Everything except my husband and my dogs and my son and my job and my house... but besides that, I'd give up everything.

One evening I hiked up Mt. Roberts with my camera. The trail was mostly empty of people and I was struck by the tree stumps up the mountain, so I spent two hours photographing them.

It was still very snowy and a bit icy at the top, and at one point I slipped and fell and my brain took about 5 seconds to process the following:

• [bleep] [bleep] [bleep]
• How far away am I really?
• How long would it take someone to find me?
• Who knows I'm out here?
• Do I even have any cell phone service up here?
• Oh wait I'm totally fine.
• [bleep] my phone was in that pocket I just landed on.
• And these are my only pair of jeans to last me the whole week.
• Am I bleeding?

Olive is just as excited to be at the park, but for a completely different reason: so many things to pee on! It's fantastic! Pee on ALL THE THINGS!

Which is how we noticed that Olive's urine was rather dark, and is that blood? Did that come out of her?

Cue a bunch of embarrassing (for all involved) pee-pee checks and my face getting rather up close and personal with every stick and leaf she peed on to confirm that yes, Olive was urinating blood.

A few months ago we had noticed the same thing and the vet put her on a course of antibiotics that cleared everything right up, so back to the vet we went.

We did a lot of waiting while Olive had some fun experiences like having her bladder expressed while she was in a sling and oh did I mention the bird named Molly who oversees the whole process? BARK.

Also there were xrays and... holy crap. Do you see that big egg-shaped thing on the right?

Hello, Mr. Bladder Stone. You look awfully large today.

Some test results came in today that shows her urine has a lot of protein, a lot of blood cells, is very basic instead of neutral, two kinds of bacteria, and struvite crystals.

Basically there's a party in Olive's bladder, and everyone's tearing shit up.

We're waiting for the culture results which should come in early next week, but we are currently weighing treatment options.

Option 1 is to put her on a diet intended to dissolve the stone enough for her to pass it, which requires spendy medicated food and xrays and cultures every 4-6 weeks. Option 2 is surgery.

In the meantime we're tricking her into taking antibiotics and mixing her food with soupy rice boiled in chicken stock so that she ingests more water.

Also searching Etsy for "struvite" and wondering how much we could get for a dog-bladder-stone necklace.

Where was I?

Oh right, the house. It was a great deal, good solid bones, but the inside had a lot of... shall we say, opportunities for improvement.

One such opportunity was the garage door.

It was wood and looked really nice from the outside, but it wasn't insulated, wasn't energy efficient, and the motor had been fried and wires cut before we moved in.

So for the past year, this is how we have been entering and exiting our garage:

Picture this same scene (without the chairs, obv), but with me in my skirt suit and heels during a snowstorm, standing ankle-deep in new snow opening and closing the door. Every time the car left or arrived at the house we did this.

Not only did it suck, it was also extremely loud. And since the master bedroom is right above the garage, it meant that I couldn't sneak out of the house in the middle of the night go to the gym early in the morning without waking Steve and the dogs.

We wanted to replace the opener, it was one of the first things on our Fix The House Fo' Real list. But we also knew that the pretty wood garage door was leaking something awful, and would probably need to be insulated after our energy efficiency rating. And it'd be best to do it all at the same time.

So we waited.

The energy auditor came at the end of December and turned our house into the ET house. She had three big things for us to upgrade, all of which were already on our radar:

1. Replace the boiler, the existing one was original to the house and almost as old as I am. It's leaking a small amount of gas, and just spilling good energy everywhere.
2. Replace the water heater, the existing one is long past its useful life and probably filled with rust.
3. Replace the garage door entirely with one that has an actual R-value rating, even though it won't be as pretty as the existing wood door.

Now that we had our energy rating in hand (2.5 stars, which is very common, we can easily get it up to a 4.5+), we got quotes on doors and the one company we liked the most suggested we wait for the Home and Remodeling Show because then we'd get an additional discount.

So to the home show we went. And found it was pretty useless - one guy tried to talk us out of an on-demand water heater, we picked up some pamphlets and candy, and we took pictures in some of the mirrors. But! We scheduled a garage door install that included a discount, so it was totally worth it!

The installer was here today - just one guy all by himself. It took him about 4-5 hours to get everything up and running, and. Dude.

You guys.
I am in love with this door.

Let's talk about all of the reasons I love my new garage door.

