"The Hills Are Aliiiiiiive" and "A Dingo is My Baby!"

All righty . . . 
It's been way longer than I'd like to admit.  I could give you excuses, tell you of the 156 papers I had to grade, the weekly grades entering, the tutoring, the decorating, the housewifery . . . but you don't want to hear about that.

First off, the Cottage, is pretty much complete--a set of curtains in the master and the possibility of more work in the man cave . . . emphasis on "possibility" . . . And then there's the exterior.  We're hoping for a new paint job and, after that, some landscaping . . . or something like that, in the next couple months.

A month ago, right after our second anniversary (whoot whoot!), we went on a little road trip up to Tennessee . . .

 Spent a day driving, and then a day hiking on a nature trail . . .

I think this is my new favorite picture of the hubs

But this wasn't a random road trip, you see . .. we went with a purpose!

TA-DA!!! We have a dingo puppy!

This is Shasta right after we brought her home :]

And this is Shasta a few nights ago--her ears are starting to stand up for a few seconds at a time.

She's pretty much a doll.
And Chris's baby. 
Yeah, we're pretty much recommending American Dingos to everyone.

And that's the life in a nutshell. 
Hope to be back soon and visiting all of your lovely blogs!
Love love!

Trying to Breathe

No, I am quite literally TRYING to BREATHE at the moment.
Some nasty, mutant cold-flu hybrid has been floating around campus, and,  golly if it didn't strike me with a vengeance, I don't know what did. It all started with a mildly scratchy throat, then a sore throat, then a fever, then the sinuses. Good Lord, the sinuses. I can't hear out of my right ear now, thanks to the sinuses. But hey, I'm thankful because today was the best I've felt since Thursday night. I was essentially a useless zombie over the weekend, a useless, snotty bag a flesh lobbed into bed with the cats taking advantage of their new, immobile space heater.
I'd like to pretend they huddled up next to me because they cared and pitied me, but, really we all know the truth. Cats are shamelessly selfish, self-seeking creatures. At least they make no effort to conceal this fact, and, this, perhaps, is why we love them so.

Miscellany Monday

WOW. I haven't posted one of these in ages. But, here it goes

Hippity-Hoppity

Last night, the hubs and I return from a birthday dinner for his grandmother to discover an adorable, pudgy, wart-covered visitor quite literally at our door.
I call him "Toad Friend." He was playing sentry to keep the bugs out.
At least, that's what I tell myself.