A little catching up: My news. I've been very quiet and withdrawn this summer, obviously, and pretty much heat-paralyzed - but a couple of awesome things did happen... →[More:]

the very best of which was the new blood test results on our dog, Sky. When we got her, she had borderline positive test results for Canine Leishmaniasis, an incurable and potentially fatal infectious disease that affects dogs mostly in the Mediterranean basin. It's very common among stray and neglected dogs, though any dog can get it, since it's transmitted by sandfly bite, and also by blood transfer from an infected dog, including via mosquito, which transfers the disease when it feeds on an infected animal and then bites an uninfected animal.

A blood test made before we adopted her showed that she had been exposed to the disease, and while not positive for Leishmaniasis, was also not exactly negative. She was borderline. Another blood test, a month after we got her showed exactly the same results. But the latest test, from last week, came up negative. Negative! We asked our Vet, "like, how negative?" and she answered, "like zero negative". Zero!

I cried. So that's the most awesome of the awesome. (Risk remains, of course, for new infection, but we take safeguards, and healthy, cared-for dogs seem less likely to acquire the disease.) I had been secretly hoping for a more promising test result this time, because I had been told that often rescue dogs with positive results, but who are not symptomatic, will get improved results after adoption... but tried not to think about it too much, so that I wouldn't be disappointed. But Yay, zero negative!

Also awesome? In a much more selfish way? I got me a Kindle, and I now I have more books to read than I will ever manage to consume in my life. I've been non-stop reading and it's making me pighappy after a such a long period of book drought (due to lack of affordable English language books here).

Bad news? Other than heat depression, some of you might remember that I fell and hurt my foot? That took a long time to heal, was nothing pretty, and looks like it's going to leave a nice scar. But it eventually healed, and all was well until... I had another run-in with a sidewalk, which this time basically ripped out a big toenail, and I'll spare you the details. Let's just say "ouch!" and also "ugh!" and again I'm limping, and soaking my foot, and bandaged, and black and blue, etc. This apparently has been my summer of living dangerously, at least as far as my right leg is concerned - which is kind of weird since I've mostly just stayed in all summer. Apparently, I shouldn't have left the house at all.