• It's energy efficient, which will reduce our heating costs for the rest of this spring and all of the winters hereafter.
• More importantly, it's MOTORIZED! Which means I will never have to get out of my car again to manually open the garage door.
• It's super duper quiet when opening and closing, so no more waking me up when Steve gets home from Nerd Night after midnight.
• There's a light on the opener that automagically comes on when the button is pressed, so no more groping through the garage after closing the door, hoping I won't trip over Donovan's bicycle and the box of canned tomatoes on my way to find the light switch.
• You guys we have a BUTTON. In my CAR. That opens the door like MAGIC.

I'm fully aware that my overwhelming adoration of a garage door is one of the more silly and adult things to fall in love with.

Like when we installed the new washer and dryer and I sat on the floor watching them spin for a lot longer than I will ever admit.

Or like how every time I open my refrigerator door - the refrigerator that I selected and installed - I hear a chorus of angels blessing my eggs and milk with the heavenly interior light.

I know that all of those place me very solidly in the realm of Adulthood.
Just like my new garage door.

I embrace that.

Every year the sun warms up just enough to start the melting process. The berms lining the road melt from the bottom up, it seams, leaving a large gravel-covered overhang from the top and large icicles dangling below. It's gorgeous, and I can never capture its beauty with my camera: the photos end up looking like dirty snow.

This week the sun has been out in full force (even though the high temperatures have been in the high 20s with lows around 0 still), and my drive home had the icicles backlit by the sunset.

This is the first time I feel the photos have done justice to the delicate beauty of rotting snow.

The dogs took turns laying in the dining room sunbeam, a constant rotation from the rug in front of the back door to under the table to the living room floor and back again all afternoon.

Then I kicked them into the back yard and couldn't resist following.

There was a lot of running and chasing and some wrestling and the Olive was all NOT FAIR and wanted to go inside.

Then I noticed there was a packed dog trail leading behind the shed and I went to investigate. I was there for two seconds before Mitzi ran in front of me and sat down and very suspiciously told me NOTHING TO SEE HERE MOVE ALONG.

That dark patch on the left side of that photo? Right behind my very guilty-looking puppy? That's a hole dug in the snow, leading underneath the shed.

This explains why she can spend four hours in the back yard.

I couldn't see into it, even after pushing her out of the way. I don't know what she does down there, probably writes bad poetry about how unfair life is.

But I like to imagine she has her own little speakeasy, serving drinks to neighborhood dogs while playing some cool jazz and hosting poker games.

I can't wait to crawl under there this summer.

Donovan is an aide in the special needs class 7th period, which is really pretty awesome. It's exposing him to some of the difficulties those with disabilities experience on a daily basis, he gets to feel helpful (something that he loves), and he gets to do a lot of fun things like eat cake and go to the movies.

If every middle schooler knew how awesome aiding for this class was, there'd be a waiting list.

Today they went to see Big Miracle about Alaskan whales; the movie was partially filmed here in Anchorage last year.

He got a soda and some popcorn before the movie and ran into a confusing altercation with the cashier that resulted in him being made to buy two sodas when he only wanted one. He was understandably bummed about this because he didn't want two sodas and an adult in a position of (some) authority over him told him he had to buy two sodas.

After we got him from school and he relayed this unfair story to us, we drove back to the theatre and asked for a manager. The manager listened very closely to his story, understood what happened, and refunded him $5: more than the cost of the extra soda.

I wonder if the cashier had treated him in this way because he was with a group of special needs kids. And that makes me really angry.

The three of us talked about it in the car on the drive home and Donovan admitted to being nervous, but he was very happy with the manager and the outcome. I am so proud of him for standing up for himself to an adult when he was being treated unfairly.

I had planned on taking one photo each hour on the hour today for Leap Day, but after the theatre soda incident was resolved I forgot to take any more photos. And I'm okay with that.

I immediately said "that sounds like fun!" because it did and I love talking about my self portraits and Lord knows I've done enough of them.

But then I realized that this was Public Speaking With Capital Letters and started to freak out a bit.

I've not had much experience with public speaking, but the experience I have had has not gone well. Have you ever heard about those people who forget to breathe while speaking publicly and you think Ha Ha Who Forgets To Breathe That Isn't Even Possible Loser?

*raises hand*

I make sure to take in enough oxygen but somehow never get to the exhaling part which, as it turns out, is pretty damn important. So I end up talking faster with a higher and higher pitch and then fall over dead.

Not really but metaphorically which means real life in my head.
Which is traumatic, okay?

So I did the only thing I could do: I avoided thinking about it. I spent a lot of time napping and reading a book during the three weeks before my agreement to speak and the actual engagement.

Until the long Presidents' Day weekend when I knew I needed to Buckle Down™ and Do This Thing For Serious™. So I brought all of my stuff to the coffee shop and I made an outline. Steve was very helpful with this, all of his writing skills came in very handy, and he had me think about my hook and the purpose of why I was talking to these people and all of that good stuff.

