Return to the Land of the Living

Well, I never left the living, but it sure felt like it for a few months. However, the Oral Exams were passed successfully and I now move on to doing all the fun stuff. Stuff like research, writing a dissertation, teaching and grant proposal writing. While I was silent, life did continue though and I will be making several posts over the next few days to fill in the void.

The biggest change for us has been in the realm of pets. Olivia passed away this spring and she is missed. She lived a long life for a guinea pig and can include cancer survivor among her many titles. Lucinda is still squealing and running around. I think she likes having all the food to herself. We have also added a member to the family. We adopted Madeline in February from the Irvine Animal Shelter. We have never had a cat before, and it is been a long transition period. She is very cute and loves to play. However, she is also very loud and demanding. I have included some pics below.


Here is a pic at the shelter before she came home.


In her bed sleeping.


Displaying her odd sense of balance in her Kitty Tree.


In her "Fortress of Solitude" She will sit in there for an hour just watching you. I think its her special place.


And one short video of her wandering around meowing aimlessly.

You can also see that she as grown a lot since we got her. Something else we were not expecting since the shelter and the vet said she was full grown. She is a good cat though and definitely has the run of the house. Unfortunately, when she runs through the house, it echoes like a pony running on the staircase.