Gallimaufry

 ...and then I went and didn't update for a full month and a few days- yet another case of finals and my inherent laziness.  Given my disposition for escapsim, my academic accomplishments are fairly mind-blowing [PIC RELATED].  I've been back in Missouri for only a few days and it already seems like the time is flying by.

The weather's been a stereotypical midwestern winter- cold rain.  The damp soil has made it really easy to uproot entire invasive honeysuckle plants from the 'woods' behind my house...I'm simply grabbing their bases and working them back and forth 'til they can be ripped out.  It's not the ideal way to get rid of them (at all), but the physical work feels very nice after three months of barely moving!  My dog gets quite a kick out of this activity- she rushes at the base of the plants and digs at the roots as I work them free, 'helping' me.  c: 

Other adventures in the yard have proffered a recently dead robin.  I'm going to harvest the skull for my collection and give the rest of the little guy a proper burial farther back in the forest.  But speaking of live birds instead, I saw a tufted titmouse at the feeder earlier- I never saw them in our yard until just a few years ago!