Pulling the Trigger
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Friday, August 28, 2026
 Creepy Enola is creepy.
Last night I had an anxiety nightmare. The genre of this one is "I can't have good things," with a side order of "Help! I can't get to where I'm supposed to be!" I know exactly what triggered it, too. No, I won't discuss it, except to say that the person involved eventually did get some karma, but not without hurting a lot of people first. The initial incident was years ago, but I had a reminder of it this week.
Oh, well. I'm working hard on moving on - honest!
Today I scanned in the last photo from the batch of family pictures that I brought home two months ago. I still need to finish filing it and get it into the database. But still, it's an accomplishment! I still have at least 20 pages of negatives to sort through,
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Filed under: Life Cats 8/28/2026 5:43:51 PM
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Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Thursday, August 27, 2026
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8/27/2026 11:50:08 AM
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A slight cool off, and back to the photo grind
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Thursday, August 27, 2026
 (Above: Oak leaf prints and an acorn found along my walk this morning.)
Maybe for a couple of days. This morning was nice enough that I could get out for a walk. We even got a bit of rain the other day. It's been a welcome respite from the constant heat. It looks like we're in for at least another week and a half of high temperatures, though.
Still, it was good to get out or a welk, at last. Walks give me the opportunity to mentally recharge.
Last night was position round in bowling, and we did okay. As for me, I'd raised my average by four pins after last week's amazing show
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Filed under: Photos 8/27/2026 11:12:43 AM
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The Big Life and Health Update!
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Julie Barrett
Saturday, August 8, 2026
Well, the health part is not so big, except to say I'm improving, and that's absolutely fine! I'll get into that in a bit. Life is more interesting, and none of this is bad news!
Yesterday I renewed my passport. Nope, not going overseas, but it was time to renew it, so I did. But we have booked a trip! Getting through the last year deserved a reward, so we're knocking something off of the domestic travel bucket list.
We're going on a train trip! The highlight will be the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco. It's the longest passenger rail route in the US. Yes, we've booked a sleeper. More on that later.
And now health news:
I had a CT scan and a bit of blood work last week. The blood results looked a lot better, though I'll have a full worku
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Filed under: Life
8/8/2026 7:07:00 AM
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Of Mice and Kittens and Watches
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Julie Barrett
Monday, August 3, 2026
The cats have discovered toy mice. Eliza, in particular, loves to play fetch. Here she is returning the toy mouse or another round.
I think I wore out my pitching arm today!
This morning I swapped out the battery in so-called smart watch. It's been losing power during the night. Maybe it's the cats! I finally found the battery diagnostic tool on my phone. It's in the last place I'd have thought to look. Shouldn't it be part of the watch app? No, it's buried under a special app the manufacturer provided for the sole apparent purpose of trying to sell me more of their products. Ugh. The diagnostic showed a bad battery, so I replaced it.
That was a bit of a challenge, but fortunately the battery came with clear instructions. It was mainly my neuropa
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Filed under: Cats Housekeeping 8/3/2026 5:32:45 PM
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Getting Back on the Journaling Train
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Julie Barrett
Saturday, August 1, 2026
Well, I'm gonna try, but with a twist. This is my new Canon Ivy printer, with a couple of pictures I shot today. They definitely have a blue shift to them, but that's okay. The cunning plan is to try paper journaling again. Not the fancy, artsy craftsy stuff. Just pen, paper, and a picture or two.
There are a couple of reasons for this. One is physical/mental therapy. After nine months of chemo and three months of recovery, I am ready to reclaim my life. I'm still dealing with the physical neuropathy, though that is abating. Mentally, I just need to get back in the groove.
We are also in the planning stages of a trip. I think we've both earned a vacation after all this! (And yes, I'm arranging for a house sitter, so I don't mind talking about
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Filed under: Life 8/1/2026 12:55:21 PM
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Life/Health Update
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Julie Barrett
Monday, July 27, 2026
I suppose it's time for a life/health update.
But first, cat tax!
First, the health: The neuropathy is improving, and so are my energy levels. Yay! I have more tests and imaging over the next couple of months. I'll update those when appropriate.I'm also back on the weight loss wagon. This is NOT related to the cancer. I'd like to lose another 15-20 pounds. As before, the plan is to do it slowly. I started this particular journey three years ago next month and hav
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Filed under: Life Cats Pictures 7/27/2026 7:51:12 AM
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Meet the Kittens!
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Julie Barrett
Saturday, July 18, 2026
About a month ago the Cat Distribution Network gifted us with a pair of kittens!
The thing we haven't mentioned is that we lost Daenerys back in June. She had never really been a healthy kitty, and we tried to give her the best life we could.
We thought that perhaps the next time around we might see about getting a pair of kittens from the same litter. We checked the shelter, and saw some cuties that might be ready to adopt later in June, which would have been perfect. We didn't want to bring kittens home and then leave for a convention. In the meantime, a friend contacted us. A co-worker was fostering a couple of kittens, and the Monday after SoonerCon would be purrfect to pick them up!
Meet Eliza and Enola! They're named after a pair of fictional
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Filed under: Cats 7/18/2026 10:18:38 AM
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What a Month!
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Julie Barrett
Saturday, July 18, 2026
SoonerCon went great, though I wore myself out. I was glad that I got our usual spot on the second floor, as the elevators were having issues all weekend. They weren't as bad as last year, though! I got in a lot of exercise by just taking the stairs.
We had a grand time. The radio play went well, too! I hope we can return next year. It was great to see old friends.
The real fun got underway Thursday, though, when I managed to close my finger in a garage door. Chemo Brain and neuropathy in action! Paul took me to a nearby urgent care clinic and we got X-Rays. Turns out I'd broken the tip of my left index finger. Fortunately, I'm right-handed, but typing has been a challenge. I visited an orthopedist this week (yep, it took that long to get in) who took more X-Rays and said yep, it's broken. The good news is that it's healing enough that I don't have to wear the finger splint around the house. Typing is still a challenge, but I'm going to l
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Filed under: Conventions 7/18/2026 10:03:47 AM
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Where has she been? And where will she be?
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Hi, I'm here, and I'm alive! Well, better than alive. As of my May scan, I'm cancer free!
I finished my final chemotherapy treatment on May 1 and rang the bell!
The doctor said it would take about 4-6 weeks before I started to feel better. Well, he was wrong. I started to feel better sooner than that! I suppose part of that was just the relief that the chemo was over with. I'm starting to get my energy back, but I'm still having neuropathy issues. Those have played havoc with my bowling game, but it's summer, and I'm just going to go with the flow and let me game improve. No pressure. Seriously.
I've been occupying my time with website updates and more photo scanning/organization. I'll be picking up another batch of family photos this week to start working on.
In the middle of all this we lost Daenerys. She was never a healthy kitty, and we took the best care of her that we could. She wa
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Filed under: Life Tech 6/16/2026 1:37:20 PM
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