i should be sleeping...

 that is always the way it is it seems.  spent some time at the local hilltop ski resort over the past week.  Tusker and Ivy like to wrestle and sometimes that means a collar gets lost.  it was found and determined that i'd pick it up here.

 a few old shots of my pups that turned out on facebook...so cute.

 i do have a new battery as mine died again at the ski place so i just got it replaced.  i know i was ripped off but it's new and should work.

 look at this adorable puppy.  she gets cuter and cuter.

 Ivy appears to be in heat it seems.  hopefully, she is over it enough by the 28th for surgery.  it was a convenient time for her to have it done.  of course, life isn't always convenient.  have read some stuff about when to spay.  Blossom was done fairly early and ended up with a bit of a leaky bladder.  i'd read that waiting a bit and allowing their bodies to mature a bit more helps prevent this.  we shall see.

 moose in the neighborhood and some pics from the Monday walk.

 Ivy will have to miss her last day in class for Rally.  i'll just take Tusker instead.  we can certainly go through the motions of the rally stuff together.  poor Ivy.

 before i headed to work the other day i thought to get a room in Fairbanks.  they were deciding the next day about the restart maybe starting in Fairbanks again. happy i did that...they are starting in Fairbanks.  now to decide take puppies with or leave them behind.  i can take them to the hotel i got rented.  would just have to leave them in the car. could see if they could stay home too.  i think weather and temperatures would be a big factor.

 no doubt it would be easier without them anyway.  i'd miss them though.  they are becoming my little snuggle pups more and more.  so cute.

 moose are for sure showing up in town more and more.  will have to be on more leash walks over the next few weeks due to the heat thing.  so we leashed it today in the bog and then up to Patterson and down...that just adds distance.  Tusker was sniffing around and i pulling a bit.  being somewhat tired i wasn't really getting that perhaps there was a moose nearby...and then i looked to my left and there was a moose 20 feet off resting in the snow.  oops.  the pups didn't bark...good pups.  and we were able to walk passed it.

 from the ski place....the big jumps!!

 grooming...anyway.  on my way down patterson a moose jumped out onto the sidewalk and then crossed the street to a small park there.  these big beasts are pretty funny to see just out there doing their thing.

 last weeks Monday walk crew.

 three nights of work down.  where did i work.  CICU one night.  pretty chill. i only had 2 patients and neither was too labor intensive.  the next night they actually put me as a 1:1 sitter/nurse with a patient.  she slept much of night so that was chill as well.

 so night 2 and 3 were in the ICU.  last night i kept a bit busier.

 love the people who can have different views on things yet find common ground and can discuss without it becoming totally heated.  my sister is like that.  so we had a good talk.  i was telling her that i tend to have to watch a fair amount of faux news as i call it (fox) because i often have patients who have it on constantly in their rooms.  i see it enough to know that it is pretty crappy news wise.  they for sure sugar coat stuff for their right leaning audience imho.

 i do crack up that often people start to talk to you assuming you think just like they do.  they spout off the crap they have heard over and over again on faux.  it's pretty sad really.  so my one patient starts in with some crap about building the wall to keep the terrorists out.  i pointed out that i have no information that Mexico is a conduit for terrorists...i don't think any have come from there.

 hate to say this out loud lest someone get the idea but in truth we have a much greater likelihood of having terrorists cross in through Canada.  if they are afraid of immigrants and refugees...and they are clearly, i don't believe Mexico is known as a huge immigrant and refugee mecca.  of course, building that wall would be much longer and even more expensive.  honestly, forget these walls and spend money on more border patrols.  building the wall will also mean that roads will be needed as infrastructure to build the wall...roads would benefit the very folks these folks are supposedly trying to keep out

 more snow and i shoveled more so my reward for shoveling snow is i get to put my flowers and such out there.  i even build a small snow shelf on the street side and wrote free so i could put some stuff out there to get rid of. would anyone want cassette tapes. really pointless to have.  when did i last listen to a cassette tape?  i did flowers but of course, i had to write something walrus related as well.

 there was a huge stranding of whales in New Zealand...many have died.  so sad.

 above was the reason i couldn't get out of bed the other day....my leg is in the middle of those two pups so i couldn't move obviously. the sun felt great too.

 later that same patient started to rip on the judges who stayed the order to not enforce the ban.  i kind of shut him down by simply stating that i have always found the branch of our government that i respect the most as the judicial branch.

 i have often in life had the gift of being able to say things to people without them getting pissed off or realizing that they were just burned.  one friend used to get so pissed at me for  it.  doesn't seem to work on a few of my siblings.  but debate is a sport for some of them. have just avoided it all at this point with a few of them.  just not worth possibly getting into some argument that will not go well.  so yes, like many other families there is some divisions as far as what we believe to be happening in DC at this time.

 these are in the bog today.

 did let them off leash in one area i could watch from both directions.  tossed a frisbee into the deep snow to wear them out a bit.

 the phone pics always get all jumbled.

 the nightmares and assault on the left continue.  it really just seems like spite and it also is directed at making it easier for corporations to function without restrictions..stuff that protects workers and the environment seem to be under attack.  also animal welfare.

 all during Obama's administration and others as well you could call the White House and a real human answered and took down your statement.  that has been shut down with the current iitoo.  that just feels pretty scary really.

 i doubt the guy knows are cares of these details and suspect many are being done in his name without him even knowing.  he seems to not have much interest in the details of running our government.  he seems also to have a very short attention span.  i suspect many around him don't want to let out what a huge mess this all is.

 his business and our government seem to be getting more and more mixed.  it's a mess.  the damage being done is not good.

 only can hope that when this crashes it crashes  in such a way that the GOP will be humbled and embarrassed and perhaps finally work with others.  how do you take down the iitoo without causing his flock to not go mad.

 pups chasing each other in the snow . so cute

 Tusker finishes up.  won't be able to get the ivy shot...she somehow always misses her last day of class.

 Skelly is decked out for the next holiday.  this is what i feel like waiting for love and romance these days...haha.

 next month St Pats...April easter, May i think rain and flowers?  not sure.  june camping/fishing?  trying to keep Skelly decked out each month.  could be a cute cover of next years calendar with all the many faces of Skelly.

 a few friends are going to cruise out Portage Glacier. not sure that i'll join.  it's getting late and i haven't climbed in bed yet.

 soon.  a few from another walk...more puppies with scarves.

 the tennis ball trees...still a few left.  cracked up as Ivy knew they were there and she jumped up and grabbed one to play with.

 she has so much personality.  Tusker is my sweet snuggler.  when i sit in my rocker chair she often climbs in my lap...not much room for her now that she is getting bigger but we still make it happen.  both are love bugs.

 in black and white.

 want to sit around and write more resistance poetry.

 loved this of Tusker!!

 and of sweet Ivy Rose.

 also need to write to some folks and see if i can get a walrus speaker for this years event at REI.

 so i survived my three nights of work.  planned a run to Fairbanks. i am thinking of putting off Iceland...just want our nation to chill a bit.  want to think more about spending my money on land so i can get more off the grid if needed or remodel the kitchen.  will try to do more road trips this summer.  so many cool places to go and the pups should be road test ready more.

 stop action

 guess i should head to bed.  getting tired.  pups are pretty crashed out already anyway.

thankful for:  A.  12 hour shifts.  one patient last night constantly had his hand on his dick...so tired of seeing his junk all night.  3 -12 hour shifts is enough when you do my job.  B.  puppy snuggle time  C.  rational friends and family whom we can discuss all topics without hating on each other.