4th of July

The fireworks to celebrate the national holiday were all sent off last night. Unlike my first summer here, when I watched them twice, I didn't even bother to steal a look out the window this time. The reason is, obviously, the alarming combination of TV and the Tour. One has to celebrate the day off somehow, though, and therefore Shan and I are headed for a BBQ party at his advisor's house later in the afternoon. I'm right now enjoying the peace and quiet in my lab, trying to get some blogging done. Yep, very hardworking I am, ay.

For the last few days Shan and I have been pup- and housesitting for our friends Vern, Ryan and Brady. Those of you who know me might be aware of the fact that dogs and I traditionally don't go together very well. Either I've been mistaken about the canine population or Cadence and Presto are highly unusual specimens, but they are totally adorable. They do like to bark a lot when people come over and jump all over the visitors but once they (and I) are past that, they are incredibly smart and nice dogs. And I can't believe that researchers are wasting their time trying to scientifically prove that animals have personalities - how could anyone miss that?? Presto is definitely the more rebellious of the lot (she even wears a mohawk on her back when she's out play-fighting with her sister!) but Cadence takes full advantage of the fact that humans are more than happy to feed her and keep her happy and she'll even try to climb into my bed in the mornings when she wants her breakfast.

Another thing of notable importance in our temporary house is a bizarre thing called TV. We haven't had a set since last year (i.e., it lived in the basement for a while until Shan decided to give it away to whomever would take it. It was gone before you could count to ten) and I have to admit, I'm glad. Now when we come home we send the dogs out to do their thing and then we go do our thing - watch TV. At some point during the evening when we find ourselves starving we pick up the phone and order a pizza. Then we continue watching and wake up in the middle of the night, having salivated all over the couch. Ok, well, it's not quite that bad, but it is bad. I'm never getting a TV, that's for sure!