puppies are like kids some times...

 they can make you nuts right before they go to sleep.  they just get so riled up before dropping off. then they are sleeping and look like the little angels that you know they are.  i think Pogi feels the same about them.  the cats seem to know when the pups drift off and then they come out and check them out from a safe distance.

 haven't gotten to a point where the cats aren't the subject of a hot pursuit.  poor cats.  i have the upstairs blocked off so the cats can have safe zone. i am in a puppy haze or puppy fog.  raising two pups is not easy task.  i know it will be worth it eventually, but there are a few minutes in each day where i question my judgement.

 it would appear Blossom does too. haha.

 we hit portage area yesterday.  short road trip.  i have good moments and then every so often...the leashes get wrapped around me, or Blossom decides to head for the smelliest puddle she can find and the pups try to follow her or suddenly a pup will leap up on a table or grab shoes or socks or...who knows.  i'm sure Cesar Milan has moments of irritation...he just edits them out.

 i think overall we are doing okay though.  thankfully dogs generally forgive your little moments.

 i shifted the crate i had upstairs downstairs.  i had figured i'd really push the sleeping in separate crate thing once they hit 12 weeks.  many pups don't leave their moms until about now anyway.  they are getting bigger so it seemed like a good idea.  all the dogs are downstairs sleeping at this time.

 fun play time in the yard today.  did some stuff around the house.  did a walk in the bog.  i may have tired Tusker out too much for puppy class.  i took him today.  Ivy is peeing frequent small amounts so i fear her UTI may have returned.  no way i was going to subject her to an hour class with that bladder issue.  that wouldn't be fair.  they want me to bring the dominant puppy though, pretty sure that would be Ivy.  although she is less the dominant pup when she is on her own.

 love the determination in little Tusker to get this watering jug onto the chair.

 today in the bog i had gotten the pups off leash in the big field.   a family happened by with 2 dogs..it's the same family i took pictures of the little toddler walking the pups several weeks back.  he was so thrilled and then had a total meltdown when we had to leave.  today Ivy was making her usual leap at their dog, the older dog gave her a good scare in the form of a snap at her.  the dog didn't bite, just a warning. they apologized, but i said, no, that is exactly what she needed.  she needs to understand that other dogs don't appreciate her behaviour. she was so funny though as after that happened she ran right to me for protection.

 a few minutes before that a few kids who had been playing a ways off saw the puppies and made a run towards us.  this caused the pups to make a run for them.  the pups jumped on the little kid, kid got freaked out. i got the pups off and calmed the kid. it is strange to see kids without a parent around these days.  eventually once i had the situation already under control a father came over.  i actually got the feeling he wanted to be annoyed with me, but i suspect he was supposed to be watching these kids who had wandered quite a ways from the house unnoticed.  they were still in pj's and slippers.

 so i guess the class went fine.  bummed that the owner wasn't teaching. she really was great with Blossoms classes all those years ago. our teacher is sort of a drone.  tusker perked up for play time, but it was way short.  also when we were doing loose leash practice she was just have us walk in individual circles. you really need to get dogs moving forward not spinning in circles in place.  that was annoying and useless.  turning circles with a dog in heel is actually a skill best kept for a much later class.  trying to get a puppy to spin in a tight circle is pointless.

 did take the tunnel through to Whittier.

 it's so funny...and the reason i love winter.  summer guilt.

 today was sunny and warm, in the 70's.  in the summer a nice day like this you feel obligated to have some major adventure. i mean every day you must peak or ride 50 miles or paddle...when you just chill at home you have this guilt of wasting a day and not taking advantage of the good weather.  in the winter you have no guilt if you cabin up one day, get some stuff done.

 little earthquake as i relaxed a few minutes at home last night. guess it was centered in Talkeetna area, somewhere in the 4 range. it felt pretty short at my place but it was a pretty good shake, the cats noticed it as did i.  not sure if the dogs picked up on it.

 there was also a little forest fire in the campbell airstrip area i think.  i thought i smelled smoke as i headed home last night. sounds like there may have been some issues with keeping drones down so they could fight the fire. people need to be reasonable.

