Damsel in Distress!

Here is a damsel fly that we caught in stream lab last week:

I'm shocked that my students touched non-municipal water without the usual moaning and woe.

I'm still in semi-hiding, but this blogging thing is enough of a stress outlet that I just can't let it go completely (I think we all knew that). I found myself outlining future posts in random Word docs and that's just as distracting as just posting already. Now I will try to contain reading and posting to the evening, when I'm tired, anyway.

A couple of you know that I recently discovered something called 'departmental rules.' I always knew they existed, but I honestly wasn't aware that I can only defend while classes are in session in the Spring or Fall semester. That really shot my plan to defend sometime in May to shit. The revised plan is to finish the diss, head to Chicago when it's finished (minus some minor revisions), and return in September to defend. It's annoying that I won't be completely free this summer, but there it is.

No cries from the peanut gallery, please. ;-) My advisor is super-supportive and, at this point, the delay is mostly my own fault.

My birthday is mid-May and I can't think of a better gift to myself than moving home. Plus, I found out yesterday that I am off the wait list for a community garden plot! Woot! We will get more information later this week so Rock Star can go and sign the contract. Obviously, I still have lots to do here, but I am getting close to hanging out with him and him and him.

The Insane Clown Posse is apparently resting up for my arrival (photo courtesy of Rock Star):


In other news, check out Sweet Basil to see the gifted Rib and Cable Mitts. I decided to gift two 'mismatched' pair on your advice - both of which were well-received.

And. The Prairie Tunic is complete! I'll post it this weekend at the latest. I have lots to say about the project so it'll take a little while to gather my thoughts...