"And now,” said Aslan presently, “to business. I feel I am going to roar."

Happy Easter everyone. I've got a miserable head cold and while nowhere NEAR as drugged up (and consequentially funny) as The Bloggess is. I do feel as if I am blogging under the influence (BUI). We are having our usual incredibly low-key holiday over here.

Oh! Before I forget -- Jessica's trip with Rebel Shakespeare has been getting some press. The biggest article so far is on Wicked Local. You can read it here. And if you want to know what it is she's doing, this article explains a lot about the program... and I love these kid.

Onward with entry...

We went to church, which actually was a lot of fun, and came home and Geoff and I dyed Easter eggs which Jessica is promptly peeled and turned into deviled eggs. I am not sure that is a really good Easter message, what with the beauty of colored eggs instantly being thrashed and turned to "devil"ed anything... read into it what you will and perhaps chuckle.

Jess made Llyod's Barbecue Ribs and cornbread for dinner while I curled up on the couch and played Ratchet and Clank "Deadlocked," a game I've beaten 20 times but still always enjoy revisiting when I just want something to keep me awake or when I just want to blow shit up. It's the best. I'm a huge fan of the "Ratchet" brand...

It was a nice enough day, we could have gone hiking but didn't because Doug and I feel so meh. We didn't drive down to the Cape to see my parents because we're so sick... hate to visit someone with what is something akin to the plague. We also watched what could be the worst movie I've ever seen, ever... Leprechaun 4: In Space. Oh, the horrors. I wasn't sure if I was awake and witnessing the worst movie ever, or asleep and having one of the worst dreams I've ever had.

So all told it has been quite quiet (two words I love writing besides each other). It has been an enjoyable Easter, one in which I've had time to spend talking to my son about sacrifice, "good turns" done for others, and why Good Friday is called Good Friday ("I mean, it's not exactly Good for Jesus, is it?" ponders Geoff).

But all told, I take great joy in the quiet solitude we have here as a unit. The time we spent arguing over whether or not Jess should take AP History (she says no, Doug says yes), and listening to Geoff play a song that he wrote called 'Friend of God' as he's pondering a lot of this Easter business.

---

This Easter it is hard for me to embrace the concepts. I am driving around town, and I see Christmas wreathes still hung on doors, dry and fire hazardy. I see St. Patty's Leprechaun (ugh, suddenly thinking of that horrid movie) banners and flags and pots o'gold hanging on people's doors, and I see pretty little easter egg trees and wreathes of forcythia and banners with lilies on them decking porches. It's a horrible clash of events this time of year, with Easter so early.

Combine that with someone dressed up for Purim and my head would just explode.

So I feel under prepared to embrace the Easter season this year. But every Spring, usually when the tulips start to come up and every last vestage of snow is gone from the ground, I smile inside and say "Aslan is on the move."

I like to read "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." I greatly enjoy the message, the concept of "deeper magic" that exists in the world, the good turn that Aslan does for the "sinner" Edmund, how Lucy and Susan are his Mary Magdelene, how he rises and shakes that chopped mane in defiance to The Witch and gives out his mighty roar.

If you've never read it, or are unfamiliar with it, I suggest picking it up. I mean, I could tell you to read the Gospel of John, but ... this has a talking LION in it for cryin' out loud. How much cooler does that get!? None. None much cooler.

In all seriousness, do it. Don't watch scary leprechaun movies. Read the book and wonder. And feel your soul ready for a great big roar. And a romp.

Spring is just what is needed around here. And I'm sure that a resurrection of spirit will be bound to happen once the crocus pop up from the ground and New England gets to feel the joy of warm sun again.

---

No matter your faith, your religion, your standing -- I hope today was a good day for you. That each day going forward you embrace something good and kind and wonderful.

And for those of you who celebrate the risen Lord. "Allelujah. He is risen." "Christ is risen indeed, Allelujah," is what I say to you. Allelujah indeed.

"I can hear nothing but somebody's art."

Geoff is rocking out on his guitar. I think he is playing "He's got the whole world in his hands" but I'm not sure he's doing it right. And Jessica isn't havin' ANY of it. On the one hand, I'd like to encourage his creativity and learning, as he plays chords and sings at the top of his lungs. On the other hand, I'm somewhat with the Jess... and one person's "art" is another's major headache.