 there is cool waterfall that i was trying to hike to. it's supposedly a short hike. these trails up top are still covered with snow though. we did hike out to Byron Glacier.

 i used my little camera for those pictures though. i had forgotten to put the memory card back in my big camera. for these i had stopped at the little general store in Whittier and bought a new memory card there.  so really not a worthwhile trek into Whittier, but oh well.  it's all part of the day, right?

 got my steps in today easily, but i kept thinking i'd get in an additional walk.  stopped by the pet store and bought indoor puppy play area for the days i work.  hopefully, this will help me get a bit more sleep between shifts.  at some point the pups will be more trustworthy on their own.

 was happy that Tusker wasn't deemed as the most rough puppy in the play area.  we shall see how it goes with Ivy next week.

 bought some new toys as well.  was looking for more interactive toys. they do like this one i have where they roll it around and treats fall out.

 Whittier in the distance.

 i try to find safe places to reward pups with some off leash time, but they do not have a good recall, especially Ivy. i thought i had a good spot picked out at Byron Glacier, but then Ivy headed up the snow...and you can go pretty far. that doesn't mean the snow is all that stable.  so once i got her back..leash baby!!

 i remember this with Blossom as well. it's easy to forget that you have actually started to teach them the words to respond to...you start to panic and then you just are not calm at all.  use your words...remember them..they will help.

 some lupine showing up already.

 also 3 new wood bison calves.

 they were pretty close to the fence, a ways from me... a car pulled up and kids jumped out and started to run towards the bison and the fence.  i could hear the mom yelling, dont get too close, but that kid didn't listen.  the bison made a pretty serious run towards him. there is the fence, but still, it's a large animal coming at you. i'm sure parents forget the words in their panic as well.

 they have temporarily moved the black bears to a different place.  Blossom can now see them from the car and she started to bark.  this freaked out little Tusker, that is how i got those selfies. Tusker joined me in the front seat.

 pups seem to have settled nicely into their own crates. i think Ivy was excited by the new crate downstairs and she loaded in quickly.

 bison nursery.  so cute.

 will hit the sack soon.  i'm sure the pups are cutting down on my snacking in the wee hours.  don't want to wake them.

 didn't see the brown bears for any easy shots.  since i stop through fairly regular, i only take a run through and take pictures of the animals that make themselves available for pictures.

 the buses will start to roll out soon..tourists.  a nice May like this is nice as the locals kind of get a chance to enjoy the summer without the masses.

 i came around to this side of the bison area.  i was again near the fence but the bison were further off. the babies started bouncing towards my direction so i figured i'd take some steps backwards so i didn't stress the mama bison and get charged.  i stepped right into one of the old bison footprints in the mud out side their enclosure.  they do move them around from time to time.  (obviously, not when people are there).  i know i was going down.  i managed to at least have a semi controlled fall to the ground where i ended up splayed on my back.

 after i got up and dusted myself and my ego off a guy in another car near by drove past but stopped to tell me that mine had been the most graceful fall he had ever witnessed.  i guess those forced ballet courses must have paid off.

 i really wanted to take gymnastics but my mother insisted i must take ballet.  i was not ballerina material however.  as it turns out...i really wasn't gymnast material either.

 cute baby wood bison.

 the terns are starting to arrive.  these smallish birds come with a lot of attitude.  screaming at all the other birds.  i mean they did fly all the way from Antarctica so i guess that affords them some attitude.

 as i ate my cold cereal yesterday morning on the deck, eating and referee'ing pups in  a wrestling match....i watched a bald eagle flying past with a seagull in hot and angry pursuit.  i'm sure that baldie could easily just eat that flying annoyance, but he doesn't.

 other duck type bird pairs...sorry i'm not a very good birder.

 this guy is pretty though.  off to bed, while i can get some sleep.

thankful for: A.  beautiful sunny summer days.  B.  friends who listen to me drone on about puppies in my puppy filled life  C.  sleep...long uninterrupted sleep.

