Goodbye cloning? Hello flies?

I may be finished with my cloning. For those non-molecular biology types, that is cutting up and sticking pieces of DNA back together. I just have to make sure that I have what I want (which I should know by Monday or so) and it's no more silly ligations that don't work for me. No more competent cells, that are more incompetent than anything else. It'll be just a lot of genetics, fly crosses, virgins and lay plates. Lots more work in the fly room and on microscopes. It also is a significant point that I can mark off in my diary, on my way to the completion of an awesome thesis.
Mind you, with all this cloning nonsense I've been getting up to of late, my Xmas shopping is somewhat non-existent. I have the sum total of .5 of a present. I have no idea what to get some people, and not much of a desire to go shopping. Oh well, no doubt they'll all end up with something in the end. I may even get my housemate's xmas bag from last year finished before this year's celebrations. Fingers crossed! It's cut out and just needs to be sewn together and a lining found. Maybe I will get some of that done over the weekend.
The good news of today is: a dear friend of mine (mother of the quilt boy) is pregnant with her second child. Due sometime in (guessing here) late June/early July. I'm so incredibly happy for her and her family. She's an excellent mum and a great friend, even though we hardly see one another.