school update

I'm still alive! I promise! And I don't even feel ridiculously busy, but apparently I'm too busy to blog, which is something. But, I came all the way to this corner of cyberspace to say this:

I am on track to submit my research project to the IRB by Thanksgiving! Which would be spectacular, and make for a very relaxing holiday..

Security Camera Tornado Footage

Here's some footage of the tornado that came through South Minneapolis last week ... crazy stuff!

Security Camera Tornado Footage

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Mystery Solved!

This summer we have been investigating the Case of the Missing Cherry Tomatoes. We had two beautiful tomato plants in pots on our patio ... we waited eagerly while they ripened all summer and were really excited to eat them. We did think it was odd that they kept falling over (pots and all!) but, well, it has been a windy summer. But then - just when the tomatoes were at their peak of ripeness, the cherry tomatoes started disappearing! The regular ones were still going strong (and have been delicious!), but the cherry ones were just ... gone. We each thought the other was eating them, then we thought maybe a small animal was sneaking up to the plants? But we don't get a lot of animals in our yard because of the dogs. Which, of course, brings us to the answer to our mystery ...

That's right ... Bailey has been PICKING the tomatoes off the plant, just when they become ripe. He even sniffs past the green ones and only picks out the ripe ones ... he has good taste, at least.

Sven Circled My House!

So we finally had our first big storm of the season tonight. Sounds like no injuries so far, but several tornado touchdowns.

So when Sven the weatherman circled our house:

We corralled the animals into kennels in the basement ...

And waited out the storm. After it passed, we got some fantastic lightening pictures.

It was a cold day in July ...

When Uncle Rob came to visit!


We enjoyed some Wisconsin beer.

We took a lovely hike:

And the three Nelson children caused some trouble:

And OH MY GOD SUSAN ATE THE CAMERA!

Here are the things Ivy ate while I took a 45-minute nap:

1 sandal
1 pad of paper
1 spatula

Here are the things that Ivy ignored:

3 rawhides
3 tennis balls
2 kongs
2 chew / tug toys
2 random other dog toys

Introducing ... Ivy!

We got a new foster dog tonight! Her name is Ivy and she's a young female yellow lab mix (probably about a year old). She is a sweetheart, already house trained and beginning obedience trained (she knows "sit", and with some clicker training this weekend will probably learn more). She's very bright and energetic, and available for adoption through petfinder.com. Tell your friends!
Here's a shot of her sporting her very own Gentle Leader!