Outings: Fourth of July was a bit crazy, but fun. DAT was all excited about racing his tricycle in the little kids 'big wheels' race, but didn't want to actually pedal with the other kids, he just sat there with a disappointed, worried look on his face. Finally, he rode down to Grandma and got a participation ribbon which he later was very proud ( Read more... )

I have identified to species the last ants in the last vial of my 3000 or so vials of ants I collected for my field work. Yay! One long, tedious task down. Now for the tedium of data entry, followed by the brain-wrackingness of data analysis and writing.

Still happy to be finished with one part, though.

Today I found the coolest looking ant, Pyramica ornata! I get all swoony with delight over the genus in general but the clavate (club-shaped) hairs on the clypeus (um...upper 'lip') of the ant really sent me over the top with glee. Not only that, but it had one of my other favorite insects, a springtail (a Tomacerid or an Entomobryid) in it's ( Read more... )

Happy Birthday, Ikara_fox, the bestest husband in the world!

Monday, I made a foolhardy attempt to go shopping at a local very good consignment sale. It was foolhardy because it was late in the day, DAT had only a 20 min nap, and I forgot my diaper bag (Hapersmion, who went with me, lent me some diapers). I did manage to find some good stuff at good prices, but in the end I had to drag DAT out of the store ( Read more... )

DAT just lay down with Ikara_fox and fell asleep without mama being present (I was taking a shower having given up on putting the night-owl toddler to bed). It will probably not happen again for a long time, but it's nice to know it can happen. Wow ( Read more... )

Before Christmas, finishing my Master's seemed so close (even though I knew it was 6mo to a year away). Now, I feel like I'll never get done, plus I don't know what I'll do with it anyway since I'm planning on staying home and having a couple more kids immediately thereafter (well, not immediately). I really want to work on other projects like ( Read more... )

Two is fun! It's better than one. It's way better than 0.01 (newborn). Yes, occasionally DAT gets really mad about something and screams inexplicably, but the majority of the time he can vocalize his frustration to the extent that I know what he wants. Plus, he understands most of what I say to comfort/work things out. (as opposed to him as a ( Read more... )

We went to Sears today to get a new battery for my car. (I decided after the battery dying for the 6th or 7th time that I should get a new one :-) ) While we waited, DAT discovered lawnmower heaven. He got to sit on the big lawnmowers in the showroom. He got to push the lightweight electric lawn mower around the open corner of the showroom. ( Read more... )

DAT has been rather "Two" this week. You know, the joyous age where children relish in saying "No!" to every suggestion, test limits, assert their independence (which is the nice way of saying they do exactly the opposite of what you have politely requested they do), throw the occasional screaming fit. Yes, that kind of Two, all week ( Read more... )