MGMags

Well, apparently it's been almost 6 years since I posted any artwork...  really?  It can't have been that long....

Damn.

Well, finally got a piece done that has been in the works since 2010 when I first sketched it.  I've had to work on it on and off, between college semesters, during summers, between 40+ hour weeks and between completing various games of Assassin's Creed, which I can only play during summer breaks.  I'm not sure I'm 100% happy with it yet, but I think will bust a gasket if I didn't post it.

By my calculations I've got maybe 3 more semesters, possibly 4, depending how my remaining necessary classes play nice with my schedule, before I can apply to a veterinary program.  Three weeks left in this summer recess before I disappear again.  I've managed to catch up on Jessica Jones, Voltron, 10 seasons of Supernatural and currently catching up on Daredevil.  Transformers: Combiner Wars starts next week... oh yeah, and I've been rehabbing my right shoulder due to a partial tear of my supraspinatus tendon - i.e. rotator cuff.  By the way, physical therapists are sadists.

Wow... just realized my last journal entry was from 2013.  

YIKES!!!

Sorry I haven't been active much.  I've been all consumed by the stress that is working full time and taking college courses.
Someday, it will have been worth it.  Right now, I often want to pull out what little hair I have left.

Hope everyone is doing well.

I can't believe 5 months have already gone by in 2013.  It feels like New Year's was just a few days ago...  So far, I'm not enjoying this year.

The Spring 2013 semester at USF is over.  It was a tough one, but I survived.  I got a B in Bio II and a B in Bio II Lab.  I'm a little disappointed I fell short of an A in the lecture but several months of illness and a funeral affected my scores on one of my exams and the exams were tough to begin with.  I got an A in my Physics II lab which floored me and a B- in the lecture which I was just giddy about.  Physics is my nemesis and I was certain I was going to fail that class, especially after seeing the results of the first two exams.  Now a small break for the summer before tackling the next semester...

That's the extent of the good news.

Some of you may already know this if you watch ... Her mom - my mother-in-law - passed away on April 11 from dementia/Alzheimer's.  This is an illness that is cruel and renders you helpless.  It is emotionally draining and frustrating and incites such feelings of rage and despair that it is quite overwhelming.  It nearly destroyed my father-in-law.  The funeral was taxing and included an insane amount of unwanted family drama courtesy of an ignorant, self-absorbed, know it all aunt who thinks she's better than everyone else and an expert at everything. It has caused a rift between my father-in-law and his brother that may never be mended.    While I miss her terribly (I love my in-laws), I am happy she is no longer suffering.  

As we watched my mother-in-law struggle with dementia, our Samoyed-Husky mix, Marcus, fell victim to it insidiousness as well.  In the space of two years (maybe less than that) we have watched him slowly deteriorate from a defiantly silly, happy dog with bad hips (being 15 years old, that was expected) to a mostly blind, deaf, confused, lost shell of a dog that mostly slept around the house.  Once in a while his memory would catch and he would recognize us and that spark would glimmer for a bit and then the next day it would be gone.  In the last few months that deterioration became rapidly worse and he was beginning to physically deteriorate as well.  He developed Sun Downer Syndrome and was losing interest in eating and losing weight.

Yesterday, we decided it was time to let him cross the Rainbow Bridge.  Even though we had been preparing ourselves for months, it was nonetheless devastatingly hard.  However, I wish we'd had the ability to ease my mother-in-laws suffering this way...  

This evening, laying between us and aided by our wonderful veterinarian, Marcus crossed the Rainbow Bridge with his favorite toy, Icky Kitty.  He was 16 year old - maybe older.  A month ago to the day tomorrow, my mother in law, whom he adored, passed away from dementia.  It's almost eerie how their fates seemed tied together.  The house is so quiet right now that it's almost surreal and creepy.  Even the cats are subdued...  I think they know.  

Thank you, my puppy boy, for 15 years of silliness and defiant happiness - even when you were in trouble.  When that stopped we knew your time was approaching.  I'm sorry we could never keep our promise of giving you a fenced yard to run around wildly in.  It's the one thing I will always feel guilty about...  R.I.P. My silly, handsome puppy boy.    

So, I'm a bit late with the well wishes for the New Year and I am sorry about that.  My three week break between semesters has been chaotic to say the least...

As a very late update to all:

I  PASSED MY PHYSICS I CLASS!!!!!!

         

Doing the happy dance!!



Now I have to pass Physics II this coming semester...  thinking positive that it won't take multiple tries.

Just wanted to drop a line and let everyone know that I haven't died or gone MIA.  I haven't "forgotten about" or "turned my back on" my friends here on dA.

School is back on in force and I am making my second attempt at conquering physics.  (Really - it's my third attempt if you count high school... but that was so far of course that I like to pretend it didn't happen.)  So, it is taking everything I've got to keep up with the class so I probably won't be able to hand out on dA until this semester is over.  At that point I'll be either wallowing in self pity or bouncing off the ceiling in jubilation.  Hopefully, it will be the later.

I miss talking to my dA friends.  Hope all is well with everyone.