Day 360/365

     Today was a big mix of different assignments. It started out with taking a picture of a pit bull mix that reportedly bit a 2-year-old girl. The dog's currently being held at the local pound, and there's a big debate storming about what should be done. The dog was supposedly left by a former roommate of the girl's family, and had bitten the girl before. The family supposedly couldn't get animal control to take the dog without paying $130, which they couldn't afford. The whole situation is just unfortunate from all points of view, to put it mildly. 

   After the dog photos a reporter and I worked on a project we've been building up, centered around the abundance of closed schools in Saginaw. I won't be putting any of those photos up yet since I haven't published them on MLive, but these are a few candids from some of the exploring we embarked on today. Some Simon and Garfunkel-inspired graffiti and some bullet holes.

     To finish off the day, I shot a pretty serious car accident where all three people involved, (both drivers and one passenger), had to be rushed to the hospital. A bit of variety throughout the whole day, no?

Day 356/365

     I drove out to my mom's cabin Sunday morning/day 356 to help her with some things around the place and to let Kip get a good run in. It was a beautiful day out, a nice sunny day to make the gray dismal ones that have followed even more yucky.

     

Day 327/365

     After a rather tumultuous week, Saturday was a day that needed to be a good one for the sake of my mental health. I slept in, visited a friend in her new tattoo shop to get some new work done, went out with some friends from work to drink and laugh, and then got to spend some time with my boys before getting some more much-needed sleep. It was a good day, and I felt myself recharging. Kip needs a bit of work on his innocent face though, no?

Day 314/365

     As I said in day 313's post, I got to spend the past weekend at home in Cleveland. I got to have a much needed lazy day with my family on Sunday/day 314, which meant falling asleep on the living room couch while watching a movie. It wouldn't be complete without the best nap buddy in the world: our family dog Pete. Pete's almost ten years old, which I still find hard to believe. He's the sweetest dog on this face of the planet. Just look at that face!

Day 307/365

     It's certainly been a cold couple of days. Granted, I'm much more of a winter weather fan than I am of extreme heat/humidity, but lately the cold air's been getting extreme as well. We're experiencing single digits up here in Michigan, and subzero temperatures with the wind chill factor. There's warnings about people limiting their outdoor exposure, and there've even been reminders to keep pets in mind when letting them go out in the cold as well. 

     Kip's been experiencing some cabin fever, I'm sure, as we haven't been able to go on one of our typical lengthy walks because he starts to favor his paws too much for my liking within about ten minutes of being outside. He also has a short coat, so his daily outside time has decreased majorly. It's supposed to be back up in the 20s or 30s by the start of next week, so I'm hoping to make up for it then.

Day 301/365

     Monday/day 301 was a slow workday, as Mondays too often are. It was at least sunny out, even though there was a bitter chill in the air. After I got home from work I bundled up and took Kip on a nice long walk. As almost always is the case, Finch was waiting in the window for us, (well, most likely me more so than Kip), to get back. It makes me smile each time I see him do it. He runs to the door when I get home from work too! He breaks about 90% of cat stereotypes, which is one of the major reasons I love him so much, I think. He plays fetch, comes when he's called, (most of the time, but dogs blow you off too), and he cuddles. Anyways, when Kip and I got back from our walk Monday I went over to my living room window and went to take a picture of Finch, when Kip noticed he was in the window and decided to say hello!

Day 299/365

     Saturday's/day 299's belated posted comes to you from C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. I went down to the hospital to see how Jessica and her donor Brian were doing after having a kidney transplant operation done this past Friday. Both were still going through the more uncomfortable stages of recovery, so I opted to come back Sunday/yesterday/day 300 to see if they were feeling more up to having their pictures taken. 

     While I was waiting to take to a P.R. rep. from the hospital though I got to hang out in the pretty spiffy lobby. The hospital was redesigned last year to be more colorful and fun, with sparkly floors that glitter even more when the colored lights on the ceiling reflect on them. Totally worth the trip down.

Day 294/365

     I ended up being off of work Monday/day 294... but I didn't realize until after I had been at the office for a few hours. Nevertheless, I went home and attacked the mountain of laundry that's been trying to inhabit my apartment. Not the most exciting day, but it was nice to get some things done that have been getting to me the past week or two. Kip was a huge help of course, as always.

Day 288/365

Happy belated New Year! I hope your year started as interestingly and entertaining as mine did.

Day 286/365

     Today was another lazy day as well, but that's when my wanderlust tends to become most prominent, so I decided to put the free time to use and start planning a (hopeful) trip to Ireland for this summer.

Day 282/365

     Yesterday/day 282 the local meteorologists actually got the weather right for once, and northern Ohio got hit with a snow storm bad enough to put off my going back to Michigan for a day. The hot chocolate was flowing all day long though, so I guess I can't complain too much. 

Day 281/365

Merry Christmas everyone! I wish you a safe and happy holiday, and a wonderful new year!

Day 280/365

     Last night/Christmas Eve/day 280 my mom gave me one of my Christmas presents early since we had our annual Christmas movie night. The cheddar popcorn from Pittsburgh Popcorn is addicting, and I've missed it so much ever since I moved away from the Burgh over a year ago. My mom ordered some off of their website, and I'm pretty sure the tub's not going to be a goner by the time I head back to Michigan tomorrow. 

Day 278/365

     Yesterday/day 278 was the O'Donnell family, (my mom's side of my family), Christmas party. With the exception of a few of a few cousins, almost all of us were able to make it this year. There's so many of us that all of us getting together at the same time and sam place doesn't happen all that often. 

     

     I had an idea to make them all Christmas ornaments this year, (my mom and her seven siblings), using a photo of all of them together on Christmas morning when they were children. I love this picture of all of them; I think it shows each of their personalities so well. And the ornaments seemed to be a hit!

Day 277/365

     It finally snowed today! In both Michigan and Ohio! I love snow in general, but I especially love it around the holidays; it just doesn't feel like Christmas to me without some snow. Hopefully it sticks around until Tuesday!

Day 272/365

     Sunday was filled with some unpacking, then some more unpacking... did I mention I did some unpacking?

Day 266/365

     To make up for the major delay in updates here's a holiday-themed pet post! We were finally able to get our Christmas tree for my mom's house and put it up on Monday/day 266. My cat, Finch, was especially happy about it it would seem. I can't wait to go back home for Christmas and smell it. Christmas trees and home are easily my favorites when it comes to the holiday season. 

Day 265/365

     Sunday/day 265 was spent paying homage to my dad. My dad would've turned 60 December 12 of this year/yesterday, so when my family was together this Sunday we celebrated it together. We had his favorites for dinner: my mom's lasagna, boston cream pie for dessert, and beer throughout the entire day. Halloween through Christmas have been hard and a bit surreal without him, and he's missed by us and so many of his friends and family every day. So Sunday was for him. 

Day 261/365

     Yesterday was not one of my more interesting assignment days, and I figured you guys might be missing a pet post of Finch so I figured I'd indulge you. When it gets colder like it is now he becomes quite the cuddler, so much so that he'll resort to seeking out my laptop if I'm not giving him enough attention.

Day 251/265

     Saginaw got a dusting of about an inch of snow overnight, so waking up to a little wonderland Sunday morning was a nice surprise. It was Kip's first time seeing snow, and he absolutely loved it. I wish I had time to go to the dog park, because when we went out for a walk it was so easy to see how much he was dying to run around and bound through it. It's since melted away for the most part, leaving just a little bit here and there with a bit of ice. Next time it snows though, I'll have to make sure to let him loose so he gets a chance to play. A