Fall & dragons

<-- She used real leaves on this. It had several more leaves on it before Petey found them and ripped them off.

We've had a really urgent, very sad dog situation that's been taking up much of my time and mental space lately. It just never ends. On the very positive side, our "puppy mill bill" that's been forefront for all of us, passed unanimously on Tuesday. We were surprised and very, very happy! It's another tiny victory, but we will definitely savor it briefly before we move on to the next.

We've also had a contractor working on installing a new door in the side entryway. I'm so happy we're finally getting it done, as we've needed to for quite a while. It's just so stressful for me to have people come in and do work. Making sure the animals don't get out, get into anything dangerous, get too stressed and get sick--it keeps me on pins and needles the whole time we're getting the work done. I'm going to have to just deal, because we have many more projects that need to be done. I have to stop putting these things off, but it's just so unpleasant!

L has been prolific with her art again lately. We are going to go broke trying to keep up with her need for sketch pads and books! She informed me yesterday that all she wants for xmas are books and cat figurines. You've seen photos of her extensive cat figurine collection taking up my entire living room. She has tons of them already! She even knows the exact count. She uses them frequently, so I can't really complain, but I just can't fathom the need for so many. It actually amazes me to watch her play with them. She has names for all of them and they all have clans and affiliations, and she can get lost for hours playing with those cats--either by herself or with a friend. I have never, in my entire life, played that way or understood how people could. I have always been imaginations impaired. I'm glad she's not!