I’m alive! Some rare personal stuff

Affiliate Disclosure: I receive a small commission for purchases made via affiliate links.
How to cite: Wong M. I’m alive! Some rare personal stuff. Lab Muffin Beauty Science. November 11, 2013. Accessed March 28, 2024. https://labmuffin.com/im-alive-some-rare-personal-stuff/

I’m sorry for the absence this past week – I’ve been busy! I rarely do personal posts, so bear with me this once while I explain myself (or skip ahead to tomorrow’s post if you hate this sort of thing).

First off, I’ve finally graduated, which means I’m now officially Dr Muffin! Here I am in my pimping robes, with an inexplicable awkward Force Choke hand happening there:

I’ve also been frantically helping the boyfriend with his move overseas – he’ll be in Switzerland for a year, working on some neglected disease drugs and jumping off some cliffs. I’m joining him for a few months next year, so I’ll be exploring some European skincare and cosmetics brands then (and probably muling some back for my Sydney peeps). I’m also hoping to perhaps get some work experience in some cosmetics laboratories in Europe while I’m there, but I’m not entirely sure how to approach that yet – fingers crossed the boyfriend can ask around his lab and sort something out!

With the boyfriend’s move overseas, I’ve inherited his bearded dragon (that’s not a euphemism, I swear), which has brought out all my maternal instincts, and it turns out I’m the worst kind of Tiger Mother. It may be because he’s a tiny little thing, or perhaps because I haven’t had a pet since my mice died in 1998. I’ve been trying to make him eat vegetables and micromanaging his environment, which is a bit of a change from the boyfriend’s laissez-faire, devil-may-care approach to dragon upbringing. As an indication of how loopy lizard lady I’ve gotten, I’ve spent about $150 on supplements and lighting for him, and on Tuesday I’ll be taking delivery of 800 conservation crickets from the Amphibian Research Centre which I’ll be raising for him in a DIY cricket cage. I even learned how to use a jigsaw while making that cage, and gouged a bit of my finger out as well! (Not on the swatching hand, luckily.) He doesn’t actually have a name yet – I haven’t been able to come up with something witty enough in between stressing about him having metabolic bone disease or being impacted or eating too much potassium or being poisoned by eucalyptus leaves.

So with finding graduation clothes, tessellating stuff into boxes, listening to the boyfriend yammer on about the mechanics of BASE jumping, and dipping crickets into mashed banana, I haven’t had much time to blog in the past week! I’ll be back to regular programming tomorrow though 🙂


Skincare Guide


Related Posts

28 thoughts on “I’m alive! Some rare personal stuff”

  1. DR MUFFIN!!!! So excited for you.

    Also, dragon lizard thing seems hard. I much prefer cats – see they tell you when they’re about to die of starvation (or think they will anyway).

    Reply
    • I’m sure I’m making it harder than it is – the bf left him for a week without food at one point, and according to other lizard owners that’s not really bad for them? I’m feeling pretty paranoid though because I would feel so bad if he died on my watch!

      Reply
  2. Congrats Dr. Muffin! 😉 Now it’s the next step in your life. So happy for you and can’t wait to see what awaits you next year. Hoping you do get to work in those European cosmetics labs.

    Reply
  3. You need to update your bio, clever clogs! I’m so happy for you. Which city is your good bloke off to? Maybe you’ll fancy a trip north when you come to Europe? 😀

    Reply
  4. YAY! CONGRATULATIONS! Both on graduating and on becoming a new mama. Hopefully all your worries work out and little What’s-His-Name becomes the world’s healthiest bearded dragon!

    Reply
  5. Congrats on the PhD! I have been locked away like a hermit writing mine for the past two months and I am so close! Huge achievement for you!

    Reply
  6. What can you possibly do with 800 crickets, other than freeze most of them? You only have one little dragon. Hmmm, do you think he’s lonely. Maybe he needs a playmate!

    Reply
    • Haha maybe he does! I’m not actually sure of his/her gender yet though (too small to see!) so unfortunately he’s going to be alone for a while longer.

      He’ll happily eat more than 20 crickets a day if I let him, so I’m hoping the 800 last around a month 🙂

      Reply
  7. YOu sound like an excellent Lizard Mother! I have 4 lovely box turtles who have lived with me for over twenty years. I work hard to keep them healthy without going into hibernation, but lizards are even more delicate so bully for you! I also keep their shells glossy and healthy with PAM –a spray on cooking oil and often decorate their shells for the hoidays with ribbons and bows.
    And congratualtions on your scholastic achievements! You are a fantastic role model for all us women.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to KristenD Cancel reply