Shacknews LoL

Babies and Books: A Modica Update

My baby boy turned 6 months the other day. He’s objectively one of the cutest babies on the planet, way above average on the cuteness charts.

https://imgur.com/a/RG2F1aV

Also, my book’s official publication date is September 10th. I’ll be posting more and more as the day gets closer, but to any DC or DMV folks, I’m having a launch event at the Busboys and Poets on K St on September 9th at 6pm. Come one, come all!

You can find links for preorder here on my website here: https://www.jordankcasomar.com/about-3

Happy Easter from Chase, Vincent Thundersqueak, Odin, and Benedict Cucumber patch!

I'm still figuring out how to photograph Odin and Benny at the same time. It's been awhile since we had bonded piggies and I don't want to separate them while they get used to photoshoots. They have settled in nicely and are very wheeky.

Odin (brown piggy) and Benedict (black piggy): https://i.imgur.com/4KTtHnm.jpeg
Vincent Thundersqueak: https://i.imgur.com/lzG3dXw.jpeg
Chase: https://i.imgur.com/6ac393e.jpeg

Hey shack


So much for 2024 being a good year. Hopefully it gets better soon

My kids and I went up to visit my parents on Thursday night last week for the Australia Day long weekend.
Mum had been put into hospital the day before as she was having issues with the pain meds they had her on. She’s been battling lung cancer since April last year and had breast cancer in 2021/22.
She was getting hallucinations from the meds,
We got up there (about. 6ish hour drive from here) at 11pm on Thursday.

At 4:30 am my dad got a call from the hospital. My mum had asked for him to come in and the hospital thought it wise. Dad woke me up to tell me and then he went in. He called me at 6:30 to tell me to come in and to pick my sister up on the way as she lives a few mins down the road from my parents place.


My sister, dad and I were there with my mum. She wasn’t overly responsive but she looked towards my sister and I when we told her we were there. The doctor had given her some morphine for the pain so she was a bit out of it.

She fell asleep at about 8am. And at 9:45 she went downhill very fast and breathed her last at 10am peacefully with her family around her.

My dad is absolutely shattered and lost. My sister is trying to cope and not stress as she is still recovering from a heart attack she had a few weeks ago and isn’t allowed to stress.

I’m ok at the moment. Just doing what I can to support my kids and my dad and sister.
My kids and I came home on Sunday night and we drive back up tonight for the funeral tomorrow.
As horrible as it was to watch my mum die and for my dad to lose the love of his life. I’m glad she isn’t suffering in pain.

I miss my mum but she will always be with me in spirit and I will always hear her voice saying “don’t walk on that I just mopped it “ when I see someone mopping a floor.

Hey guys! Meet Toby! He is a foster we have taken in and is one of the 4000 Envigo beagles. We are helping him learn how to dog. ❤️

https://i.imgur.com/jNXCKoV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pTOuU4H.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jQ4D21p.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/1aY8bbW.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jyboP2N.jpg

Baby pics. :)

https://i.imgur.com/iSOFULk.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/nBpE2ul.jpg

She’s getting so big. She’s rolling over and grabbing things and sleeping in her big girl crib and all that jazz now.

R.I.P. Marley Bear.

You were the best.

http://chattypics.com/files/shackbrowseUpload_xwj1ixwkxe.jpg

Chuck has hip dysplasia and has to get lasered, so they made him wear goggles to protect his eyes.

https://i.imgur.com/6uMwGjR.jpeg

Just a reminder to hug your pups. We just had to make the toughest decision on this old boy that has been integral in our lives for the last 11 1/2 years. It's was so hard watching him stop breathing, even though he was in shambles at the end. :(

https://www.instagram.com/p/wr6206BZiu/

I am likely about to lose both parents here within two months. My mom had gotten a cut on her toe a year ago, and led to infection that kept her bedridden which meant getting physical therapy. My dad would visit her daily, but he started developing some breathing problems that doctors could not identify.

In early July, mom's infection takes turn for the worse and she was in iCU for a few days before she is stablized. However, one day while she was in ICU, dad took a fall at home and had to be rushed to ICU too. They gave him a blood pressure medication to stabilize him overnight but his system was so compromised that he died overnight. My brother (lives in NC, parents in OH, I'm in WA) was there but they could not get mom to see him. Thankfully she was out of ICU in time to see him body at funeral home before cremation (I was there too by then) I thankful had talked to parents regularly and has spoken to dad a week prior, so will sad that I was not there when he died, felt that our frequent calls were good.

Flash toward to this last weekend, mom had another dip that put her in ICU. Brother and I raced home for that. She has gotten stable over several days but thus infection my have spread to her heart, to the point she would be on an antibiotic IV drip for rest of lIfe and we have been recommended that hospice care may be best for her. We haven't yet finalized anything but we are preparing as the best option for her to end the pain and bedridden state she is in

The is crazy tough on me and my brother considering all. The most key comfort we have is that our dad about 10years ago dad worked to recount all assets, benefits, etc due to them and established line of succession with a lawyer as well as placing all key doc in a safety deposit box. This has made most everything else somewhat painless in terms our accounts etc. They did talk to us about these plans then, as well as their wishes to be cremated. They also had minimal debt due to smart money management...house was only $50k from being paid off, which will be completed before we decide what to do with it.

They had a 52+ year marriage, and were great parents.

So make sure you call your parents and tell them that you love them. And make sure that you know what their end of life plans are so that is it the last thing you need to worry about. I know my brother and I have resolved to make sure our own wills are set in the near future.

Had to put one of my cats to sleep today :( Goodbye Robin. You were such a good derpy cat. I'm going to miss you :(

https://i.imgur.com/cIWUIir.jpg