A Year Post Life.

I'm big on marking occasions. Even terrible occasions. I guess that's something Facebook and I have in common. I actually waited to write this until I got my Facebook memories for the day so I could see what the final pics posted were and download them.

One year ago this morning I fed the pets and Elvis wouldn't eat. I don't remember if he even tried. I suspect not. I could have waited until evening to see if he rallied but given his chronic wound and how difficult eating was for him on a good day...

Which is not to say that I didn't think about it. In fact I got myself ready for work and got on the train. By the time I got off the train in Manhattan I had come to terms with the feeling that now was the time.

I called the home vet, thinking she wouldn't be able to come until the following day. She made time for that evening.

I called Pony Express to make sure she knew.

I went to work and stayed a short time. I knew I wasn't going to come in the next day.

The vet was lovely. She was interested in all the pets. She was kind but not too much. She had everything she needed to make the whole thing go smoothly but not be rushed. I have recommended her several times in the past year.

It's sad. It was sad a year ago and it's sad today. I am sad. I miss him. There was a lot of him to miss. He had a big personality and giant needs and he set the tone for the room without a doubt.

It's also been a relief. He had giant needs and he set the tone for a room without anyone else's input. So many vet visits, such careful feeding, endless re-balancing of meds and supplements...

When he was 4 years old a vet diagnosed him with a heart murmur and told me that, with medication, he would live a couple of years.

When he was, I don't know, maybe as much as 12 another vet suggested I check his thyroid because there was no detectable murmur which, given the original diagnosis, was either highly suspect or a miracle. Shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with hyperthyroid and basically from then on everyone pointed me toward what we needed to do rather than projecting on what might happen next.

A month shy of his 16th birthday he died of cancer. Of a fucking tumor in his mouth. The mouth he used to scream at me for more food that he could eat...with his mouth. Now that I think of it I wonder if the hyperthyroid actually sped that process along so it wasn't so slow and painful as it could have been.

He is missed.

We are doing ok.

Photo Challenge: OBSERVE

I'm rolling along these days. Any forward motion is worth celebrating.

Photo challenges? Always worth celebrating!

Our Cindy is a professional observer and a damn fine one! Go science!

On my way to listen to some poetry I observed this hippo getting some tourist love as she observed/surveyed the sidewalk outside Lincoln Center.

This Saturday is the Grand Finale show of Listen To Your Mother NYC. I'm sad to see it go and grateful to have been a part of it all this time. In celebration of that the next prompt you can either use GRAND or FINALE

Please enter by 9am Tuesday May 16th for posting on Wednesday May 17th. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and GRAND or FINALE. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.

Photo Challenge: ABSORB

My two words for the year are observe and absorb. I'm somehow unable to caption the photos for this challenge. They feel like absorb. Here, you'll see.

by Our Ana

by Our Cindy

by Our Janet

by me

While we're at it let's use my other word for the next prompt. OBSERVE. Go forth and OBSERVE.

Please enter by 9am Tuesday May 2nd for posting on Wednesday May 3rd. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and OBSERVE. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.

Photo Challenge: WORK/WERK

Funnily enough I just got to join this challenge because I've been working so much! Lucky me. I really am relieved when I have plenty of work. Building a business is scary stuff.

Our Cindy is everything that is light and good about being a scientist. I love that she shared this view of her many facets with us. See also her recent blog post about trusting scientists.

This is what a hard day's work looks like for me now. A dog, her family, plenty of questions, plenty of hands on practice and at the end of it a dog who only wants more!

Off the cuff, let's have the next prompt be ABSORB. Run with it!

Please enter by 9am Tuesday April 4th for posting on Wednesday April 5th. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and ABSORB. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.

Photo Challenge: UPS AND DOWNS

These are wildly varied in a way that I find hard to describe. Good thing we have pictures for that.

Our Ana in Oslo. I'll tell you a secret, her smile is always that big.

This capture by Our Cindy haunts me. In the best way, of course.

Milo had a few ups and downs before I met him but now it's all ups forever. He found the right folks.

Next prompt is WORK (or WERK if you prefer). Bring it!

Please enter by 9am Tuesday March 21st for posting on March 22nd. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and WORK or WERK. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.

Photo Challenge: FOR THE LOVE

I'm feeling a lot of love this week so the prompt makes me happy.

Enjoy and please join us for next time! Prompt is below.

Our Cindy knows love when she sees (and feels) it.

I try to take a selfie with each of the kids whenever we're together no matter how crazy my hair because, well, you never know.

I can't even explain why but the next prompt is UPS AND DOWNS. Bring it!

Please enter by 9am Tuesday March 7th for posting on March 8th. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and UPS AND DOWNS. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.

Photo Challenge: DO SOMETHING

I hadn't looked at the Flickr Pool. I had no idea if anyone was still with me. I dreaded the moment.

You're with me! Thank you!

Enjoy these photos. We're doing something and that's amazing.

Our Cindy rallied in MO for women. 

I protested and I have also been knitting for a local school's underserved students.

Our Janet marched in MA for immigrants. 

I thought to myself, "For the love of all that is holy, I don't know what the next prompt should be!" So there you go, FOR THE LOVE. Let that inspire you.

Please enter by 9am Tuesday February 21st for posting on February 22nd. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and FOR THE LOVE. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.

Photo Challenge: SWING

For the record I feel totally out of the swing of things right now. I'm working to right the ship, promise!

Our Cindy gives us the down home family feel. Thanks, I needed that!

I was on an emotional pendulum over the holidays when I was given custody of the photo album from Auntie Blanche's 85th birthday party.


I was just saying today that it's enough to do something. It doesn't have to be big. Let us be the prompt that guides us, DO SOMETHING!

Please enter by 9am Tuesday February 7th for posting on February 8th. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and DO SOMETHING. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.

Photo Challenge: Let's Go

I'm getting back in the saddle after celebrating my birthday on Monday. It's nice to have some beauty to keep me going.

From the moment I saw this one by Our Cindy all it makes me think of is my grandparents' camp. I didn't even meet Cindy until long after that camp had been sold and the g'rents gone on to the great camp in the sky. She gets me right in the feels.

This is what I'm greeted with on cold, dark mornings. No amount of encouragement will get him out of bed. So I carry him. Once we get to the street he's willing to walk. At least for a little while.

In honor of getting the hang of this year, getting in the swing of things, if you will. Let's be prompted by SWING. Enjoy!

Please enter by 9am Tuesday January 24th 2017 for posting on January 25th. Tag your photos with PHOTO CHALLENGE and SWING. Check out the wonderful work in our Flickr Pool for inspiration. Also, let me know if you have any questions. The  appropriate email for that is Kizzbeth117 at gmail dot com.