So yeah, I've not updated lately. Been busy in the last week. We had the Ides of March (oooooh! Beware!) and then Guster day on March 16th (see the quote above and listen to "Jesus on the Radio" to understand. Or, just read the words).

"5 am, March 16th.
Jesus on the radio, you took a photograph of me
on your yellow bucket seat.
It's too high, it's too wide, You're so low you don't know
To get through, to go around
So don't look back, there ain't nothing there to see
Was once like you.
Can't say I recognize that face
in that picture that you keep
Its too high, its too wide
You're so low you don't know
To get through, to go around."

All good Guster fans recognize this as a national holiday.

And then we had St. Patrick's day. In years past we'd have a throw down of fun in all kinds of ways shapes and forms with Aaron and Michelle. Several years ago we made our now famous Aaron Go Bragh sign to celebrate the event. But now he's far far away and Michelle is in Maine and we haven't seen her in a long time. So I mourn the loss of that holiday fun-ness. Good times, good times...

Sigh. I miss him. We had so much damn fun it should be outlawed. I wish he'd come home to the close coast and bring that kind of fun insanity back into my life. But I have a feeling these years of happy go lucky craziness and photoshopping of pictures up are over. Meh.

---

So now Geoff is singing "She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes," and something about she'll be drivin' her Subaru when she comes... At the end he says "yum yum." Which is cracking my shit right up. Oh my God.

Now, it's his own very original and interesting rendition of Blue Suede Shoes. He knows ALL THE WORDS! What the heck? Who taught him that? Thank God I tuned his guitar this afternoon or I think my head would explode by now.

---

Thank you to folks who have donated to the Jess going to Europe twice fund. So far you've donated 300 bucks, which is awesome. Thank you. Combined with some money from my sister I can pay for the deadline for Jess' London trip on time. Whew.

Now we focus on the Germany trip. You can still donate a couple of bucks. The donation box will be on the front page for probably most of the month of April.

People I don't even know donated $10 bucks here and $15 bucks there. Jay gave it mention on his blog, so I would hazard a guess that the people who I don't know most likely came via Jay... unless there are lurkers who've been reading my blog a while who just have never said anything in the comments over time. It could be possible...

regardless of how you got here or how long you've been here -- if you have donated... thank you. Jess will be writing notes for you shortly.

It's funny, but I did math recently (and my brain still hurts) because I was wondering how on earth I could make decent money but never HAVE money.

I realized that over the course of a year, about $19,000 of my salary goes to taxes. Nineteen Large. I know it is important to pay taxes and be part of a system that takes care of the important things like roads, highways, schools, government officials... alleged social security that I most likely will never ever see...

But I honestly don't know if I'm personally getting anywhere NEAR Nineteen Grand worth of services, for me or my kids. I didn't even do the math to see how much Doug pays because I don't want it to really make my head explode.

It kind of pisses me off because I could do so much better for my family with even just a third of that money back in my hands. Taxes piss me off so much so I won't even get started on that...

---

Right. So I started this last night but opted to go to bed instead, so I'm here finishing up this morning. Today we have a meeting at Geoff's school to see if we can get math help put back into his IEP. He's failing miserably and we would like to see some in-school math support for him. I'm not good with math (even fifth grade math) so I'm hoping that they can help him outside of the classroom and get things back on track by the end of the school year.

More later, yins.

MRI review...

Thank you for your mojo and prayers, kind thoughts and support in the last week.

I'm happy to let y'all know that the doctor reviewed her MRI (finally) today.

She is okay... she has a "high sprain" as the nurse put it. The recommendation is rest, ibuprofen and no running/jogging/sword fighting on stage and falling down. He wants to see her in a week and check how things are. But for the most part, no surgery, no physical therapy.

Just take it easy.

And she can do that, I'm sure.

I will have her take the knee brace on the trip with her if she feels she needs it, just to support the healing while walking all over London and Stratford. And in case she's sword fighting and slips and strains it again.

Horray! And there is much rejoicing.

Cleanliness

Geoff's teacher emailed me yesterday and said that he's having a rough time using appropriate language. Not in the "subject verb agreement" sort of way, but word choices and attitude.

He's been argumentative, disrespectful. He has been writing swear words on his hands and flashing them to other boys. She has found that every day she has to ride him to get him to do the littlest things, things that she should just ask once and have done, things that in the past he never gave push back on. She asked me to intervene and have a talk with him because she's at her wit's end.

It sounds familiar... I have the same problem with him a lot lately.

