Whatever (some randomosity fer ye)

One: Pete's teachers have been trying to get Pete into the Talent Development program at her school. You know, that little bit of extra attention for gifted students to help them not get bored (my elementary school called it the Gifted and Talented program). We found out this morning that they don't think that she's quite gifted enough. On the one hand, I think they're full of it. Because a. I'm her mom, and b. she's really bright, and c. I'm her mom. But on the other hand, I get it. She is gifted, but I am absolutely positive it wasn't completely evident to them due to the fact that a. she doesn't have a whole lot of experience with test-taking (she's a Montessori kid, after all), and b. she doesn't have particularly well-honed attention-to-details skills (she's working hard on that). But we know she needs challenges and her actual classroom teacher knows she needs challenges so even if the elitist TD people don't want her, we'll still help her develop her talents.

2: Last Sunday we started writing the Follies, which are scheduled for October 16 (mark your calendars Meme, TG, and Moomie - and anyone else...). You may recall that last year I joined the little troupe late and still managed to ROCK the show. Remember? (Click here...) Well, this year I am being all involvedy from the very beginning so it will SUPER ROCK. But not just because of me. We've got a fantastic little group of writers and a bunch of talented performers and I am all full of ideas and can't wait for our next meeting... All I'm saying is that there will be a pink flamingo neon light on stage... And that if we see Zuzu, she will probably be 8 years old...

III: "What's up with Abby?" you ask. (Go ahead and say it out loud. I'll wait...) Well, I answer, something is up. Something not good. I think, perhaps, whatever energy oversees the owner/pet relationships in our house is testing (or punishing) us due to our whole Howie screw-up (we get it - we messed up). Our poor Abby should have been spayed in December, but I opted to wait until January due to the fact that Santa went overboard, as she usually does, and Mrs. Claus was already rolling his eyes about the credit card bills. I made the appointment and everything for right after Pete's birthday, but the vet wouldn't do it because poor puppy had (what we thought was just) a urinary tract infection. So, a monthplus and half-a-dozen vet visits and a heatcycle and several$100 later, the bacteria is gone, apparently (the culture didn't grow anything), but the puppy is still full of crystals and is having accidents on the couch and in the kitchen and on the carpet (she's not allowed on the bed anymore). But there's no stone. No obvious explanation. So today they're checking her liver function. I tell you what, I am really worried about that little creature because a. her mom and both of her litter mates are dead, and b. she's ½ Maltese, a breed that is prone to liver shunts. And Mrs. Claus is rolling his eyes again about how expensive my stuff seems to be, but he gets that there's nothing I can do about it other than keep taking her to the vet to find out what's wrong. I think I'm glad we didn't have her spayed in December, now, because if something is wrong with her liver, we wouldn't have known and it could have been really dangerous to put her under. She's scheduled for spaying this Friday, though, and her doctor is still planning on doing it so maybe they can fix this other problem at the same time and everything will be the way it's supposed to be from now on... Maybe...

FORE! We're planning on putting our house back on the market next week. We're waiting to hear back from the agent, but that's our plan. So fingers crossed for us, okay?