in the snow other than to play in it.  i'm sure they will be sad to see it go in the spring and happy for it's return in the fall.

 in the meantime we will have to contend with bears again.

 for now...no bears.   though i sometimes wonder how close we are actually walking to denned up bears out there.

 Tusker is finding he enjoys flopping into the snow and rolling around.  it's pretty cute...their little personalities are coming out more and more.

 the politics are still there.  it's still depressing and feeling chaotic. i try to remind myself that not every thing that is threatened will come to pass.  make calls, prepare to march, you do what you can and then, you hope.  hope that there are some decent folks working on the inside, hoping for good news, hoping the system works, hoping that the revenge of the right will subside and calm.  societies need to come up against the system and each other from time to time.  we've been here before and we will be here again.

 shaking off the snow

 such a handsome boy i have.  not much to say...enjoy the cute pics of my puppies.  they bring me great joy and companionship.  dogs have always done that for me.

grateful for:  A.  surviving the first year with 2 puppies.  whew! B.  that so many will be in Texas to support my brother and his family.  i'm there in spirit for sure...C.  moose, never bore of them