Happy Halloween

So I opted to stay home for Halloween this year, I'm just not feeling up for craziness that is Franklin Street on Halloween. While it is undoubtedly the biggest Halloween party in the country, and I had a hell of a time last year (maybe too good of a time actually...) after the week I've had with school and the endless grading that has taken over my life as a TA, I really don't have the energy or creativity to come up with a cool costume and then stay up all night with the rowdy undergrads. So.... instead I decided to have a little Halloween party of my own.....at home...with my cats....
I know, it sounds pathetic and sad (and really it is), but I don't think I've laughed this hard in a very long time. There is something cruel, but hilarious, about dressing up cats in costumes, because they are cats, and cats are independent and consider themselves to be superior to all others. So when you dress them up, not only do they look funny, but they are completely humiliated. I took some pictures so you can see exactly what complete humiliation and disgust looks like (please don't report me to PETA, I swear I only made them wear it for a few minutes...or at least until I could stop laughing at them) They may hate me for a couple hours, but after a little wet food all will be well again and they'll forget it ever happened...maybe.
I hope you get a good laugh out of it too :)
And for those who know Pookie, really, how appropriate is it that she is a witch? That was a no-brainer picking out that costume!!

When it rains, it pours....buckets

I am very happy to report that we got over 7 inches of rain over the past three days! Our grass isn't dead after all, I actually see green now! We went from record-breaking drought conditions, to record-breaking rainfall amounts...what the hell is going on with the weather patterns?? I think at this point there is no doubt that our planet is going through some major climate changes, and I can only wonder what we're in for this winter...

Mid semester update

So I have officially made it through the first half of the semester and here are the things I have learned:

-Taking exams after being out of school for 4 years really sucks
-Trying to study for midterm exams while the Red Sox are in the playoffs really really sucks
-I really don't miss being in the lab, but I do miss research
-Just because I get out of class at 2pm doesn't mean I can go home and take the rest of the day off (dammit!)
-Studying while in bed is a bad idea (osmosis doesn't work if you fall asleep on your notes, even if you drool on them)
-There are some really cool opportunites to do international travel in grad school, which I plan on taking advantage of (New Zealand here I come!)
-Epidemiology is really cool (even if most people think I am studying to be a skin doctor)

Blog slacker

Yeah I know, I've been slacking on the blog, but honestly anything I would have posted in the last 2 weeks probably would have involved discussing the finer points of when it is appropriate to use a incidence rate ratio or an odds ratio....i.e. epidemiology blather that you probably don't care about and don't want to waste your time reading. So anyway, I actually did something non-school related this weekend, which was that we finally got around to replacing the starter in my truck (better known as MissBetty). I was so sure that after we replaced it the truck would run again that when all I heard was dead silence when we tried to crank it I wanted to cry... Stupid truck, why do I keep putting myself through this agony with you? I swear she must be cursed, after the blown motor,being crushed by a tree, and now she is dead again... (Giving MissBetty a new motor last summer)


So I have come to the point now where I have to ask myself, it is time to give up and just sell the damn thing? Now that I'm in grad school I really can't afford to keep sinking $ into it... what do I do??? I have to admit that the thought of not seeing her turned into the mud truck of my dreams just kills me...hmmm....maybe I need to write in to one of those "trick my truck" shows and tell them my sob story, because that may be the only option I have left :(