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This evening Ben and I decided to stroll over to Colorado Boulevard (three blocks north of our house) to check out the Rose Parade crowds. What a zoo! You’re allowed to start camping out at noon on the 31st so that you get a good seat. People bring all sorts of stuff — board games, sleeping bags, full-blown wood ovens, dogs, silly string, you name it. We fought through the crowds to the staging area, where we got the very first views of this years’ floats. Fortunately, I talked Ben out of going to the parade tomorrow morning (we were originally planning on it), and instead we’re going to watch it on TV and have an early morning pajama party.

Ben and I helped Dan throw Sam a surprise birthday party yesterday. She was completely clueless until she walked in the door.

It’s time to make up for lost time! Working backwards, here’s how I spent my Christmas:

Yesterday

I started a garden! I should be a bit more precise: I spent about four hours trying to repair the damage we did to the “patio garden” over the summer; a lot of those plants didn’t survive the heat. That was drudgery. But I also started a little garden on our balcony with some plants that are supposed to like containers, heat, and sun.

Christmas with the Brantleys

We spent Christmas morning at Ben’s parents’ house in Orangeburg, SC. At one point during the present-opening, Chaco plopped down on Ben’s back and somebody snapped this picture of us:

Highlights of the morning included Ben’s new green laser points, digital cameras for Mom and Dad and Jessica, and Mom’s smackdown on Dad’s gift ideas, which included a very much unwanted glass teapot and a case of Kroger peas.

Christmas with the Scotts

My folks flew down to South Carolina from Boston to attend our “Southern Wedding Party” and to spend some time with us, since we’ve started our new one-state-Christmas practice. We spent a day in Charleston seeing the sights and, for the Boston crowd, enjoying weather that didn’t involve shovelling.

Here we are climing on cannons at the battery (left) and then touring an aircraft carrier, which was very interesting. I think I would absolutely not be good at living on an aircraft carrier, and ESPECIALLY not on a submarine (which they also have for you to walk though). They’re both claustrophobic.

Southern Wedding Party

Ben’s Mom hosted a wedding party for us at their house in Orangeburg. Most of the guests were church friends etc. (a little older than us!) but there were some people I knew. Erin Corley was able to come. My family was there, too, of course.

Skiing at Mammoth

A whole group of us (Me, Ben, Craig, Dan, Sam, Ed, and Chaco) went skiing up at Mammoth. We arrived just after a big storm, got some new stuff a couple days into our trip, and enjoyed good powder all week long. It was a great way to start unwinding after the end of the term!

The pictures, going CW from the upper left, are Ben boarding, me and Sam taking a break, me and Sam peering over the edge of Climax, and me and Ben chillin’ in the Village.

At home in Pasadena

Ben and I have a tradition of taking a picture of us in front of the Christmas tree every year. Here’s this year’s self-portrait:

Sorry it’s been so long! I left for skiing a week ago, came home for about 10 hours on Wednesday night, flew to South Carolina yesterday, and spent today doing Christmas stuff with Mom and Ben!

You know you’re in the south as soon as you step on the airplane in LA. There was a guy two rows in front of me dressed in a black jeans, black button-down shirt, and black baseball cap with “Wrangler” embroidered all over all of them. His carry-on was his lasso rope, which he got up several times during the flight to check on. When I got to Charlotte and went to pick Chaco up in baggage claim, I met a fellow dog owner waiting for his Jack Russell Terrier. HE was wearing a camaflage (sp?) shirt and hat and was chewing on a toothpick. The stereotypes aren’t all that inaccurate! The stereotype about everyone being really friendly is right-on, too — I always enjoy meeting people here.

We went to Duke’s for BBQ tonight. That was real good.

Tomorrow my family’s flying in from Boston; Yay!

A goofing off day led to some real productivity! Check out my new website!

Last night, I tried in vain to install shelving in the garage to support the snowboards and the Yakima bike racks for the car. I spent an hour at Home Depot picking out the appropriate hardware, but (1) our drill really doesn’t like drilling into concrete, even with a carbide tip (supposedly I need a hammer drill for this), and (2) the drill bit I bought is too short for the screws — I think I’m just going to buy shorter screws, my 2 1/4″ ones seem like overkill, and (3) I broke the screw off in the hole trying to screw it in. Oops.

Grandma Biser sent us a Christmas card that I really like. Here is the message on the inside:

A Prayer For Your First Christmas Together:

Lord Jesus Christ, Your first bed was a manger. Your first shelter, a stable. Your first visitors, shephers. Your first light, the dim glow of an oil lamp. Your first clothes, strips of linen cloth.

As our home is warmed by your presence this season, fill us with the happiness of that first Christmas. Let us experience all of the “firsts” of this first season together with wonder and love. And fill us, Lord, with joy…great joy! Amen.

Took Ge108 today…not great but OK. Reading over my xangas for the past couple days, I’ve realized that they’re really boring. Sorry about that. Life is really boring when you’re studying for and taking exams.

Well, I finished up around four today, then worked on Carlos’s webpage and misc odds and ends. Leftover BBQ for dinner, then a date to the Ghirardelli store for two-for-one sundaes. Mmm. My hot fudge monstrosity was so big I couldn’t even finish it, and usually I’m a bottomless pit when it comes to chocolate.

A Bible passage in honor of the geomorphology exam I’m going to take tomorrow:
I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools. Isaiah 42:15

Jelly Belly Map.

Today I took the fluids exam. Is it kosher to talk about exams online, given that probably no one from class will read this? Hmm…just in case, I’ll just say that it went OK but not great, but it’s kind of hard to tell. Then I helped get ready for our Christmas party, at which a good time was had by all.

Time for bed. Good night!