Mal and I have started a blog, mostly for him to journal his experience living in Venezuela, partially as a response to a request from his Spanish teacher. [link]

I'm crossposting from fb here, NOT for hair pats but because so many of the people mentioned, who helped me to survive this day last year, and the subsequent months, are Buffistas.

I've said it before, but thank you all for being who you are to me. If you only knew what I mean by that, you would feel pretty darned good about yourselves right about now.

Today is the first anniversary of the passing of my beloved Bartleby. I say this, not for sympathy, but to respect and appreciate the process of grieving.

AND, to give what seems like feeble thanks to those many, many kind people who helped me, in innumerable ways, both to keep him healthy and to let him go with what little grace was available to me.

My heart still aches, and may always. Still, I am able, so much more than I could have hoped, to focus on the simple joy of having had him in my life. He was a gift beyond measure and I am a very different human for having loved that quirky little spirit. He touched many and I am grateful.

FYI:

If you got an email from me about shopkick app, it's not spam.

My sister made me get it on my smartphone 5 months ago and you get points and giftcards. Sis's been using it 2 years and has gotten like $300 in giftcards. It's easy and a lot of stores honor it.

I have "Invite your friends to download and register to use the Shopkick app via the friend referral program in the shopkick app. To be a qualified friend, your invited friend must register using your personalized web registration link and login that account on the shopkick mobile app" according to their info.

I'm just letting people I know....er, know, because I wish I'd started a couple of years ago. A free gift card is cat litter or chocolate or Coach bags or whatever!

Sorry about any confusion!

If anyone has spare ~ma laying around, my extended family could use some. My cousin's baby passed away Monday (not unexpectedly), and things are pretty sad on that front.

Can I get a little it's-nothing~ma? We've taken a little visit to the ER bc DH had some bad heartburn

Thanks guys! Bad heartburn indeed. Would have been nice to check this out at 9am when the pain started, but you know, waiting until 4:30 to tell anyone has never hurt, right?

I may be a little alarmed at the moment, but your ~ma helped tremendously.

Three years ago today, I married this crazy guy I met on a weird website about Buffy. Thanks, Buffistas, for helping me find my soulmate. He's pretty awesome and I love him a lot.

Last night, both my paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather passed away within a few hours of each other. They were both in reasonably good health (though both in nursing care) a week ago, so it was pretty sudden.

I am currently ensnarled in logistics about how to get to and from the funerals without my students falling miles behind, but I'm sure grief will come soon, so I'd appreciate any ~ma available.

Could I get some ~ma for a coworker? She had a tumor removed from her pituitary gland two years ago and it's come back. It wasn't cancerous last time, but any growth in the brain is not a fun thing to have or to have to treat. She's keeping up a cheery facade, but you can see she's pretty scared underneath. Thanks in advance!

Sorry to add to the ~ma requests, but I need some mother~ma. (Ma~ma?)

In recent weeks a birth defect in her 85-year-old heart started giving her problems. Today at the doctor's office she was told not only does she have atrial fibrillation, but congestive heart failure, and she had to be admitted to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the Twin Cities tomorrow morning (1/16), 200 miles away.

My brother Jim came down from Fargo, and drove her half way, and tag-teamed with my sister Jean, who brought her down to the twin cities.

Now we wait out her treatment.

Any spare health~ma would be appreciated.

Update:

My Mother will be going into open heart surgery tomorrow morning, they will be doing an Aortic Valve Replacement with a tissue valve.

They say she will be in surgery 8am-11 Am.

She is in good spirits and the doctors say she is an excellent candidate for this type of surgery.