Daniel J Isom

Yesterday, we recently had to make the tough decision in putting our oldest cat, Spot, down. His health has been deteriorating rather rapidly over the past few months. He lost a lot of weight, had a drastic change in personality, and started experiencing some other health problems right near the end. He was a good cat, even if his dried snot is all over our walls. Seeing those yellow bits of now concrete stuck to the drywall will serve as a tiny reminder that he was here. For those of you who don't know the story, we adopted Spot when he was around 8 years old through Purr-fect Haven Cat Rescue. They are the same agency that we've since adopted Atreyu and Albert ( a.k.a. Fatbert ). When Christine and I came down here for the interview that would ultimately land her the job that brought us to Delaware, we visited PetSmart because we had some time to kill. Spot was 7 at that time and Christine felt so bad that he was as old as he was and that he had never have a true home. Fa

I've been hyper-focused on change for about a year now. Like many things, change has an addictive quality to it. Instead of looking for small hits of dopamine that one would get from eating food or buying something new, I'm craving waves of that feeling and those only come with big shifts. With every little bit of success that I have in changing something, the more I want to change other parts of my life. The problem with that is there are a lot of things I can't change that easily, if at all. A perfect example is that I believe I've run the course in my current job. While I still enjoy the people, the work itself is rather mind numbing, soul crushing even. The easy solution is to just get a different job. What's not easy is choosing what that next job is going to be. I have incredible benefits and great flexibility in my schedule right now. Obviously some sacrifices or concessions need to be made, but having a family depending on me makes it just that much mo

Photo by  forge The engine comes to life with a turn of the wrist. Seat belt clicks. Shift into gear. Foot on the gas. Time to go, go, go. Stop sign. Turn. Stop sign. Straight. The white sedan ahead of you is crawling. No way around. Take a deep breathe. The light ahead turns yellow. Red. Drift into the right lane to turn. Glance to the left. A warm body nearing death. Right on red to continue the journey. Traffic on the highway is sparse. Open roads feel like absolute freedom. Mile marker 27. 41. 63. A favorite song fills the empty space around you. Turn up the volume just a little too loud. A monstrous red SUV flies up from behind. It cuts to your left. No blinker. Dick. Seconds later it's merely a speck on the horizon. Billboards and road signs. Restaurants. Gas stations. Hotels. The buildings in the city run together. Shouldn't your exit be coming up? Oh shit. Almost missed it. Sorry minivan. You passively wave, begging for forgiveness.

Last week we added another member to the family in the form of an 8 month old orange tabby named Albert. He's a fat little ball of energy that will answer to "Fatbert". We still have Spot and Atreyu, but with Spot getting older Atreyu needed a true playmate. While stopping to visit the cats for adoption through Purr-Fect Haven Cat Rescue , one of the volunteers said they had the perfect cat for us that was currently at one of the fosters' homes. He needed to be placed in a home with small children and another cat with high energy. Christine and I decided we'd come back in a few days to meet Albert. Christine loved him immediately (she loves them all that way) and he seemed like a nice playmate for Atreyu. I was initially against the idea of getting a third cat, even though Spot seems like he might be on borrowed time. After being convinced that Atreyu might become less destructive if he had a healthy outlet for his energy, I agreed to adopt Albert. Whether Atr