I'm very glad I forced myself to be prepared for the talk. I've been in a number of similar photographer presentations that was either an awkward slideshow with no commentary, or an awkward slideshow during which the photographer describes what we're seeing in words.

"And here I am on ice skates in a field in the middle of July. I think it's funny because it's true."

At least four different people asked me if I was going to have someone record my talk on video and I was all HELL NAW but then Steve went ahead and did that anyway.

Full disclaimer: I haven't watched this and I don't think I will. But I kept breathing the entire talk and didn't fall over dead once, so it couldn't have been that bad.

2. Chop up a bunch of vegetables: green peppers, yellow zucchini, carrots, and onion. Put into small bowls to wait their turn.

3. Chop up a few chicken breasts.

4. Get a box or two of Japanese curry mix and break into pieces.

5. Arrange everything in a pleasing manner on a white cloth napkin. Get the step stool from the garage, bounce a flash off the ceiling and take those photos. Yes.

6. Dodge questions from the teen about when is dinner ready? what is the step stool for? are you actually taking photos of vegetables? why are you so weird?

7. Heat oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the chicken and stir so it doesn't all cook in an unpleasant lump. No one likes chicken lumps.

8. Add in the sturdier vegetables: carrots and onion. Fry everything for a few minutes, then add water according to the instructions on the curry box. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or so until the chicken is cooked through.

9. Add in the curry squares and the softer vegetables (zucchini and bell pepper). Continue summering uncovered, stirring frequently, for a few minutes until the curry squares are completely melted. Or until the teen comes in and says that it smells ready.

10.Serve over the hot steamed rice that you started before doing everything else.

We got all bundled up today and headed to the dog park, which was cold and snowy and not very full. But the dogs loved playing in the snow and chasing each other back and forth.

I fiddled around with the camera and the lighting a while for today's 365 and the dogs didn't get to run around much while I did that. After a bit, Olive got pretty cold despite her sweater and boots and wanted picked up. Mitzi loves being outside in the winter, even if her feet did get a little cold.

"I see no reason to not make a self-portrait each day," the photographer says. "I'm always around and always free. It's kind of like going to the gym--it flexes your muscles and keeps you in shape."

I completely love this. He talks about how tempting it is to just take a photo on your couch every day and call it good, but instead he's been challenged to go out and find interesting things.

Very inspiring since I, too, fall into that temptation of 11:30pm must-take-a-photo-or-else mindset.

Read more about Jeff and his self-portraits or see the entire project at his website.

This has always been a struggle for me (see previously), to get up from my desk and go somewhere else and do something that isn't work related. Most of the time I bring my lunch to work and eat it at my desk - sometimes I don't even go to the break room to reheat it and have discovered which leftovers work fine cold (risotto, stuffed pasta shells) and which ones don't (pork sauerkraut stew, taco meat).

While I'm sitting there eating my probably cold lunch, emails arrive and my phone rings and my manager knows I'm sitting there so she asks some questions and the next thing I know it's 3:30pm and I haven't gotten up from my chair to so much as pee all day.

So I have declared that the year of our Lord 2012 will be The Year Of The Lunch Breaks For Serious, amen.

Here's how the first week of this new goal has gone:

• January 2: No work, spent most of the day in my PJs
• January 3: Went to Kaladi Brothers downtown and spent an hour doing some studio work.
• January 4: I was on my way out the door when my phone rang and I knew it was important so I spent the first half of my lunch "break" speaking with my counterpart in the Juneau office. By then it was too late to really go anywhere, but instead of calling it a wash and sitting back down at my computer I sat in one of my guest chairs and worked on paying some bills. I didn't look at email or even answer my phone the next time it rang.
• January 5: Had lunch at Humpy's with a friend April and ate too many french fries.
• January 6: I did get away from my desk, but it was for a work-related luncheon. I still think it counts because I wasn't stuck to my desk and my computer.

The vet is by far her least favorite place, but the lady we've been seeing is fantastic with her and Olive stops being a butt as soon as they go in the back.

Once they were in the back to obtain a urine sample (with the aid of ultrasound, thankfully no catheter involved), she noticed that they have a BIRD in the back. And the bird SQUAKED at her and so she barked back. And while she and the bird had some WORDS the vet was able to quickly and easily obtain a urine sample without Olive even noticing she was on her back in a sling because OMG BIRD.

As soon as they were done she promptly emptied her bowels and then laid on the floor at Steve's feet ready to go home.

The vet is a very stressful place.

All this to say that Olive has a UTI and is taking gigantic (for her) antibiotics twice a day and is pretty all around miserable.