No. . .

lupus! Yay! And also no toxoplasmosis! Yay! I am now cleared, healthwise, to sail a one-man boat around the world!

Upper right quadrant pain and the guest list

Yay! We're up to 10 attendees, with a tentative 11th. Now, we can't get any more, because I only made a dozen goody bags, and if Zoe doesn't get one, she'll probably--well, not be pleased.

I had a midterm in my class tonight--4 solid hours of test taking. Yes, it was fun. I predict a decent grade, as it seemed I knew more than I thought I did. Of course, that bit of confidence usually precludes a C-, so we'll see. Took skin scrapings, did an ECG reading on a little black doggie, palpated a suspicious lump on a cat, auscultated yet another cat, and hugged a big friendly pit bull. Next week: ear examinations! Moe could use some help, there. One of his ears is stinky and weird.

No word yet on whether or not I am riddled with an autoimmune disease that could ruin my already stellar quality of life--I'm in no hurry to find out, honestly. Ignorance is bliss. I have been, however, beset today with sharp little upper righthand quadrant pains. Gall bladder? Possibly, but I've had an ultrasound done, looking for them, and they found nothing. I am going to assume it is a crampy large intestine, just where it turns into the transverse colon. That's not too horrifying.

Plus I need a haircut. And a maid. As usual.

The Big Bang! -or- Zoe's 4th birthday party

We have of late been taking delivery of some enormous boxes coming in the mail, addressed to Zoe. One wonders if the senders of said boxes has given much thought to where we'll put BIG things! Actually, I kid. We've opened them up and know what's inside, and nothing looks like it'll take up much room. Just, each time I see a box bigger than the recipient, I have to wonder.


I thought I'd post some of the details here, with a few photos. Which means I have to scan some stuff, and I haven't done that. Hold on a minute. . . okay. Scans done.


Here is the outside of her invitation.

The graphic was unashamedly swiped from someone who I HOPE will not mind it being used for a few dozen invitations for a 4-year-old. They are attached to the front of the card with a bit of puffy stuff so they stand out a bit.

Inside:

It appears red here, but is really a Halloween orange. I drew the spiders and glued on googly eyes. By the way, the actual invitation looks better when it isn't scanned.

And here's Staci Grey, Zoe's favorite live performer in Austin. (She has all of Staci's album!)

For refreshment, children will be given a pizza that has been made to look like a big scary spiderweb, complete with spiders on it, celery sticks filled with herbed cream cheese and covered with strips of deli turkey to look like little mummies (their eyes are dried cranberries) and apples, peanut butter and almonds arranged in such a way that they look like monster mouths full of teeth! Adults will be allowed to eat these things, certainly, but I'm also making a big pot of chili for them. Dessert is cupcakes individually decorated to look like monsters and graveyards and spiderwebs. (Note to self: buy cupcake stand!)

My biggest concern is that nobody will show up. About 35 invitations went out last week, and we have (I think) TWO rsvp's. I'm not expecting 35, of course, but more than two would be good. We'll see. It isn't like Zoe's hurting for presents.

Speaking of which! I've gone a bit crazy. I think that buying for and giving to Zoe is the most joyful thing in my life (other than Zoe herself, of course.) If I could get paid for it, I'd be the happiest person on earth. Barbies! Barbie clothes! My Little Pony playset! Moon Sand! Games! Books and more books! Clothes! A veterinarian kit with medical instruments and a stuffed doggie you have to make feel better! A set of pink poodle scrubs (made by Mom) to go with it! Hello Kitty socks! Hello Kitty and Barbie underwear! Fake hair! Crayons! A Furberry! (I really debated about that one. She seems to REALLY want one, but I suspect it's one of those toys that'll be fun for a day, and then maybe get forgotten. We'll see.) I'm pretty sure there's more, but I can't remember it right now.

What we're hoping to do is not mention that tomorrow is her ACTUAL birthday, since her party is a week from tomorrow. We're going to let it pass like any other Saturday, and go to a birthday party for her friend Tennyson. I bought her a calendar a few weeks ago, and we've been crossing days off and stuff, and I did write in that her birthday is tomorrow, so maybe we'll hide the calendar for a week or so.

Have I mentioned the school saga here? Turns out that the school at the top of our list, St. Gabriel's, doesn't accept kindergarteners who are under 5, even if they're only 6 weeks under 5. So I'm thinking that if we don't get her in to Kindergarten next fall, since she'll be home anyway, I'm going to homeschool her for Kindergarten, and then see if we can't send her straight into 1st grade the year after that. I've been hearing a lot, though, from people who say keeping kids out for that extra year is a great thing because it lets them have more leadership skills when they eventually DO go to school. My thing is, Zoe's leadership skills are already there. That girl knows what she wants. We're still not sure of anything yet, but she's beginning to read (3-letter-words are her current forte!) and I know that intellectually, she's already ready. Emotionally, not so much.

Finally, in closing, I might have Lupus. Will have some preliminary results from Dr. soon. Yay, me.

More soon!

Christmas list, Installment #1

And it's all about me.

Go to this site:

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3

They have a store there from which anything would make me happy. HOWEVER, they have a lovely set of purple paw scrubs that are mighty fetching, and by the way, I wear a medium. Plus your cash goes to a good cause.

Okay, Zach has been saving his money for a shawm. With our refrigerator issues, his shawm savings were depleted. Consult him about this.

Zoe wants everything in sight. I'll try to narrow that down a bit later.