Fred, how's your kitty doing?

Short version, Kristin, he has a kidney infection and a misshaped (round) kidney. Kidney function is low but not bad for his age. He has antibiotics and an appointment in 3 weeks to see a specialist for a sonogram.

Excellent thing to hear from an editor. Go you, Amy!

I am getting ready to go pick up the Nephlet. My sister already called three times while I was in the shower because she wanted to remind me I needed to check in and go through security to pick him up at the gate. Which, ironic, is what I have been telling her the whole time. Boo's first flight alone though so I am just leaving reassuring messages. I expect she'll call in tears in about twenty minutes when he takes off.

Thanks for the yays, everyone. It's been a spectacularly crappy couple of days, so hearing that from my brand-new, never-worked-with-her-before editor was huge. Actually it would be huge anytime, but it really lifted me up today.

Awesome AmyLiz!

Groaners:

What stories do the ship captain's children like to hear? Ferry tales!

Who invented fractions? Henry the 1/8!

How did Noah see the animals in the Ark at night? By flood lighting!

Well much kitty health~ma to him, Fred.

"Yeah," said the second atom, "I'm positive."

Puppycat II is so damn cute.

During Lent, Bubba decided to grill some venison steaks. The smell of his expert grilling wafted through the neighborhood much to the agony of his Lent observing neighbors.

Does the misshaped kidney mean anything particular, FredPete? Or is due to the infection?

Cass, he's going to have a blast with you. It's so cool for a kid to visit an adult and have time to spend one-on-one. I had an honorary aunt that way when I was a kid (she was one of my mom's best friends), and it was HUGE for me to sleep over on my own. We'd go to the movies and out to eat and it was all so fun to be away from home, but with a trusted, well-loved adult. You're going to rock this week for him.

Funny Story that demonstrates the Goofiness of my Grammie:

Long ago, when my mom and her brothers were kids, the family would travel all over the US for two weeks in July.

One summer, they went to Colorado and camped in Rocky Mountain National Park. One evening, they were attending an event at the park's ampitheater. Something caught the corner of my uncle M's eye and he looked over. Eventually, his 2 brothers and my mom looked where he was concentrating. All of their mouths gaping. Off in the distance was full grown Kodiak bear, standing upright. My Uncle M says that it looked like he was paying attention to the concert or whatever. My grandfather saw it and then my grammie saw it. She kept her cool, but told me later that she about messed herself. Eventually, the bear dropped back down onto all fours and rambled off into the trees.

Toward the campground.

When they got back to their campsite, grammie and Poppa and the kids set about making sure everything was bear-proofed; up in trees, locked in their car, etc. As they herded the kids in for the night, grammie counted heads, shut the door to the pop-up camper, and then proceeded to LOCK THE DOOR.

My grandfather asked her, "Haze - why are you locking that door?" She replied, "To keep the bear out."

Puppycat II is so damn cute.

Sometimes I think about what would happen if Puppycat I met Puppycat II. I have a feeling they'd look at each other suspiciously for awhile and then would discover their mutual love of the shiny and be friends forever. Well, except they would keep forgetting each other every time one left the room, so that cycle would probably be on permanent repeat.