Life Lately – Oh My Dog!

Hi, friends.

It’s been a while. I hope you’re well.

It’s a mixed bag over here.

My long absence from this space has two main culprits (though, really, just one… just me…).

I mentioned in my 2021 journey post that my only goal for this year was to write my book and secure an agent. Well, I’ve written my book. I’m starting to work on the agent piece. Writing a book–it’s about my evolution set against the evolution of dogs, sort of a science-meets-story narrative–took up an enormous amount of my in-between times. In between feeding Violet and Astrid, in between changing diapers and potty training, in between client projects, in between cleaning the house and buying the groceries and cooking the food and, sometimes, sleeping and reading and all the other in-between in betweens. I got up early some mornings. I squeezed in 15 minutes here or there. I wrote every Saturday, thanks to my brilliant writing partner who keeps me accountable. So, my book is done. I joined an incredible critique group to edit and refine the manuscript. In the meantime, I’m researching agents and figuring out when, where, and how to pitch them. Any moment I could have spent working on this website was spent, instead, working on my book.

That’s the first anti-blogging culprit. My book. I hope someday you get to read it and find it a worthy investment of your time.

The second? My kiddos. Both human and furry.

We’ve had many health scares with Newt over the last year. Ultimately, her vet thinks there’s something going on in her stomach, and his prescribed regimen seems to be helping. Still, it’s been stressful. Twice we thought we were going to lose her and ended up in the ER. Well, SHE was in the ER. John was waiting in the car, absolutely frantic in the parking lot, waiting for vets and nurses to come out with updates. Damn Covid. She’s okay. She’s been stable for a while–knock on wood–and we feel like we’re on the right path.

Coop’s been in and out of the vet all year for allergies and stomach problems. Does anyone remember the episode of The Simpson’s when Mr. Burns is diagnosed with every single disease? He decides that means he’s indestructible. Cooper seems to be on that wavelength. I’m so grateful he is still so playful. He still runs with us most days. He’s just…

But he’s good. Great, really, all things considered. As I type this, he’s snoring and tooting away next to me.

As for Astrid, we’re waiting to see if we can get her into the deaf school’s toddler program, which will be incredibly difficult for me and for her because her entire life has been under quarantine. We’ve literally never been apart. To say she’s a mama’s girl… she chooses to sit at my feet while I wash dishes instead of playing with toys in the living room. If I have to go to the bathroom, she’s just like, okay, yeah, obviously we go together. It’ll be good for her to go for the socialization, plus her ASL skills will blow past what we can do with her. We have the greatest Deaf mentor in the world, but she deserves more signing than what we can do as we all learn it together. But she’s thriving. Astrid is so tough, so strong, so silly, so naughty… she’s going to be fine.

I’m terrified for Violet, though, who just received a really serious diagnosis. It’s nothing we can treat. There’s no surgery, no cure. It’s a for-life, and it’s really frightening for all of us. If you’ve ever met her, you’ve seen her brilliance. She’s talkative and so, so smart. She’s known since she was a two-year-old that she wanted to be a doctor–actually, a surgeon. She loves Cooper and the cats, and they feel the same about her; Newt even sleeps in Violet’s bedroom each night, curled up in a little ball in the crook of Violet’s knees. (Well, until John removes her before he goes to bed so that Newtie doesn’t wake her up in the morning meowing for breakfast.) But today was the first day of 4’s class for her at preschool, and she was so excited, and I just felt this deep-rooted fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of not being in control. Fear of something happening to her. Fear of something happening to her and I’m not there. It’s a lot.

It’s all been a lot. And in the cracks of all that, I’ve chipped away at my book.

And so, that’s life lately. Every minute is accounted for. Even my sleeping hours are given over to cataloging and listing and worrying and to-doing in my head.

Here’s are a couple first-day pics we got this morning.

So cute, right?!?!

I would LOVE to hear from you. How’s YOUR life lately? What have you been up to in 2021? Here’s hoping it’s shaping up to be a wonderful year for you and yours! And while I’d love to promise to post more often, well, we shall see.

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