Recently...

Something I forgot to mention from our trip to Florida. Got to weigh ourselves for the first time since Hurrican Katrina... both of us are weighing less than we ever have since we've been together. Well, Kristen may have been a tiny bit lighter when we first met because she was running all the time and swimming and lacrosse... The least in a year and a half anyway. As for me, I'm back down to what I weighed when I finished highschool, before the AT. I'm still not giving out any numbers, but that means I've lost about 50 pounds since I left Maine. Still have a bit of a belly I'm working on, but it's gotten much smaller. Clothes that haven't fit in a long time are fitting again. So that's pretty sweet. Just have to make sure not to put on another 30 pounds over the holidays... Hopefully it snows so we can XC ski or snowshoe. If not, we can just hike a lot or something.
Semester is getting nearer to being over. I can't believe it, but we might just make it. I've got one major paper to write, due Monday. By far the hardest I've had to write this semester, but doable. I've got two presentations to give on Thursday (they're done, just have to present), and two finals next week. The finals shouldn't be too bad. By the way, here's what I think of the classes I've taken here so far...
Physical Hydrogeology (groundwater and stuff) - interesting, not too demanding, but not what I want to do
Remote Sensing (determining land cover type and a million other things from satellite imagery) - interesting subject matter sometimes (could have been much more so), very time-consuming, very tedious, way too much computer work
GIS (geographic information systems) - very interesting, not too demanding, but sometimes very time-consuming, software glitches frustrating
Regional Geology of Eastern North America (top level survey of eastern north american stratigraphy, rocks layers; Archaean --> Tertiary) - Interesting sometimes, often confusing, lots and lots of names to remember, several ridiculously hard papers
So yeah, some of it was interesting, but the computer crap drove me crazy. After this semester, I've definitely decided I don't want to have computers as my main tool. Sure, there's no getting away from them, but I certainly don't want to base the rest of my career around them. I got into geology to get to run around outside, not behind a computer...
Anyway, Kristen is almost done as well. She has an english final today, and an anthropology final paper to write (which will be hard), and the rest of her finals next week (I think). Ironically, finals week will be one of her easiest weeks this semester!
We fly to Maine very early on Saturday the 10th. Everything appears to be set for taking Zephyr with us, unless it's too cold. There's some rules about that or something. We're both very much looking forward to having a break. I've never looked forward to a break more. Ever. Maine should be fun. Even if we just sit around and watch movies, I'll be perfectly happy, because I won't have to think about school for a while. Man that's gonna be great. I really hope we get to spend a lot of time outside, so as to burn off the excess calories we're sure to consume, but we'll be dependent on borrowing a car from one of Kristen's parents, so we'll see how it goes.
Next semester I'll be taking one fewer classes, so maybe I'll actually have time to do something besides school and work. Ride one of my bikes for example. Speaking of that, the road bike is all done and rocking. I love it, now if only I had time to ride it...
Right, next semester, I'll be taking 3 classes: Geoscience Seminar/Geographic Lit; which is some class all grad students have to take. We're supposed to be learning how to be good at presentations. Mylroie used to teach it, but now it's being taken over by the guy who teaches my eastern regional class. So it'll be tough... Engineering Geology; I guess it talks about how geology affects engineering projects and structures (e.g. don't build a railroad across a swamp). It sounds somewhat interesting, but I'm mostly taking it because a lot of the material covered is on the test for becoming a professional geologist (which I plan to take when I'm done here). The other class is Advanced GIS. I like the GIS stuff, but this is going to be taught by the same guy who does Remote Sensing. He's a really nice guy, but I dislike his teaching methods. At least this time I'll have some background going into it though. By the way, this guy; Bill Cook, was working on his masters (or PhD?) thesis the same time Keith Lannom (old soccer coach) was here. They were/are buddies.
Kristen is going to be taking the maximum number of classes possible, 24 credits. She took 23 this semester, she's such a slacker. She'll be taking Chem2, Calc3, and something like 5 boilogy classes. She's crazy. Most recently (and I think she's firm on it now), she's decided she'll be a biology major. She likes biology like I like geology. So that's good, she's found what she likes to do.
Well, I need to get working on that paper or some homework, or practice my presentations...
Hope all is well with everyone.