Do you ever wonder if the pre-vacation stress is worth it? yeah, me too.

So much to do! We are going off the grid for ten-- ten! ten!!-- days tomorrow and I have so much to do! We have a ferry reservation and we have to leave by 9:30 AM to make the ferry or else sit around all day in Horseshoe Bay, and I know it will be all day because half of Metro Vancouver is going on vacation this week and I doubt any of them are heading East because there are fires all over the Okanagan. So they will all be trying to get on the ferry with us.

Fortunately one of the things on my List of Things to Do is "write Booland post." Much more fun than the other seventy bazillion things left.

Here are the crises we have endured this week:

1) On Monday, fortunately *after* I dropped off MG at camp, a tire blew out on the van, which is our only vehicle during the summer. Turns out that because our van is crazy old, replacement tires are very hard to find, so we've been driving all week without a spare, and phoning hither and yon trying to chase down suitable tires to replace our now-mismatched set. We finally located some an hour's drive away, and that is what RW did this morning.

2) On Wednesday, because her tooth was hurting and she didn't want to have to have emergency dental surgery on vacation, RW went to the dentist and ended up having half a root canal. Ever since then, her tooth has been hurting even more, which apparently means it's infected, so today she started antibiotics. She is miserable and sick and in pain and went to lie down for a power nap at 7:30 tonight and is still asleep.

3) Also on Wednesday, we had a childcare crisis when the person we'd lined up to pick up MG from her camp, which this week is not close to either our home or either of our workplaces, suddenly that morning remembered a conflicting appointment. RW heroically found alternate care via the cell phone on her way back from the dentist.

4) Last night, my elderly cat had another seizure. This is the third one he's had in the last few months. After the second one, I took him to the vet, who ordered a bunch of tests, which determined that there is nothing wrong with his kidneys or liver or brain. So, you know, that's good. But what it means is that he just has mysterious seizures every once in a while, which freak us all out and also necessitate some cleanup. Also afterwards I revised my detailed instructions to the cat-sitter to include directions on what to do if the cat has another seizure. Also, while I was at it, I wrote down what to do in case the cat dies while we're gone. Which is a sobering, if unlikely, prospect.

So we are all fairly strung out over here. MG is still awake, mushing clay around on her floor because she says it helps her feel better. Turns out she is extremely anxious about going on boats. Who knew? Not us! She always seems to enjoy being on ferries but she just told me she's worried because of the Titanic. I told her soothing things about lifeboat laws and never being more than an hour from shore and no icebergs here, etc., but she said she's just still anxious about boats. I said, well, I guess a cruise wouldn't be a relaxing vacation for you, then, and she looked horrified and said Absolutely NOT!

Oh, well. We'd been thinking about trying for an Alaska cruise with family members next summer, but maybe we will have to come up with an alternative plan. Or else maybe she'll be over the Titanic by then.

Okay. Here are the GOOD THINGS that happened in the past week:

1) Vancouver Folk Music Festival! It was last weekend. Little Latke, now 4, and her parents came up and stayed with us and we heard much music for two days solid.

2) MG's camp this week, which was The World's Smallest Performing Arts Camp. Six kids. One counselor. This afternoon they did their performance for the dozen or so parents and relatives who showed up: a ten-minute extremely abridged and adapted version of "Newsies." My kid has been singing the songs and practicing her lines all week, and telling us the back-story on her character and about the theatre games they've been playing and how nice the other kids are and like that. Also practicing her accent, which according to her is how orphaned newspaper sellers in New York during "the Depression" (actually the show is set in the 1890's, but well, you know...) talked, but sounds more like Dick van Dyke's Cockney accent. She's been in performances before, but this is the first time she's been in a musical (aside from the all-school "holiday" pageant) and as an old performing-arts camper I found it unexpectedly affecting.

3) I learned to play "Uncle John's Band" on the ukulele.

4) I keep getting these great e-mail notifications of comments on my last post. If you did comment, thank you so much and I hope you come back and see this. It's been so very heartening to read everyone's good wishes about MG's sleep issues and headaches. I will keep you posted.