For example, I asked him to take a shower yesterday morning. He had already gotten himself dressed for school, at like 6am before I was out of bed. Having to shower meant he'd have to undress. And he didn't like that. All of a sudden I was treating him like a baby, not allowing him to make his own decisions, ruling and ruining his life. It was a disaster of epic proportions. All over a shower. It wasn't like I was beating him or making him do horrible things. It was a shower. A simple request.

Dude, stop. Just go take a shower. Gah.

When I got home last night we had to have a huge sit down and have a huge talk. I find that when I sit with him and hash things out, find out what his side of the story is, sometimes he has a good answer which is reasonable and understandable. Sometimes he spews forth sheer gibberish and goofiness. Last night was a good example of a heart to heart that worked out well.

Geoff's trying to be "cool" with the other guys. He's finding that swearing gets a laugh, gets acknowledgment... and getting in trouble makes him a punk, and he enjoys that to some extent. By "dissin'" his teacher, he feels he gets power and recognition. Problem is, it's the wrong kind of recognition, and it is false power.

How to reach him on a level he'd understand... Hmmm. We've been over this a million times this year. Respect, Kindness, Politeness. His teacher isn't there to be dissed. She's there to teach. The more dissin' that you throw at her, the less teachin' she can get done.

I had to bring up Boy Scouts, because to be honest friends... that just ain't how a Boy Scout rolls.

We got out his handbook and had him recite the Boy Scout Oath.

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

He has that memorized. I pointed out the Scout Law part and asked him to tell me what that is. He knew a few of the elements, but doesn't have them memorized. I asked him how can you obey it if you don't know what it is?

For the record, for those who don't know it, the Scout Law is:

A Boy Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent.

I broke it down to the "Clean" part. I asked Geoff specifically if he knew what they meant by "Clean."

"Do they mean Clean in a physical or metaphorical sense?" he asked me.

I actually tried not to laugh. This kid is too much sometimes with questions like that... but he knew where I was going with this.

Clean. In both the physical and metaphorical senses.

The Boy Scout handbook talks about how you can't avoid getting dirty when working hard or hiking, but that is the kind of dirt that washes off. But there is dirt that doesn't wash off, and that is the kind that comes from foul language and inappropriate thoughts.

We discussed foul language isn't just swear words. Foul language consists of "dissin' the teacher" and fighting with words when there isn't a need or reason to fight.

"Well, out of all of those those eleven things, I think I can be about nine of them. I don't know if I can be all eleven all the time."

Nine is a start buddy. Let's make sure "Clean" is one that you work towards immediately, and add "Obedient" to the list too. That'll make the day at school go so much better. For you and your teacher.

We spent about an hour going over all of the elements of the Scout Law. He decided he can't be thrifty because he has no money. I said that he should build a philosophy of savings when he has no money, so that when he does he knows what to do with it. I told him that there are things he needs to grow into, and having a strong and firm base or foundation is hugely important. You can't just BE an Eagle Scout... You have to start at the bottom and build.

Being a Tenderfoot is like being a foundation to a house. It is the rough part that has to be dug deep and fortified before a structure can be built up over it.

You can't plop a finished roof on a bunch of skimpy poles and think that it will stand.

We went in our basement and looked at the foundation of our house... the humongous boulders and rocks that someone put there in 1774 when this house was built. These are the original stones that hold up this house. I asked him to touch them, really think about the foundation he's building.

Make it a good and firm one. Learn now. Build later.

We went over the Boy Scout Slogan (to clarify, there is a motto, a slogan, an oath and a law. Four things they need to know. I just thought "Be Prepared" was all that was entailed. I was a girl scout, so this is all new to me...) which is "Do a Good Turn Daily."

A good turn is like "pay it forward." It is like spreading good karma. It is the Golden Rule to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is be kind for kindness' sake and no other reason. Be brave to help others, not to glorify yourself. Be helpful because you CAN be helpful...

I asked if he'd done a good turn that day and he told me that the teacher asked them all to clean up the floor of the class because it had gotten out of hand.

"Did you argue with her?"

"No. I did it when she asked. Some of it was my mess but most of it was not."

"Did you only clean up your portion?"

"No, there was a lot to clean up so I helped clean up a lot."

"Did you ask for money or praise?"

"No. That didn't cross my mind."

Good. That's a good turn. Keep it up.

