Hello friends. It’s been a little while. I’ve started this post several times but I don’t think I was in the right headspace to blog. But since I have (mostly) happy updates, let’s do a quick catch-up.

–April sucked. April was tough. Moon Pie got very sick with pancreatitis (she’s since made a full recovery) and we had to take her to the ER, the same ER Apollo passed away in. This was just six weeks after his death. I was so worried about her since we had to leave her overnight, but I’m so grateful she’s okay. I was so scared of losing her too, and I was not prepared to say goodbye to another pet. Several of the doctors who treated her also had treated Apollo, so they were very understanding and compassionate, apologizing that we had another sick pet. I’m grateful that they were able to get our girl back to health, and really appreciate their kindness, telling us repeatedly that what happened to Apollo was not our fault.

His birthday was on April 25. He would have been thirteen, and it was a milestone we were looking forward to so much. For his birthday, we went to Starbucks, ordered pup cups (whipped cream in a small cup), and went to his favorite park. We tried to drink the pup cups like shots, but they tasted pretty gross, and we couldn’t finish them. Sorry, Chicky. We tried. I’m getting a memorial tattoo on Wednesday to honor him (flowers from the month he was born and the month he died). My grief is less intense four months later, but I still think about him all the time.

-I’m an MFA dropout. After Apollo died, my priorities shifted. I realized that while I’d been enjoying my program, staying in it would keep me from reaching my financial goals. I dropped out after the semester ended in May. I have intense FOMO because I would have been leaving for Barcelona next week BUT I know I made the right decision for me and my little family. And I’ve visited like…seven countries since 2021 (Iceland, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Argentina, Mexico, and Ireland [twice]), so I cannot complain. I would not have been able to attain my financial goals if I had stayed in the program, which included buying a house. Which, speaking of…

-WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! After Apollo died, I thought about what I wanted for us and our family, and I realized I didn’t want to be throwing money away in rent if we could afford a home. The real estate market was leveling out in Austin and prices were becoming more affordable. We closed on our home mid-May and moved in just a week later. Even though our move was local and nowhere near as stressful as a cross-country move, it wasn’t without its share of, cough, adventure (the house we were renting had no water two weeks before we moved. It was definitely an inconvenience and not a hardship, but it still sucked).

We love our new home! We are not quite as central as we were in our rental house, but we’re just ten minutes away from it. We’re not quite on the outskirts or in a suburb, so to purchase a house within our budget, you’ve got to accept some quirks, which this house has. BUT I’m really excited to decorate it and make it our own. I never thought we’d be able to purchase a house here and am so grateful.

-I went to New Mexico. The day after we closed on our house, I flew out to New Mexico for work. It was a great trip. I will try to post about it at some point.

May kept me busy. May was insanely busy. In a span of two weeks, we went to Galveston for a family reunion (HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA PAT!!!!), played a showcase at Kick Butt Coffee for my Femme Rock class, closed on our house, completed my New Mexico work trip, flew back to Austin, moved to our new house, and had a violin recital. PHEW. I was very tired but happy.

And now for the best update of all…

–WE ADOPTED A PUPPY!!!!!

Meet Domino ❤

Domino is turning three months old tomorrow. His foster mom thinks he’s a poodle and dachshund mix. We brought him home last Sunday and he’s already a much loved part of our family ❤ He reminds us so much of Apollo – the spotted paws and tummy, the noisy yawns, his loving and happy nature. We miss his big brother so much but we’re overjoyed to have his little brother with us. Apollo would have loved Domino.

He’s currently snuggled fast asleep next to me. I’ll take these sleepy puppy days while I can, because I have a feeling it’s not going to last long (Apollo was a VERY ENERGETIC puppy, lol).

The girls have been doing so well. They were definitely not thrilled to meet him, and they hiss at him if he gets to close to them, but they’re warming up to him. They love staring at him when he sleeps or watching him play with a toy. It’s been much, much easier introducing Domino to them rather than introducing the cats to Apollo (which was a NIGHTMARE). I’m so proud of my resilient, beautiful girls ❤

I’m going to try and update this more regularly, but you know how that goes. Domino got me up pretty early, so I’m going to make use of all this time. I hope you have a great weekend, and I’ll catch up soon.