nearly 10 inches shorter....but hair grows. :-)

 was feeling frumpy and i think i worried that a stylist would just look at frumpy me and give me some standard frumpy 50 year old hair style so...the other morning i put it in a pony tail and lopped off 10 inches...more once i evened it out.

 always fun getting the reaction, which a friend at work not too long ago who had cut off her locks had said as well.  i still should probably make an appointment to even it out a bit more and/or put in a few highlights and such...so far i'm pretty happy with the shorter look though.

 these are at zoo and conservation center by the way...still catching up on Junes photo's.

 over the years i have done chops of my hair. i actually think it's good for your hair to give it a good chop on occasion.  my hair has always grown back pretty fast really and eventually i tend to get bored with having less options, which happens with shorter hair.  i am a Gemini.  haha.

 i have also never wanted to be my hair.  my hair is a part of me, but i am me not matter my hair length.  i think when you have long hair you almost get afraid to cut it, like you are taking away a part of who you are. so i guess when you do cut it, it is a bit freeing.

 so, nice to get loads of likes and comments on facebook and more comments at work.  one co-worker has been in the same debate with her longer hair.  to cut or not to cut.

 i think a few were a bit sad to see my hair chopped off, though still positive.  it does grow back....at least for now it still has.

 these baby bears are super cute.

 work this week was 90% Emergency Room and 10% PACU.  not even sure what that stands for.  post surgery recovery...they were totally backed up i guess with no rooms seeming to come available.  me and another girl from float pool came in to save the day even though neither of us had been oriented down there.  didn't seem a bad gig to me.  i'm sure now that i've been sent there once they will be likely to return me again.

 i did get rooms for my patients and then went down to the ER to save them!! since OR patients got the last of the beds...ER quickly backed up.  i think by morning we had 15 holds...i had 4.  not a bad night.  the next night i was in the acute part of ER most of the night.  they don't always put me there but i think i survived.

 last night i was on the west side of the ER and then later moved to the east side.

 i'm all good with family and friends being "advocates" for people but let me just say that being an advocate does not mean you are required to be pushy arse holes..just saying.  i held my tongue.  i'm better at just shutting up than faking nice.  i'm sure i did make a few slightly snarky retorts.

 when the one family member got in my face complaining of the wait and saying, "should i just go out and buy her some ibuprofen?"...or some such nonesense, i almost said he was welcome to wheel his mom out and go to one of the other hospitals in town, but i suspected since everyone was on divert the wait times at those would not be much of an improvement.

 most of my training was at Los Angeles County Medical Center.  wait times in those county hospital ER's go far beyond the less than 2 hour wait time this guy was dealing with.  they roll trauma after trauma past....8-10 hour waits was not unusual for less critical issues. Whiners...

 they are supposed to start on my roof in the next few days.  would have been today i guess but it was raining pretty good this morning.

 wasn't sure so i closed all my blinds so that i would wake to noise and some roofer standing over me.  tonight i have fresh sheets to sleep in.  aww...!!  did sleep great today. nice that i won the ER drawing and went home last night at 5am.

 this one doc in the ER is actually super caring with patients and good, but he can get a bit cranky...nothing major just cranky when he's tired...at one point he stood tapping his foot at me.  i almost said that line from "Legally Blonde", "don't stomp your prada shoes at me".  only so much i can do....i had his last patient of the night.  he was trying to get her taken care of so he could start to catch up and go home...he was several hours late getting out of there anyway.  i really did not hold him up.  i think he knew i was dealing with the idiot son anyway. he told another nurse later the son was a doosh.  (totally spelled that wrong)

 got a late start as usual on the walk but really not too bad.  i keep debating where to go.  i want to do different hikes and change it up a bit.  still debating a short road trip over the next few days.  always fun.

 ended up going out to Reflection Lake for a loop and then drove out to Palmer and returned via the Old Glenn.  it's been awhile since i drove that way.  clouds, sunshine mixed with rain at times. pretty out though.

