And the winner is—

Congratulations to Reader Wil in the Netherlands for winning a signed copy of Vicki Lane’s The Day of Small Things and many thanks to everyone else who entered the drawing!

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Well, I’m $1,300 poorer but now we know a lot about Hamilton’s health.  He has good skeletal condition and no masses (X-rays), a heart in very good working order (echocardiogram), normal blood pressure (do they use a tiny cuff?), and no sign of anything in his blood (full workup).  After a daytime blood sugar curve and an overnight curve (14 total prick tests), we’ve come to the conclusion that his insulin needs have changed rather dramatically, which is apparently not uncommon in cats.  Tuesday night at the vet’s, he had another seizure-like episode but, lo and behold, his sugar had dropped to 54 and was still no higher than 84 three hours later even after eating and having some sugar water.  To put that in perspective, I have low blood sugar crashes when I get down around 69.  Poor Hammie, no wonder he was having this attacks—the cat couldn’t get up on his feet.  So now, we’ve changed the time of day he gets his insulin and cut the amount in half.  In about a gazillion years, the cut in insulin and syringe costs should make up for all these tests.  Oh, well, you can’t just ignore their ailments, can you?  At least we know he isn’t likely to die from a heart attack

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Mouse CPR

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Teeny Reviews x 2

Green Witch
Alice Hoffman
Scholastic Press, 2010
ISBN 0545141958
Hardcover

“Loss does different things to different people…I have planted a garden, reached out to my neighbors, begun to write down my story.”

It’s been a year since teenaged witch Green’s home was destroyed by the Horde, a group of terrorists who hate any kind of progress and will destroy it if they can. She’s working on rebuilding, finding and helping displaced folks, and moving forward. In particular, she seeks Heather (a school friend) and Diamond (a young man who taught her to love again). Along her journey, she meets several witchy women who teach her how to continue her path of growing after loss.

My only complaint is the book’s so short! With lines like the following, I could read several hundred pages and be content.

“Dreams are like air. They never leave you. It takes less than nothing to begin.”

Hoffman understands grace and brevity and she’s created a masterpiece in both. While this book is labeled 9-12th grade, I can see Green Witch as an excellent read for anyone dealing with loss.

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A frequent—and always a favorite—visitor at the shop was Ellen Byerrum, author of the delightful Crime of Fashion Mysteries, and Hamilton obviously found her books to be great pillows.   Ellen is one of those rare authors who manage to hit all venues for her mystery world including books, plays,
TV movies and even a video game.

Check out page 6 of the Photo Gallery on Ellen’s site for some great pictures of our closing.  Thanks so much, Ellen & sidekick husband Bob!