I'm Alive!!

Promise :)

But heavens has it been busy up here in the FT!! This week, I don't even know...it just happened so quickly. One day it was Monday, then I was out sick for a day (still getting over the blasted cold), then it was all of a sudden Friday! How. Did. This. Happen?! I had projects and papers and readings and dissections and inking (more on that in a moment) to do...and it just sucked up every last ounce of my week, apparently.

So, how was your week??

I can't believe it's already Sunday...this weekend happened in a flash, too. I can't handle this warp speed passage of time. If it could just slow down even a teeny tiny bit, that would be just stellar.

Other than catching a lame cold and flying by, this week has been a pretty good one. My illustration class was way fun this week - we started inking!! Crow quill pen + nibs + black India ink = SO FUN. I also have some technical pens that are pretty fun to use, too. Inking your line drawing makes it look so much more awesome! And, it's just plain fun. I like it a lot. We have to turn in our inked drawing on Thursday - I've redone mine twice already...I think I'm almost ready to create my final product and turn it in.

I fiiiinally got to meet up with SW and sit at the scope with her. I love dissections...like, really love them. They are so fun. This is what made me fall in love with studying Entomology, other than the fact that bugs are just plain awesome. I love looking at structures and learning their names and what they do (or don't do - yay ornaments!). And then if there is any way to find homologies/analogies between organisms, it's even more fun. Yes...I'm a huge nerd/dork/geek, and I accept those labels proudly :) But it was very helpful for me to sit with SW and ask her if I had labeled things correctly on my sketches and to just work through the moths together. Loved it!!

Friday night Frenatae got together for a Pig's Eye. What on earth is a Pig's Eye?! Pig's Eye is when we grad students (no profs allowed for this one) get together on a Friday night in the Refuge (aka: the basement of Hodson) and have a few beers/some wine and munch on goodies and just hang out. It's the perfect opportunity to talk about everything that's gone down in our respective labs lately and just tell stories and enjoy each others company without having to be in class or working on homework or researching, etc. So fun. There are few characters who had me rolling. Oh wow, so great.

I pet sat for Judy and Matt (the bee kids) this weekend, while they were away at the North Dakota Bee Keepers Meeting. Their pup Dexter (German short-haired pointer) is one of Jake's favorite doggie friends, so that was fun for Jake. My goodness, Dex is a handful, though. But, he's so fun. I took the pups to the really big dog park, along with Megan, Fraser, and Steven (aka:Non-Profit Guy) and his pups Gunner and Siah. We ended up losing Siah, Jake, and Dexter at one point. Like, seriously could not find them. I ended up getting a phone call from a super sweet couple who had found Jake up by the entrance gate just sitting there waiting and trying to leave, probably thinking I had gone to the car - poor baby. I am so glad that I got his new doggy tag last weekend, and that I decided to put my phone number on the tag. Whew! We ran and got Jakers, and then headed out to one of the clearings...and there we found Siah and Dex. Ahem...Siah...had gone into heat. Oooooh joy...! And, Dex...well, he was just having a blast with that. Yup. You get the idea. I was kind of mortified, haha. I got SOOO awkwarded out by all of the doggy, umm...stuff, going down. Come on kids, keep it PG!! Hahaha, ooooh, what an experience. Needless to say, I was pretty beat after that...I think we all were. Megan and I came back to my apartment and visited for the rest of the afternoon while the pups crashed on the floor - too cute. After Meg left I got to Skype with some cool cats before hittin' the hay - I was in need of that. I'm loving getting to know my new friends here, but I SO miss all of y'all "old" friends.

Today we Ento gals are going to go shopping for fall/winter clothes!! So excited. It will be nice to get to hang out with just the ladies. Here's hoping for some killer deals on some way cute clothes...maybe some boots?!

I have church over at Christ Redeemer, tonight. I'm way excited. I think it's going to be awesome. I'll let y'all know how it goes, fo sho.

And with that, my dear ones, I need to get a move on. The Ento Gals will be here in about an hour and I need to get a few thins done before they get here...like fold my laundry...and put it away ;)

Love and miss you all!
Shalom!
~MW