Garden Update and Obligatory Kitten Picture

Some exciting news is in the works -- but until everything is official, just keep sending some good vibes in Dan's general direction. =)

As for what I *can* tell you -- summer has officially started to plague Texas. While we have not exactly been enjoying the 90+ degree weather, our garden is a big fan. If you look closely, you can see what we had for dinner last night.

The first BLT's of the summer!

Finnegan and Loki continue to be best buds. It's pretty adorable. Loki has assumed full parental responsibility for his kitten -- escorting him to the litter box, insisting we feed him the *SECOND* the kitten cries for food, demanding his release from his daytime/overnight bathroom sanctuary, etc etc.

However.. a certain big cat has chewed off the majority of the whiskers on the kitten's cheeks. We have yet to catch him in the act -- but Loki has his fair share of playtime battle scars too. Specifically, some patches of hair missing on his tail.

I wonder how that might have happened..

And then there were ** two ** !

Lots to update!

These past few weeks have flown by. We had a fantastic weekend visit/Austin vacation with the Connors family. Especially because most of it was spent playing games in the hotel room, and talking over good eats from Whole Foods. I'm glad we will see you again in *under* a month! It had been way way too long.

Here are some pictures from the weekend: enjoying some live Blues in Austin, and taking in a sunset from the deck of Oasis.

Keeping with the adventurous spirit, this weekend we grabbed a friend, complete with his period Viking garb, and headed to a Renaissance Festival south of Dallas. The fairgrounds were beautiful; they had taken great care to maintain the integrity of the natural environment. The majority of the grounds were covered in shade from the large trees, and there were several bridges you need to cross in order to negotiate the creek. It lent an almost authentic air to.. well, lets face it, the glorious campyness that is a Renaissance Festival.

In a strange twist of fate, Dan thinks this man is the same man that hosted Turtle Races in the MN Ren. Fest. from when he was a child. Apparently, when he was young he bought the identical shirt from a Turtle Racer - and the routine was eerily similar. Conspiracy? What do you think Di, do you recognize this Carnie?

In addition to the over abundance of 40 year old men in spandex tights, and busty women -- we managed to find He-Man!

But the biggest news of all, we got a kitten!! We're big softies. After meeting those two foster kittens, and seeing how happy Loki was to have another cat to play with -- we just couldn't say no. So without further-to-do..

I'd like to introduce our new fur baby, Finnegan!

In less than an hour of having him home, Loki and Finnegan became best buds. Wrestle-mania under the kitchen table has been on-going ever since.

Of course, Finnegan can only keep up for 45 minutes before being completely exhausted.

He sleeps like a wet noodle. An adorable, pot-bellied, purring wet noodle. (^^ this is his favorite sleep pose)

When life gives you lemons..

First and foremost, Happy Mother's Day to our Mommies! We miss you!

The past week has been a very crazy one in the Connors household. The moment the stress of Finals week had passed, life opened up a can of worms. Our bank account was hacked into, one of our car windows was smashed in and our Dan's Grandpa's cow-horns were stolen from the backseat (no one can make fun of me for carrying duct tape in my purse now, see -- it came in handy!) and poor Loki developed a swollen paw.

So what do you do when life throws so many lemons at you?

Make baklava, of course!

And then, you use the baklava to bribe friends to visit (with their foster kittens..)

This was Dan's first time being around itty-bitty kittens. And while skeptical at first, he quickly became a big softy. Especially because the little black kitten was working him over -- big time.

Surprisingly, Loki *loves* kittens. He talks to them, smells them, and desperately tries to get close to them. But then flees like a little chicken when they start making a move towards him. He spent most of the evening working up the courage to touch one with his paw.

Almost a month away until we visit Minnesota ! Can't wait to see you soon!

Overdue Update with lots of Good News!

These past few weeks have been very good to us.

First and foremost, this week marks our 4th anniversary as a couple! We both managed to get next weekend off -- so hopefully once the stress of finals week has passed, we can finally get out and enjoy ourselves and celebrate for a few days.

In other good news, whenever someone calls the Hospital to leave positive comments about an employee, they send out a letter to the employee with all the compliments they were bestowed. And yesterday, Dan just got an absolutely glowing letter in the mail talking about how his compassion went above and beyond the call of duty (!). It's true, Dan is such an amazing, compassionate, patient and thoughtful man. I'm so glad he can bring these strengths with him to his job.

And my good news? I am less than a week from finishing my first year as a Ph.D. Candidate. AND. My research from my Master's thesis will be published in a scientific journal in just a few months! If you'd like a copy, I'd be happy to send you one once it hits the press.

April was very good to us.

Other random updates:

Our little garden is really starting to take off. George, the tomato plant, already has two quarter-sized green tomatoes coming in -- and we have been thoroughly enjoying taking full-advantage of our little herb garden.

Texas is really starting to heat up now that April has passed. We are still trying to hold out turning on the AC, despite daily temps in the mid-80s. The biggest beneficiary of this is definitely the cat.

There he is, in his typical window pose, stalking the birds. If you look closely you can see his arch-nemesis: a big, fat robin. He sits in the same spot all day -- right on the very edge of our apartment sign. It drives Loki bonkers. He spends the day twitchy and talking to his robin; and the robin spends the day staring at the cat and singing his happy little tune.

Loki's other recent obsession has been the REI box (and packing paper) that my new backpack came in. He has so much fun with them that we don't have the heart to take them away. Typically, play involves stealing 3-6 highlighters off of my desk, or from my backpack, or from the pencil jar. Then, he hides them under the paper, or his box. And spends all day batting them between locations.

That's whats new in our next of the woods - I'll make sure to take pictures of *us* for next time.

Take care!