To many people, their pets are like children. They spoil them. They take them out wherever they go. Some even dress them up as little kids. Weird, huh? Well, that just means they think the world of their pets. Do you think the world of your pets? Maybe you should think about booking one of my Pet Portrait sessions!

One day in 2011, my cat Smudge (aka, “Little Buddy”) started acting rather odd. After I put some food out for him and my other cat, Scooter, he just kinda sat there, looking at me. Usually he would run to his bowl and scarf what food was there. But not today. His strange behavior continued for another day or so and I became concerned, so I took him to the emergency vet on a Sunday night. They did some tests and x-rays and didn’t really find anything so I was sent home. I continued to try to get him to drink or eat something, but he just wasn’t interested. I took him to his regular vet for another check-up the following day and after looking at his x-rays, they suggested exploratory surgery based on the “lump” they felt, and the “dark area” on the x-ray. I didn’t really want to go with surgery just to “look around,” but the next day, Smudge was at the vet for surgery. I got a call from the vet a few hours later and they informed me they found cancer inside him, which they removed. I was shocked yet relieved at the same time. They told me I could come pick him up later that afternoon and take him home. I left work a little early that day and was headed over to the vet…when I got another call. Smudge was doing fine in the recovery area, but things had taken a sudden turn for the worse. “You better get here as soon as you can, it’s not looking good,” the vet said. I drove as fast as I could but when I got there, I had a bad feeling. They took me right into the operating room where my Little Buddy was lying motionless on the operating table. They told me he had started to crash shortly after they put him into recovery. They gave him CPR and tried to resuscitate him, but it wasn’t working. He passed away 10 minutes before I got there. I was devastated, and broke down in tears.

At some point, our pets will leave us. In the case of Smudge, one day he’s running around and playing, and 7 days later…he was gone. He was only 8 years old.

If you have a pet who is sick and may not be with you much longer, I have a special pet portrait service available. Please see my section Giving Back for more information.

Today, January 27, 2012 marks the one-year anniversary of Smudge’s passing.
This post is in honor of him.

While I waited for the Mustang to be cleaned, I took a stroll over to Chomp for breakfast. I have never eaten there before, but they seemed to have a good-looking menu. I ordered the “breakfast wrap” and a Dr. Pepper®. The wrap consisted of scrambled eggs, cheese, sausage, onions, green peppers and potatoes. Delicious!

Many people know that I like to take photos of my food. Lunches, mostly, but sometimes breakfast or dinner. I’m not sure why I do this. I think it has something to do with memorializing the deliciousness I’m about to eat.

With that said, may I present to you my lunch for today. Panera Bread, You Pick 2: One half Asiago Roast Beef sandwich with a small Caesar salad. Accessories include an apple and a chilly Dr. Pepper®. The sandwich was delightful, and while I never knew I was a fan of horseradish sauce,
I must admit it’s pretty tasty. Today’s offering could have held back a bit on the sauce, but I’m not complaining too much. I still have the apple on my desk, waiting as my afternoon snack.

I told a Facebook friend of mine (that I have yet to meet) that I was thinking of making a book containing all of my lunch photos. While an interesting idea, I couldn’t come up with a cool name for it. His suggestion: “Lunch.” Brilliant! Sooo…for the 2012 year I think I’m going to put a little more effort in capturing my lunches using only my iPhone and doing a brief review of the restaurant and that meal in particular. Who knows? Maybe I’ll put out a book about this wonderful subject.

Thom

So, here’s to open trouble-free operation from here on out. Please leave me comments and feedback, I’d really like to know your thoughts on my new site design!

Thanks,
Thom

In a typical Spartan nail-biter, the Spartans came back from a 16 point deficit to beat the Georgia Bulldogs in triple overtime, 33-30. The Bulldog’s kicker attempted a field goal from 47 yards that if made, would have sent the game into it’s 4th overtime. The Spartan defense was awesome as usual, and blocked the field goal to lock in a victory!

Congratulations to the Spartan Seniors! GO STATE!

It took me a bit of time to figure out how to use WordPress and get everything installed on this WP theme. Challenging? Yes! But I actually had some fun trying to figure out how things worked. I still have some tweaks to make to get things “just right,” but for the most part, everything “works.”

While the “website” portion will contain my photography portfolios, the blog area will most likely be sprinkled with some posts about photography, food (of course!), cars… and my life in general. Isn’t that what a blog is, anyway?

So, take a look around and let me know what you think!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2012!

Thom