Hopefully this will stick, this long discussion and these concepts. He's a really good, fine kid... he's just trying to find his way. Is it the way of the Boy Scout or the way of the punk ass?

We can encourage and guide, but in the end... it's his choice.

Daylight Mess Me Up Time

As glad as I am to have the change in time a little earlier on the calendar, we once again find me dealing with the sleep schedule adjustment issues that come hand in hand with the daylight savings time.

It isn't as bad as the one that happens in October, but it still messes me up good. Yesterday I slept until 9am, which was REALLY 10 on the clock. By 10pm, which was REALLY 11 on the clock, I wasn't tired and couldn't fall asleep. It was just too early for me. Sometimes on Sunday nights I have a hard time falling asleep in the first place, because my brain starts processing the workday that awaits me. I think around 1am my body's time, which was now officially 2am on the clock... I fell asleep.

Jess woke me up at 6:30 so that I could get ready to take her to school and Doug presumed he would be the one giving her a ride, so now I find myself here with time to kind of wake up and get kind of acclimated to the day. Only it isn't working very well.

The only horror is that there is no milk or cream for coffee. Feh. Thank God we have some tea and honey. That should help until I can hit the road. I'd run out and get some but that means leaving Geoff alone and I don't like to do that. I'd really like to go back to sleep for an hour.

Hopefully tonight I'll be tired enough to just put my head on the pillow and be that beyond tired person who can fall asleep before 11pm.

---

Jess had her MRI on Friday night. I waited for Doug to get home with her and actually fell asleep on the couch moments after they left.

They got home around 10pm and Jess regaled me with stories of her experience. Scary warning labels about lasers and blindness, loud noises, and how she got to use open MRI instead of get fed into a tube. Which she liked better.

It is now my duty to take the film to the doctor's office this morning and drop it off so they can read it.

I'm not sure why the MRI dudes didn't or couldn't take the film over, considering they're in the same general building complex area, but whatever. The packet is sitting in my car awaiting delivery... which means I should probably dress and be ready to go. Wait here.

Okay, I'm back. Showered, dressed, cuppa.

Not that I have anything particularly interesting to say... I am feeling kind of vapid and braindead. Perhaps I should just pack up and get ready. I have time to make my lunch for a change... should do that.

Right then. More later. Meh. Happy Mehnday.

A public thanking, an Arrow of Light, an ACL update

At some point back in October I stumbled across another blogger (thanks to Universal Hub, where Adam picked up one of his entries). I actually knew him. He lives here in my town and he is an assistant scout master for our town's cub scout pack. Or is it cub master? Cub master sounds like he needs a whip and chair and a funny mustache. The image kind of makes me giggle. I don't exactly know what he's called so I'll entertain the image of him in a 3-ring circus rounding up wild boy cubs, wearing weird pants and a top hat... (yes, I have an over-active imagination).

Jay and I worked on the cub scout haunted hallway last year to great success. It was a pleasure getting to know him through the scouts and through his blog... where he lets it all out where the kids can't hear him. He swears, rants about stupid idiots who can't drive in the snow, shares those priceless Dad Moments™ that one should never forget, and talks about his gun hobby.

Most especially entertaining to me was the post-Halloween Pumpkin Shoot at the range where he goes... everyone brought their Jack-o'-lanterns and had at it... that was awesome. Perhaps I'll get to a shooting range with him someday... I've always wanted to do that (I have a short list of things I'd really like to do and shooting is one of them).

He linked to me the other day and I owe him a thanks of sorts.

I usually hover at 40 hits a day, sometimes lower if y'all know I'm out of town. When I update, folks using RSS feeds come over and my hits go to about 60 the day I update. Well, yesterday's update combined with Jay's link over here skyrocketed my readership for that day to over 100. I must say I was kind of shocked and surprised. When I checked the traffic sources, 40 of my hits were right off his blog. No other mention of this journal anywhere in the last 7 years has resulted in that many visitors from a source.

So, thank you Jay. I return the favor.

A good deal of my readership is nothing like Jay.

Most of you are not conservative, not gun owners and a goodly chunk of you are, well ... not straight.

Which is interesting.

This journal seems to attract an interesting mix of folk instead of just one thread of philosophy. This is something I pride myself on. It's kind of a place where gay nurses of both genders, liberal lawyers, folk musicians, christian environmentalists, parents and non-parents, and gun nut dads and moms (yes, there is a gun nut mom who visits here) can come and read and point and laugh at me as I go through my daily drudgery.

