I miss you guys

I am writing from a coffee shop on my way to work, since I overslept my alarm and decided to just wait out the morning rush-hour traffic. (I feel so devious!!) Reading all of the entries that I missed makes me wish I could check in more easily... but then I remembered, starting this Friday we will finally have wifi at our house! I am soooo excited :)
Yesterday was gorgeous here-- I spent the past couple of weekends planting the garden in the front of our house (after many other weekends of digging out sod and mixing in compost). The anemones are blooming, one of the camillias that I put in is blooming, and so far only a couple of the bulbs that I planted appear to have been dug out by squirrels. I also planted a few very exciting trees that are making me really happy-- a Magnolia grandiflora, with gorgeous, waxy, bowl-shaped white flowers, a Cornus florida with pretty red berries right now, and a weeping redbud with lovely pond-lilly shaped leaves that contrast with its very dark bark. It is fun to be back in acid soil of Virginia, and in a couple temperature zones different from Lawrence... I guess just fun to be made aware of regional differences and to celebrate them.
I spent the day yesterday at the museum, and am almost ready to resubmit my dissertation for publication. (Well, most of the day at the museum-- the morning was spent trying to recover from a halloween party at my house the night before, which included a karaoke machine and many guests who cannot get enough of singing 80's music... a dangerous combination). Grandma is adjusting really well to her retirement home, and we finally went to the library and checked out some of the books that we're going to start reading together. Lucy is pretty much housebroken and has graduated from her crate to my bedroom during the day. My sister is almost done with rugby season and, although she looks like a punching bag covered with bruises she hasn't yet broken anything, for which I'm grateful. My parents in SD still have a house and are doing fine... I guess those are the big updates. Oh, and I'm still walking twice a day, but have hardly run at all, to say nothing of crunches and everything else! I like Sp Sq's idea for the fitness challenge. And, I miss you guys... can't wait for Friday for the internet connection at home!