Several news bits from me,
going in reverse order chronologically:
1) We got the news yesterday that our well came in at five gallons per
minute! (We had specified at least four in the contract.) So that's the
last real hurdle. I understand that they're still mucking around with
the road maintenance agreement and the utility easement, but I don't
expect those to be big problems - the land should be closed on by the
end of the month. We did get the crappy news last week that the
house assessment came in at $15,000 less than we're paying - a victim of
the plummeting prices in that particular price range in this area
(thankfully, not such a problem for the house we're in) - but we know
that the local builder has actually held the line for us while the
modular home builder has raised prices (because of the cost of gas), so
we feel like he's doing what he can for us and don't feel like shopping
around at this late date to try to shave a few thousand off the price.
The mortgage guy has said that we should be able to get the financing
anyway.
2) Laurel had surgery on Monday to remove the plate and five screws that
were put in her leg at last year's surgery. It's generally gone very
well, although we did freak out a bit Monday afternoon because it seemed
like it was bleeding a lot (we already had her home). We called the
hospital and laid her on her opposite side and gave her some Valium. By
the time she woke up from the Valium three hours later, the bleeding was
a lot better, so we didn't call the hospital again (they never did call
back). Our attempt at an outing didn't go that well yesterday, but she's
been in a good mood at home the last several days. I expect we'll try
sending her back to school tomorrow.
3) The Friday before the surgery, Laurel's Brownie troop went to the
Build-a-Bear workshop. We'd been told that we had the option of getting
a gift card and taking her ourselves, so we gave her both choices, but
she decided she wanted to try going with the troop. It went very well!
She actually decided she wanted a Brownie uniform for her dog, so she
must be feeling somewhat more positive about it. She was in a fabulous
mood that entire evening. I had a feeling that she was as relieved as we
were that everything went OK. By the way, Bob decided to come too, which
I think was a calming influence for her (she is SUCH a Daddy's girl) and
was actually really nice from my standpoint as well, because he could do
the chair wrangling while I helped Laurel with her choice-making. He
wants to come to all the Brownie meetings, which I'm not sure what the
leader thought of that idea, but I think it really might make the
difference between whether Laurel and I both wind up totally fried or
not. It was clear Laurel was strongly in favor of the idea!
So, things are going OK around here. Of course Bob and I have been
juggling Laurel's care this week with trying to work when we can and
also, trying to step up getting the house ready to sell, because as the
real estate agent said yesterday, "You're going to have a house in
four months." EEEK! 
Bob's outside right now getting ready to spread mulch and me, I need to
go tend to Laurel, she's been watching TV but I can hear she's getting
impatient with it...