 yesterday i got Rio and Blossom out for a loop in the Bog.  Rio is still slow and i am for sure taking her less.  she's done her time.  you rarely see any Mastiffs out of trails, let alone an old gal like Rio.  that dog will try and do anything for me though so i try to take the decision away from her.  i think she knows it's best too, but i know she misses us when we are away.

 always time for snuggle time with Rio on the couch though later.

 my steps have been great. even with zero steps recorded for this new day today my week average is still easily over 10,000 steps/day. so what ever i walk today will just increase that.  my pool and bike time could improve.  still want to get this 50 year old body looking a bit less 50 and more 30....haha...!! i see 70 and 80 year olds doing amazingly athletic things so i know it's possible !!

 the black bear shape is so different from the grizzly body shape. especially when you see the black bear in profile.

 our cool ranger from out last trip out to Round Island is headed back there to give one of the current rangers a break...!!  so excited for her, that should be fun.  she is the one who did the art for our logo and our next sticker.

 thought this was funny of the bear taking a deep sniff of the lupine...so not only do bears shit in the woods, they take time to stop and smell the flowers. i like them even more now.

 the kid next door has said he will watch Blossom and the cats while i am in Barrow.  so that is a relief.  this will be the first time i leave him with them for longer than while i am at work.  he is over 18 now and he has known Blossom her whole life.  hopefully, it all goes well.

 the lupine is pretty much gone now and the scenery has filled with fireweed.

 still mesmorized by their feet and claws...that was a huge thing that stuck with me when that bear was trying to claw it's way into my car while i was sleeping in there.  the claws clicking into the open window.

 i have been walking on my own a lot this summer and have not been anxious at all. it is amazing how these things happen and you learn to keep them in perspective.

 big cuts expected for our local military...congress may reverse at least some of those cuts. personally, i think Alaska being closest to Russia and Russia's new quest to take over the entire arctic..i think it's wise to keep a strong military presence here.

 a possible ferry between St Paul and St George...that would have been nice when we were there visiting.  our trip got a wee bit more spendy when we had to charter a plane between the two islands, which are pretty close together. water had turned rough anyway...but a ferry option would be great.  St George is less visited but much more picturesque.

 at least 12 sea lions killed near Cordova have been determined to have been deliberately killed by assholes...err, i mean humans. i hope whoever did this is caught and gets severely punished!  so irritating and sad to think we have people like this among us who have so little regard for life.

 a reward of $7500.00 is offered for leads that lead to capture.

 the black bears were being fed first, but the big brownies were hopeful.  a bald eagle did swoop down and steal some salmon...much to the joy of the many tourists watching the feeding.

 funny to see a black bear and grizzly together.

 there were a pair of baby moose being hand raised at the conservation center.  this guy came out and gave me a photo op. so cute and sweet!!

 an artist is making body casts which i guess are planned to be placed out on the mudflats around Anchorage...it's to show the plight of the many out there with mental health and those who have lost their lives to suicide.

 seems like a fine idea...but...a few things come to mind.  will they shortly be sucked into the mud.  will they stay there forever...what will they be made of and lastly...while they stand out there will they be a draw that will encourage more people to walk on the mud flats and thus risk their lives?

 little guy was munching away on the grasses out there.

 actually don't know if these are males or females.  just cute.

 moose babies are all legs.

 learning to bend down to eat like the big moose do. i could see shaved areas on both front legs, must have gotten iv fluids.

 how cute is this.  i am starting to wind down for the night. i don't think they will come tomorrow morning to do the roof.  if they do i will for sure pack the car and head out.

 of course, they have ruled the deaths of the pair on the Denali highway murder.  they were missing from their campground trailer and found dead in another trashed out trailer.  not sure what that was all about.  i'm always as careful as i can be.  in the end you can't live for the what ifs or you will miss out on the experience of it all.

 lots of swans outside of Portage

 Exit Glacier

 and i'll wrap it up with a beautiful night.

grateful for:  A.  that i work 12 hour shifts and that i can leave my work at work B.  laughter...one can never get too much. C.  compliments...they tend to be rare but with my hair chop i got loads.