Change of Pace

In my last post I said I'd been a lazy blogger; I should have waited until this post to say that! It's been a long time since I've let this much time pass between posts, and it's not for a lack of things to write about. I think while school was in session it was easier to write, because taking a few minutes aside from homework to think about something else and post it here was a good way to reboot my brain. Now, aside from the week I spent in New Orleans (I'll post a trip report, I promise!), I've spent the time cleaning the apartment, reading books I didn't have time for during the semester, and playing Civilization IV and WarCraft III, which I really didn't have time for with all my homework. So instead of thinking "I need a break, I'll post a rant about Twilight or global warming, then I can look at this homework with a fresh perspective," I'm thinking "I should post pictures from my New Orleans trip to my blog, but I'm in the middle of conquering China!" Therefore no posts for a week.

Christmas was cool, but really didn't feel like Christmas this year. Kate and I didn't even do our usual tradition of watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, which we do every year. Also, there was no money, so other than a splurge for ourselves the only gift we bought anyone was the latest Enya CD for my mom, who is a big fan. We plan to make up for it with extra good birthday presents, though, since the financial outlook for the future is potentially good, especially if the price of oil goes back up (and if Obama doesn't screw us over by attacking the oil industry too aggressively). Since it wouldn't be available long, even though we really couldn't afford it Kate and I bought ourselves the special edition of Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard, the profits for which went to a charity:

Cool, huh?

New Year's Eve was fun. It's a tradition in my family to get together and play Axis & Allies all night. It's kind of like Risk, Chess and Monopoly all rolled into one; you play as either the Allied or Axis powers of World War II, and try to conquer the world. My dad always wins. I'm pretty sure he has weighted dice....

The fun and games are over for now, though (hence the change of pace). Now I need to pack my things. Early tomorrow morning I am leaving to drive 1300 miles to Edmund, Oklahoma, to start an internship with GeoSearch Logging. They will train me there, then send me where oil wells are being drilled, probably in the Pennsylvania/New York area. Basically, as they drill the hole, I will get to look at the chunks of rock coming up and say "yep, that's a sandstone. That's a limestone. That's a different limestone. Oh, there's natural gas in that one!" and they pay me $150/day to do this. It should be fun, though Kate's not happy that I'll be gone for four or five months. I start January 6th, and will work at least through April if not May, and come back for Field Camp in June, which is the last geology class I need for my major. It's all G.E. and GIS classes after that, with one or two more extra geology classes thrown in for fun.

Okay, now on to packing!