My poor little Maxwell Smart

I dropped him off this morning to get neutered... he was so happy to go with the techs. He is so sweet and happy. I have to go pick him later this afternoon. It will be so hard to keep him quiet and calm for a week... he's my precious baby.

Not much new...

Ok, so there's not much going on. My mom's visit was great but she's gone now... it was so nice to have help with my three canine toddlers and the house. I think I need a wife...

I've been getting migraines again regularly. Oh what joy...

I graded lab reports and watched The Princess and The Warrior yesterday. Again, what joy... I hate lab reports. No matter how many times you remind students of certain important elements they don't do it. I wonder if my writing is as bad to my advisor as my student's is to me...

Let me tell you a tale... of mud

I just got back from an overnight trip doing field work in the north of Louisiana. One of my assistants thinks he's our talisman for not getting the crappy '99 Suburban that the school "let's" us use stuck in the mud. Well Mr. Lucky Boy was driving and gets us stuck in the mud. Really red sticky sloppy mud. We fishtailed slightly so the truck was at an angle across the road.

So we whip out the come-a-long which has no directions and takes all three of us to release the cable which breaks from the wench mechanism the first time we try it out. We think we rig it to work but only have about 4 or 5 feet of cable (which can't be right). Thank goodness I got an extra tow rope. So we work on getting the front end straightened out. But now that there is intense weight and pressure on the come-a-long we can't release it; not without getting our fingers jammed and possibly our faces sliced off when the cable releases.

Four, count them, four towing companies deny us help because they don't think they can get their trucks in to where we are stuck. And by the way, on the map the road we were on is labeled as an improved road. Our talisman was able to get a hold of a game warden who brings out his 4x4 pickup truck with a wench on the front.

His first attempt to get us out actually gets the truck stuck worse in the roadside ditch of flowing mud river. He has to change it up working in the front and then the back, switching until finally he gets us on gravel again. Thank goodness he follows us out because the '99 had trouble the rest of the way as well.

I hate Louisiana...

Mom's coming!

Mom my is coming to visit this Sunday! I am so excited to see her and show her our home we've created. I also can't wait to show her the puppies (Jacquamo and Maxwell Smart, she's already met Reeves). I want to show her our beautiful house, my school, some field sites, and the dog park! Oh yeah, Mardi Gras... This will be our third Mardi Gras and the first time we will do anything for it.

But then there's also the shadow... my mother has nice things and is extremely clean and neat. And I am cleaning my house all the time!! And it still feels like a disaster zone.

I already feel like my landlady is watching me, judging me on how I keep her house. It is driving me nuts! Hmm, perhaps I should bring this up to my therapist...

I will be north on an overnight sampling trip when my mom arrives. So I have to trust that Alan has the house presentable when he goes to pick her up. Go ahead... chuckle, chortle, and break into raucous laughter...