I had to yell "shut up!" to a wild bird last night. We had thunderstorms starting around 10pm and for some reason a whipporwill decided to sing like a lunatic for an hour right outside our open window. Poor Tracy was already comforting one of our dogs, who requires valium (you think I'm joking, don't you?) and Tracy's physical presence to keep her from losing her marbles and tearing our house into toothpicks at the first sign of a thunderstorm. Too bad I couldn't have slipped the bird some of Millie's valium! It hasn't done much to help the dog, anyway...we are praying that she will soon lose her hearing. I'm not kidding, it is a HUGE problem. She's probably done $1000 worth of damage to the house during times when we were both working and couldn't contain her. Between the storm, the damn bird, and Millie wrapping herself like a fur stole around Tracy's neck, neither of us slept very well.

India had a hard time returning to preschool yesterday after being gone for a week. Tears welled up and she kept hanging her head and whispering, "But, Mommy, I want to stay with you" (jabs to the heart...guilt, guilt, guilt). Of course, I picked her up in the afternoon and she didn't want to leave. The folk from WolfTrap are spending the week at school and India is learning African, Old Time, and several other forms of music. Evidentally she is quite good with the spoons (it's that Southwestern Va heritage)! She's a bluegrass fan, anyway, and loves "Jailhouse", Dell McCurry (did I spell that correctly?), and "Shady Grove". Kate, on the other hand, prefers what they call "Boogie Music", which is usually Earth, Wind, and Fire, disco, or "Groove is in the Heart". Maybe we will have them preprogammed with decent music taste before they hit the Hillary Duff stage.

I had a dinner meeting last night with the director of our local Hospice and some other women. I am helping them plan a black tie gala for next May at a local winery...I think they figure if it's a party and wine is involved then I'm their girl! I'm very excited about this, particularly so soon after the death of my grandmother who was a Hospice patient. I feel strongly about the Hospice philosophy, both as a psychotherapist and as a human being. People like me wouldn't need to provide so much grief counseling if our culture didn't try to run so hard from death. Enough soapbox, but suffice it to say that it should be a learning experience and a great event for a pet cause. Anybody interested in buying some expensive tickets?

It didn't hurt that we met at Flaminco's, a new restaurant that is operated by a woman from the Chech Republic and serves traditional European foods...right down to the "salad" served last (Yes, Janice, a new restaraunt with FLAVOR that doesn't serve just crabcakes and sea trout and there are lots of non-fried and vegetarian options). Olga had made us a pitcher of Sangria yesterday morning so it would be just right by dinner. Maybe that's why our meeting lasted until 9!