Insta-reflecting: May

I have totally jumped on the Instagram bandwagon. It's a bandwagon that is hardly new. iPhone users everywhere had been snapping photos with it for years by the time I downloaded the app. Being that I am an Android, not iPhone user, I was blocked out of the Instagram fun for quite some time. However, as soon as the app became available, I downloaded it.

I've been playing around with it since April - April 9 to be exact. That day also is the day that Instagram announced it was being bought out by Facebook. Coincidence? I think not. You are welcome Instagram.

While I still ultimately prefer my fancy Nikon DSLRs, they are a little cumbersome to carry with me at all times. My phone, however, is always by my side. As a result, in the short time I've had this app, I've fallen in love with it's ease of use and the ability to turn ordinary phone snapshots into something a little more unique. It's become a great way for me to document my everyday life, and now also, a great way to share my everyday life via my blog. I present to you, my first installment of Insta-Reflecting: May Edition.

- May - 
- Haircut - Taylor gets a pool and a pretty steady girlfriend, Chloe - Spotted a baby deer while on a walk in the Cook County Forest Preserve - NATO Summit - Memorial Day BBQs with pasta salad and margaritas - Hail storm - Graffiti on the El - Beautiful days and wandering downtown on my lunch hour - PRC Art Show (My print hangs in a gallery!) - Our roses bloomed -

That last photo I admit did not make it onto Instagram, but I love it so much that I had to share it. I took it on my way home one night after hanging out with my co-workers for an extended Happy Hour. I've said it many times, but I still believe I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  Thankfully, Instagram and I are capturing more of it nowadays.

If you'd like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me @amysayre.

The Season of Autumn

This is Autumn.

It's a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl. Autumn is named for her mother's favorite season, which coincided with the time during her pregnancy that Autumn's mom felt the most at ease. I was so excited to meet Autumn because her mom is a dear friend of mine. I would have driven to the end of the earth and back to meet Autumn. Luckily though, all I needed to do was take a day trip to Michigan to meet this California-born little lady.

This was Autumn's first photo shoot, but I am hoping it was the first of many. She, like her parents, is a delight.

And then we let her get some rest. It was a pretty big day for a two-month old.

Baddest Cat In the Whole Damn Town

Leroy Brown came into Mike's life 18 years ago. He was a tiny, two-week-old kitten when Mike brought him home from his sister's Wisconsin farm. This week, Mike and I said good bye to Leroy. It's been a tough week.

I wrote about Leroy a few times on this blog, but now it doesn't seem nearly sufficient. I could have written novels about him. Leroy was an average size cat with a big personality. His personality was so large it's hard to capture in words and sentences. Leroy was a cat you had to experience.

He was loud. I have always said that Leroy is a cat who gets the last word because he was. If he meowed at you, and if you made a sound back, he wouldn't stop until after you did. And he didn't have a sweet little meow. He had a loud, raspy meow that sounded as if he were a pack-a-day smoker. It was never louder than when he wanted food or milk.

My nickname for Leroy was O.D.B. for Old Dirty Bastard. His favorite move, one that I like to imagine Mike taught him, was sauntering up to me on the couch and headbutting my boobs. He loved boobs, so much so that he wasn't above pawing at them or nuzzling in them whenever they were present and available. 

Leroy had a crazy spot. It was a little cat perch that was tucked in a corner. If we patted it, Leroy would almost always jump up on it and start meowing and rolling around. It was then our job to rough him up. I truly think he was never happier than when Mike was playing with him in that spot.

But he was a cat after all, so he did enjoy his naps. And he most often enjoyed his naps in Mike's laundry. Dirty or clean, it didn't matter.

In the past few months, Leroy wasn't really Leroy any longer. The things that made him so him had slowly diminished with his health. He slept a lot. He started having trouble getting around and he never went to his crazy spot. It was all of these things that signaled that it was time to let Leroy go. His essence had already left him.

Leroy was an amazing cat. He was crazy. He was truly unique. He was Mike's wing man for 18 years. He was our cat for 6 years. He was Leroy Brown - the baddest cat in the whole damn town.

Leroy, I loved you very much. You were one-of-a-kind. I will miss you nuzzling against my neck, head butting my boobs and roughhousing on your crazy spot. I will miss the way you hugged me and did not let go. Your presence in our home was huge, and you are missed terribly already.

And because I prefer to remember him at his happiest, here is Leroy doing what he did best - going crazy in his crazy spot.

Sleepy Head

It's been a pretty long couple of weeks in my household. Mike and my schedules haven't exactly been meshing - with him working late and me spending most of last week sick.

This week is going a little more smoothly, but we're also spending this week getting ready for company staying at our place this weekend. And we've got an art show on Friday to benefit Taylor's rescue organization. I just do not see any time in the near future where I'll be able to catch my breath. I'm a little tired. Tired like Miss Autumn here.

This photo was taken this past Sunday along with a whole host of others that I hope to post soon. For now though, I'm going to bed. Autumn is making me sleepy.