Knowing full well that most of what I blog about is rarely specific to a single world view. For instance, dear, darling Maria, a lesbian mom blogger way out west, recently peed her pants in the doctor's office. I pooped my pants while sneezing. Together, we share our shame and laugh at ourselves. And you can laugh with us (or at us. Or towards us).

Maybe one or two of my six or so regular readers will come visit you, Jay. Hopefully they'll find your observations entertaining even if they don't agree. And if they do agree, hell yeah, a new blog for them.

And, if you're here via Jay's recommendation -- welcome. Nice to see you. Pull up a chair for some cowboy coffee You'll want to get around to patting that dog who is breathing heavily on your leg, pining for your attention. Hope you enjoy your visit.

---

I won't be seeing Jay too much in person now unless it is actually planned, or the boy scouts do something with the cub scouts.

On Sunday, Geoff finished cub scouts and bridged over to boy scouts.

It was a nice ceremony, and there were a few things that they did this year that they haven't done in the bridging ceremony in the past.

First, it is usually done on the same day as the Blue and Gold banquet. We eat, then go into the auditorium and do the ceremony. That didn't happen this year, the ceremony was held as a solo event. Which was nice because it only took and hour instead of like 3. It was also a little sad in a way because the younger cubs weren't there to see the older ones bridge. I always liked sitting there and watching the bigger kids, boys we've known for a few years through full pack events, complete their journey and go over. While I liked the smaller event, I wish there were some more little ones there. There were some... like Jay's son or siblings of the boys who were bridging... but there should have been more. My suggestion would be that they make it like a pack meeting, where the parents of the younger cubs don't have to sit through it if they don't want to... but the dens come with their den mothers and fathers, and watch the proceedings.

Another thing they did was the boys got to shoot an arrow at a target. Kind of like a little symbolic arrow of light of their own shooting. We went outside, and it was a beautiful late winter kind of afternoon with no wind, warm sun, lots of snow. Perfect day. The boys were jacked up and excited about doing this. Everything was perfect until one of the other boys jokingly said directly to Geoffrey, "if you don't hit the target, you don't get your arrow of light!"

Thanks. Jerk. Geoff takes EVERYthing literally... and this boy KNOWS this. He LOVES doing shit like this to Geoff and I just want to smack him upside the head and ask him what the hell is his problem.

Geoff knew he wasn't going to hit it. So we had to spend a lot of time convincing him that they were indeed going to give him the arrow of light, that if he missed it's no big deal. Oy veh. When will he learn to take a joke? Never! And when will this other kid learn to keep his pie hole shut. Probably never.

So while we're dealing with Drama Geoff, one boy hit the target and the arrow bounced off. Another shot it (come to think of it, they're twin brothers... heh) and the arrow hit and stuck true. Everyone cheered like mad.

Considering that out of 15 boys those were the only ones who got close.

I thought the target was a little small and a little far away... I expected one of those humongous round targets filled with hay standing on a stand like we used to shoot at in high school gym class. I could hit that. Geoff could hit that.

Most of the boys either haven't shot bow and arrow before, or if they have it's been quite a long time. Geoff did it last summer... and while he got good distance, it took an arc off to the left. He eventually got it through his pointed little head that life was not over and he wasn't made of fail. About 2 years ago something like this would have ruined our day, our weekend, his life... but he managed to get past it and continue with the ceremony without doing a total nose dive into hysteria.

Maturity may be coming to him day by day, year by year, by golly.

When they handed out the badge for the arrow of light, they hand it to the parents, so we got to stand up with Geoff and receive it. It's a nice gesture, recognizing how much parents do to make sure this all happens and the boys complete their programs. That gave me warm fuzzies.

Then, the boys walk over a bridge and are welcomed to the boy scouts by the troop members. Most of the boys ROCKETED across the bridge so I didn't get a picture of anyone crossing. They should have been instructed that it isn't a race, Speedy Gonzalez. Slow down...no need to run. But in my heart of hearts I know why they ran. No, they weren't in a big hurry to become a boy scout... they're kind of embarrassed about doing this and just wanna get it over with. So I can't begrudge them.

Anyway -- the whole thing took less than 90 minutes... which surprised me. I thought we'd be there for days. It was over and done with, and tonight Geoff has his first boy scout meeting. Which has him completely pumped. "Mom, did you get the numbers for my uniform? Mom, why haven't you removed all the old stuff from my uniform. I'm not a cub scout anymore. Mom, did you fill out the application? Mom? Mom? Mom? Why are you drinking straight out of the giant bottle of wine and hiding under the bed? MOM!"

