This morning I took Bosun on a nice long walk to the bridge. We got in on the good weather before it became bitterly cold out at least..even some sunshine at spots. Great fun. I found where a bear had climbed up the bank between our house and the pipes! I saw these huge impressions in the soil and went across to investigate..definitely not elk, but just as big. There were claw marks. It was so steep and the soil was so wet that I could barely even get halfway up, even by putting my feet in the impressions. Couldn’t see the paw pads, mostly just where the earth had compacted and slid.

Sifted through tons of old stuff after that and tossed numerous items. Mostly clothes. Still need to get rid of more so my room won’t be so crowded. Also glanced through my elementary school work that we saved, like my Arctic and Antarctic birds article in this magazine we made in second grade. First sentence is about the wandering albatross! I found a "baby’s journal" my mom wrote in to record..hmm, my progress? "Nov. ‘87-She’ll see brown spots on a banana, or a bad apple or peach, and will point and say "rottie" (rotten). Even at the store."

I gave Bosun a bath because he’d accumulated a sizable quantity of dirt in his fur. We let him run around the old house and started a fire in there to keep him from freezing. He always gets crazily happy after baths and runs around and just barks for minutes on end. It’s pretty adorable. Snooks got all worked up too and was running in circles yapping.

I went to McIsaacs to see if I could use my new check card to withdraw cash from my checking account. ATM machine was out of service though. Previously I tried to use my ATM card at OSU only to find I had an incorrect PIN.
We went to The Mesquitery for dinner. (Stopped by the ATM machine outside US bank and now I know I had a separate unknown number for that card as this one worked with my known PIN. Thank goodness, I was getting sick of relying on sent money!) Mom’s birthday was yesterday so I paid. I talked mom into getting the fettucini with shrimp. I got fettucini alfredo with chicken, very good. Really wanted to try the layered chocolate cake but definitely couldn’t muster a secondary appetite.

Caught the last half of It's A Wonderful Life before SNL. That is seriously a timeless classic; like The Shawshank Redemption I can't see myself ever not wanting to watch it.

Tomorrow I head out at noon with Jon. If I can talk myself into getting up early mom and I’ll take a walk along the canal trail by the settlin’ pond.