Turkey, Booze, and Skis

Well, I went to a friend's house for Thanksgiving. They had about 15 people over, and plenty of booze; not to mention food. Matt cooked 17 pounds of potatoes for 15 people, not to mention a 23 pound turkey, stuffing, etc., etc., etc. We barely put a dent in it.

I, on the other hand, put a rather sizable dent in the rum punch, which is news, since I rarely drink. I fear the resulting photos. Case in point: their rowdy friend Candice (who can burp louder and longer than anyone, male or female, that I know) decided she was going to act like she had a strap-on, and kept chasing after me trying to simulate certain acts that I was not interested in performing. The audience was entertained. I escaped with only minor emotional scarring.

Today, Hans and I went skiing at Rosary lakes. It was a perfect ski day. The snow was perfect, as was the weather. I am not all that good at cross-country skiing yet, so I am a bit sore, but it was well worth it. The trees were absolutely laden with snow...ah, just look at some pictures.This one was early in the morning (probably around 9am). It was still cloudy, and I thought the lighting was pretty cool. Notice how the snow is stuck to everything, including the sides of the trees. Later on, we came upon this set of mini trees:

As the day warmed up, snow started dropping out of trees in large clumps. You would hear low, muffled thumps in the distance as clumps the size of your head hit the ground. We managed to avoid getting clobbered, but I had a few close calls:
The sky started to clear up later, and I took this very nice shot of the trees and sky:

All in all, a good trip.

Now I just have to get my homework done.

The Rain Man Cometh

Well, Halloween is over, and the rain has begun.

One of my professors just moved here from Georgia, and I've been trying to prep him for the winter. I don't think he believes me yet when I tell him he won't see much of the sun until we are well into spring. He keeps pointing to the averages that weather.com shows. I've told him to buy a nice rain hat, and get outside and enjoy himself despite the rain. I find that a bit of a positive attitude about being outdoors in the winter here goes a long way.

That said, I've had a hard time getting myself outside the past two weeks. I had planned to continue my riding through the winter, but I've been putting off buying the proper clothing that will make it comfortable, and I really don't want to do it if I'm going to be miserably uncomfortable.

I ordered a set of $300 prescription riding glasses, and when they came they were faulty (the rain guards wouldn't fit properly because the lenses were too thick...there's a nerd joke in there somewhere, but I'm not finding it right now), so I backed out. $300 for sport eye-wear was really hard for me to bite off in the first place, so I was actually relieved. However, I'm not sure how I'm going to see while riding. Then again, the clothing and gloves are probably going to top out around another $300. I guess I may just have to push for night hiking in hills several times a week if I want to stay in shape.