Kidding.

So I need to take a little jaunt over to the Scout Shop this morning and get all that jazz. It feels like yesterday when I bought him his blue shirt and his cub scout kerchief and slider. Wow. Tempus Fugit.

---

On the Jessica front, thank you for your kind words and your prayers. Keri, thank you for praying the rosary for her. Thank you all for advice and support. Elizabeth, I love that you liked this kind of injury to what your dogs have gone through, and then pondered the fact that the day after getting fixed your dog wanted to run and jump and play. Humans aren't quite as resilient, I think. And I doubt Jess will want to run and jump and play immediately after... if surgery is the final decision.

Her knee is in an immobilizer. She is comfortable when it is on and can walk about really well. When she takes it off, the knee hurts. She has a hard time with stairs, and getting up into the bus is a real challenge, so I drove her to school yesterday and Doug drove her today.

She got to ride the elevator in her school yesterday. Five Times! She was most excited about that. As only a 15 year old could be "Dude! I got to ride the elevator in the school!" Made of awesome.

Best thing is, yesterday she wore her "I do all my own stunts" t-shirt, which I found deliciously ironic. She got to her English class and her teacher took one look at her and busted up laughing.

"I bet you sure do!" she said, upon seeing Jess trundle into the classroom with her leg all immobilized. Nice.

Alright -- I gotta jet. Boy scout shop and work await. More later.

Anterior cruciwahcallit ligamadealie?

"Aaaaaaaaaa! ssssssssss. Aaaaaaaaaa! ssssssss. Aaaaaaaaaa!"
-Peter Griffin

Yesterday Jess fell down at school while in her theatre class. I guess they were miming/play acting with swordfighting. She wiped out and landed on her knee on a concrete floor. Ouch. She went to the nurse, they iced it. She went through the rest of her day and came home. We elevated it, iced it, gave her ibuprofen... told her that if she didn't feel better this morning that we'd take her to the doctor.

Well, she didn't feel better. And we knew she wasn't kidding because she's the kind of kid who doesn't let you know when she's hurt. She hides it and plays through the pain. She couldn't lift her leg or even sit because the pain was so bad. So Doug took her to the doctor.

Our doctor stuck a needle in her knee and pulled out a bunch of gunk and blood and said 'yup. You did something bad in there" and told her that he believes she has a torn ACL. X-rays and a visit to the orthopedist were ordered up. X-rays were inconclusive. So she'll have an MRI on Friday and we'll see how bad it is, whether or not surgery might have to be done or if weeks of physical therapy face her.

In the meantime, she's couchbound and in a knee immobilizer She can go to school and has to take it easy and elevate the knee whenever she can.

She'll be okay, I'm sure. I'm not too worried about her being okay. What upsets me is the timing of this incident. In about 5 or 6 weeks, she's supposed to be on her way to London, where she will walk walk walk all over the kingdom and act, and play and cavort and enjoy. But... if she is unable to walk, unable to do it... under doctor's orders... well, she may not get to go.

And I throw up a little bit in my mouth when I think of this, for two reasons. First, it is hard to get a 15 and a half year old excited about things, and you should see how excited she is about this trip. Honestly excited. Not just a "yeah, that sounds kinda fun I guess" excited.

Second, I don't think I get the money I've paid to the trip thus far back. I would need to check with Keri. But it may be a loss of 800 clams, and that dizzies me.

For a kid who has made it all the way to almost 16 without getting hurt even once... why did this have to happen... now. Right now.

I suppose that if I could play our little game that we play called "It Could Be Worse" and I could come up with a list of things that could, indeed, be worse.

It could be worse... it could have happened while she was ON the trip.
It could be worse... it could have happened while she was ON the trip, and up on stage in front of an audience in Stratford.
It could be worse... a bone could have broken and split right through her skin and she'd be in the hospital now.
It could be worse... she could be ... dead.

I guess. It could be worse.

Anyway. Pray that the MRI shows that she's not all torn up. Pray that if she is, she'll be okay to go. Just send her some mojo... because even though she and I haven't discussed the "what might this have an impact on" discussion in regards to London, I know she's thinking it. So ... pray for the girl's knee and that good things come of it.

Sigh.