I feel I'm getting on a frequency of update journals of about twice a year:P Really I don't feel the need to update here so much as my furry art projects have been practically non-existent the past few years. It's just taking a lower priority but it's not been for anything catastrophic. Things for the most part have gone very well. Still liking my job a whole lot & it's going great. Still loving where I live & the friends I've made in the area of North Cobb/South Cherokee counties. It's great being fairly close to downtown Atlanta yet far enough away at the same time. Overall I can't complain. Back to art...it was a loss that got me into actually trying my paw at furry art myself. It was a great way to distract myself from grief. I find myself in a similar situation now with my mother having been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer late last week. I can report though that the prognosis is very good. She will have to have a double mastectomy & reconstructive surgery. Still trying to get a date for that but it's looking more like the 2nd week of December. Radiation may be necessary but fortunately it looks like chemo will not be needed. Even with a very good prognosis, cancer is not the diagnosis one wants to get so close to the holidays. Christmas will be very different with mom going through the process of recovering. I pray she'll at least be home for Christmas. So I'm finding myself once again with the art bug. Recently purchased a Surface Pro. Been planning to do so for quite some time but decided to move ahead with it now since I can finance it at 0% for 2 years & since I have a decent raise coming up. It's pretty much a middle-of-the-road variant as its primary use will be for digital artwork & my financial software. Gaming will be strictly kept to the desktop PC rig I built last year as well as my Alienware laptop for my away-from-home gaming. The first thing I hope to accomplish once I get it is to complete the piece I've been working on & off with for years now that will serve as a decent reference pic for Cobalt. From then on we shall see. I have more than a few ideas running around my brain. The biggest thing I want to see accomplished though as we turn the calendar over to 2018 is to be able to declare mom is cancer-free. Be prayerful for me & most of all for my family. Especially my dad & my bro as they're gonna have to step up to the plate & take care of the house & her. As for me, I'll only be 2 hours away (on a good traffic day, rare around Atlanta) plus I do plan to call down home more regularly to check on things. Here's hoping all of y'all are dong well headed to December & may 2018 bring nothing but great things. Just remember that when challenges come, be strong & persevere. You're so much stronger than you may think. Cheers.