New Puppy for mom!

Mom found this puppy online and said "I found it". The owners had bought if for their 13 year old and said she showed no interest in the puppy so they were getting rid of him. I only had to go about an hour away to get him. I went to go pick him up and I thought he was even cuter than the picture showed. Jeff and I ended up delivering him to mom last night. Now that he's found his forever home he just needs a name.

New Advisor No More

Yesterday was a pretty disappointing and upsetting day. Early on in the day I got an email from my soon-to-be advisor that he no longer wanted to advise me. The reason being that my former advisor told him that although he permitted me to search out a new advisor, he wished that I would continue on with him. Consequently, my soon-to-be advisor did not want to cause any tension in the department and no longer wished to advise me. Ahhhh!!!! I would love to continue on with my old advisor but no money exists to do so. He doesn't have any assistantships to pay me and doesn't have any research funds to support my research. If I chose to stay with him, I would have to leave the university anyway to seek out full-time employment in May. The result of all this was a drama filled day and me without an advisor. What this means for Lara and I: I have until May to find a new advisor or a full-time job. Hopefully, something comes through by then. At the moment I am quite frustrated with Academia and looking forward to getting out but that could all change once the tension wears off. Although this isn't by any means what I would have chosen, it does leave many exciting possibilities open to me. I do have a good education and you never know what opportunities are around the bend. I will be sure to keep everyone updated.

Monthly Update

Since it has been over a month and half, I thought it would be good to post an update. Things with Lara and I have been great. This past weekend we visited the Hetricks in Dunkirk, NY. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the Lake Effect snow reminiscent of our days in Edinboro. Earlier in the month my good friend Jon stayed with us for about a week while he went to a Wetland seminar in State College. So, we've been enjoying the company of family and friends.

Lara has a new work schedule in which she puts in a 12 hour work day on Sunday but has Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off. I started teaching a Population Biology lab last week and I am really enjoying it. I think pretty much everyone looking at this would know that my PhD research came to a halt last summer due to a lack of funding. It appears as though I will have a new advisor and start a new research project. Since I am starting a new project from scratch, I will be working on my degree for awhile yet. The good news is that Lara and I enjoy the area and love our old house. I will be sure to give some specifics about my new project once things are concrete.

Speaking of our old house, today I went into our basement and closed the door behind me. In a normal house this wouldn't be a problem. In our 1920's built house it was. The door knob would not open the door from the basement side. Luckily, I had my tool chest downstairs and was able to remove the knob and rescue myself within a few minutes. I actually love the old doors but I may need to upgrade a few of the door knobs!!!

Beware: Dead Deer Pictures

Apparently November wasn't too eventful for us. Lara and I have mostly just been working, shopping, and trying to get in the occasional hike. The big news from the month is that the Fiscus's (Lara's Sister Jenny, husband Jed, and 4.5 kids) are leaving us in State College and moving to Brookville. As I believe that Lara already mentioned, they will be dearly missed.

Well as most of you probably know, it is right in the heart of deer season. The Laws have had a pretty good year so far. My dad shot a buck (9pt) and a doe in archery, Jason shot a buck (8pt) with his new Knight inline muzzleloader, and today I shot a buck with my tried and true Winchester 30-30. I hunted the first day and saw 39 deer, 6 of which were buck. I tried my luck at being a trophy hunter, I figured it must be in my blood, so I passed up all the deer I saw. Today, for some reason, I just couldn't let this little 7 point get by. Possibly more entertaining than the hunt was my beautiful wife's reaction to the kill. I called her on the telephone and said, "Did you get my message? I shot a buck this morning?" Her reply, "Yea, how big was he?" "Oh" I said, "he was just a little sev......... "No", she interrupts, "how big, how much meat?!" Gotta love a country girl!!! Don't worry sweetheart, I still have a doe tag.