Last few things about Thanksgiving

In addition to hanging out and cooking, one of the things I did this weekend with my aunt, uncle and grandfather is to go on a tour of a few fantastic microbreweries around where they live. In the San Diego area, there are around 80 of these breweries - and we sampled three of them in one afternoon. You can see all of us during our tour below:

I think you can tell who is who. :)

I'm back at school now, as you know, and we have 9.5 days of classes left, two reading days, and a few days of finals. And in that time, I have to do the following:  response paper (3 pages), a term paper (at least 12 pages), one essay final (8 pages), six math homework assignments, and two final exams. Oh, and don't forget some job applications since some are due quite, quite soon. And all that Christmas shopping and Christmas card writing.

Student life comes with a very distinct kind of stress. I might whine now, but I think there will be more and different whining to come when I join the working world.

However, for now, I'm going to leave my responsibilities and head to the gym where for an hour, I can mostly ignore the world and listen to The Name of the Rose -- it's getting exciting! Another monk died and we don't know whodunnit... I recommend it so far!

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Also, C sent me this picture of Mainz the other day:

Beautiful.

And one more thing:
My dearest friend Josi sent me a hand-made Advent calendar - and I mean for each day, there is an individually wrapped gift for me to unwrap, each with a tag for the day of the month I am to open it. Thoughtfulness, thy name is Josi. Thank you so very much!!!