The best cat toy ever

So J&K sent us a lovely and nifty housewarming gift. We love it, but Mouse isn't impressed. She's far more interested in the packaging that it came in, which it turns out is the best toy ever. She's taken to nesting in it. Here's a few pix and a video (I warn you, it's rather silly).

There's a cat in here somewhere...

ah, there's the camo kitty!

What's in the box?

Grrr. Argh.

It's now only a couple of weeks until the end of the semester, and my lab is still not finished. It was supposed to be done when I moved here in August (but they forgot to order the benches), then in January, then in February, then by spring break, then by last Thursday. So a week has passed since last Thursday, and they haven't even been working on it. I'm posting this to blow off steam. Here's a couple of pix to show the state of the place. It's been "almost done" for 2 months.

Spring is *finally* here!

Well, we've reached our first week where the temperature has been consistently above 40F, so I'm proclaiming that spring has sprung! "They" tell me that this has been a highly irregular season (as was our winter), but I've been shocked at how long this has taken. The trees are still bare but the grass is green and the flowers are beginning to bloom. Yesterday was a perfect spring day, warm and sunny with no rain. I decided that planting a few things was in order.

The park across the street from us was jammed with people yesterday. Here you can see just a hint of green on some of the trees (and some ducks!)

The bulbs are the only flowers up so far. There are a few daffodils around, but primarily we're seeing these little shade-loving Hyacinth-like flowers. These are from the park.

Rew really likes these pretty little blue ones. They're quite lovely in big bunches like this!

Hey look! We have a new patio set. Now we need a grill and some friends to visit us ;)

Some of the pretty and yummy things that I bought and planted yesterday. I really hope those strawberries do well. Yum!

Fun with facial hair

As many of you know, Andrew has been sporting a very manly beard for the last several months. This weekend, he decided it was time to do some spring cleaning. It's taking me a while to get used to it.

Before

After!

Rew, the ringmaster

Ok, this is just silly. Too much free time with the razor.

Joining the Bandwagon

Hokay- So we've given in and are joining the blogging bandwagon now that we never see our friends and family on a regular basis. Here are a few pix of our new house in Chicagoland.

Mouse seems to like it ok.

Gotham

Here's the house from the front...

Living Room

Dining Room

Food Room

Living Room looking into dining room and upstairs