Alex and I were visiting his mother in Washington D.C., and on July 31st, we watched a black swallowtail butterfly flutter into her garden and deposit eggs on a dill plant. We brought three eggs back to Boston, and they all hatched the morning of August 6th. The caterpillars have since quadrupled in size (while dining on fresh dill) and are now 5 millimeters long. They will grow much larger over the next few weeks, and then turn into butterflies. I plan to document the metamorphosis, so stay tuned.

My next door neighbors were cat-sitting “Mr. Buckman” for their friend, who rescued this big tiger-striped tom from the rough streets of Dorchester, Massachusetts. My neighbors feared for the safety of their little white deaf cat Piper because Mr. Buckman could squash her, so I offered to watch him temporarily. Once I got over my cat allergies, I grew rather fond of Mr. Buckman. He actually obeys commands (“Down” and “No”) and makes eye contact. Even though I didn’t really want to have an indoor cat, I was sad to see him go back to his owner. A few days later, I heard that Mr. Buckman was acting up and the owner wanted to “throw him back on the street – unless that girl wants him.” So now I have a cat. His official name at the MSPCA is still Mr. Buckman, but his secret identity will be Chairman Meow, leader of the Feline Revolution.

Turning this eyesore of a patio into a Japanese zen garden. I’ve got my work cut out for me!

I got to watch Piper the deaf, odd-eyed cat, for a week.

I’ve been trying since last summer to get this patio door. It took several months for Home Depot to order a door – which turned out to the the wrong size. By the time they got the right size of door, it was the brutal winter. Finally, on a nice April day, the contractors – two cool Irish guys- came to install the door. Amazingly, Home Depot had sent another wrong door! It wasn’t a big deal, so I went ahead with the install. I had already complained at Home Depot – kicking, screaming, pleading, threatening, and even crying – and they gave me almost $500 off. Victory is mine!! Now, if I can just get my taxes done by midnight tomorrow….