Reasons to smile, reasons to cry

We came back on Wednesday night. Vivian's doing very well, as is her aunt/donor. Her aunt got a little frustrated at us. Past and present members of her coven (that includes me!) wanted to do a work for them both, and she was afraid we'd be sacrificing a cat or something. Of course we didn't; just passed hands over them and chanted for good health and swift healing. The aunt also got a bit tired of all of us coming in to thank her. :-) But that's okay. She did do a good thing, and we think she was just overwhelmed, as anyone would be with a lot of energetic visitors after surgery.

My brother turned 25 this week. He feels old. I told him if he's old, I'm real old, and he'll always be my baby brother, at least. That didn't cheer him up in the slightest. He wanted me and L'Ailee at his Labor Day barbecue, and several of my friends wanted to catch up, too. We went dancing at some of my old haunts and put the "ho" in "hotel." Very good and very busy.

I had lots to do when I got home. I don't know what kind of aphrodisiaical effect my going away temporarily has on the people I know, but one of the employees got fired for harassing another while I was away! BossLady joked about my being forbidden to take any more vacations. At least, I hope she was joking.

And at least the boy who watered our plants and fed our cats either didn't get into any trouble or covered his tracks very well.

I have been told about Steve Irwin and about Atlanta's new panda baby. One made me cry, one made me grin. Guess which one is which. L'Ailee loved the Crocodile Hunter; she cried for Steve Irwin, too, then blamed it on me. Shortly before our wedding, Jerry Orbach from Law and Order passed, and L'Ailee couldn't cry for him even though she loved what he brought to the show. Mom told her it was okay to cry and to miss his contributions; they cried together. That helped them bond, when before, she was alternately "the little bald bitch" or "the little Russian bitch" to my mom, depending on how she wore her hair. So it's because I (and my mother) encouraged her to cry that she cried for the Crocodile Hunter. But I'm okay with that, with being one of the people who taught her that it's okay to cry for sad things. On the flip side, she's taught me to be a bit more stoic and to be able to look at things with more objectivity. It's good that we can learn from each other.

Another thing to cry about--a mama panda in China crushed her baby. I always wondered if that happened, given the size differential, but what a hell of a way to get that question answered! :'-(

And on this theme, if we don't hear another thing about 9/11, it will be too soon. That's all I need or want to say. We're just tired of it being the 9/11 Season. We wonder how much longer there will be one. It will last forever in so many peoples' hearts anyway, that we don't need our faces shoved in it. We wonder if New Orleans will have a Katrina Season, too.