It's been a week full of sad news for my family, ending with something unexpected and hard to understand. We lost my sister-in-law's brother this weekend. I graduated from high school with Paul (PJ) in 1995 and haven't seen him much since then. He was a great golf player and this is a picture from our high school yearbook. When his sister and my brother got married while we were in high school, Paul would yell out "hey sis" when we passed in the school hallways. My thoughts and prayers are with the Wills family. Paul will be greatly missed by his loving family.
Paul's obituary

200805_Belize

I was part of a crew that went to sample forest structure and composition at Belize Lodge & Excursions property in the Toledo District of Belize. Click on the photo above to go to additional photos of our expedition.

Antonio, our guide, and Travis discuss the damage done by Hurricane Iris in 2001 as we float down Golden Stream.

Another year of VPI Cave Club Picnic in beautiful skydusky hollow, Bland County, Virginia. It rained on us pretty good this year, but we had a great time all the same. What a view!

Brian made a great new portable camping table.

This lovely soap dispenser showed up in our bathroom at work one day in March and for whatever reason it really struck my funny bone. It made its way to the men's room for a short while, but someone moved it back thinking it might offend whoever brought the glass slipper in. Later I thought about putting a big industrial soap dispenser inside a muddy boot for the guys room, but never followed through. Ohh, the little things in life to get through the mundane days in cube world.

Check out Pam's blog for some sweet videos of our trip to the VT Center for Ursid Research (Bear Pens).

Sarah and Jon made it to Blacksburg again this year for the cave-club banquet. We had a wonderful time back in our old banquet hall, the Newport Rec Center. It was a great year for dancing, cute guys, and red dresses!

It's 18 degrees fahrenheit in Blacksburg, but Gibbous and I are as snug as a bug in a rug. We're enjoying how sunny it is outside, lounging, knitting, reading, and will soon do a little cooking. The genius cat is learning to use his new window perch and the kitty door that Brian and I installed to the kitty litter closet. What a life!

Gibbous Franklin Dorr

I'm probably jinxing this, but he seems to be perfect.
Gibbous = Astronomy. (of a heavenly body) convex at both edges, as the moon when more than half full.
Gib = 1. a cat, esp. a male cat. 2. a castrated cat.
Franklin = the street where he was found by the Sherriff's Department in Christiansburg, Virginia. His rescuers gave him the name Franklin, kept him for 3 months, got him his shots, and neutered him. They would have kept him, but they already have 3 other cats and one did not get along well with Gib. They had just about given up on finding him a better home when I came across his add on New River Valley Animal Shelters and Petfinder. I e-mailed them Tuesday, went to meet him Thursday, and Saturday a new cat.