Things I'm thankful for...

Late Wednesday night, I traveled to Wichita and spent Thanksgiving with my cousin, Stuart, and his family. I ate lots of turkey and had a great time playing cards, telling stories, and watching 6 year old Hanna draw a Christmas tree on the sidewalk with chalk.

I realize after a feast, such as Turkey Day, most families enjoy leftovers for the next week. Stuart, however, suggested the two of us go out to eat at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants which surprised me since I had half-expected to have a turkey sandwich.

I think Stuart was looking for some one-on-one time. It reminded me of a couple of years ago when I would meet with "Captain" Roberts one week and Jake the following at one of the many great Mexican eateries in the Salt Lake Valley to get caught up (BTW: BOTH of you would love this place!). Nothing more than solid guy time.

After I returned to K-State Friday, I spent the day working on my next chapter--which I turned in today! I had the place to myself until Saturday when Ryan got back. We didn't talk much that night, but the next morning it cracked me up when first thing Ryan had a "Buy or Sell?" question for me and I had a "Toss Up!" for him. If you're not sure what I'm referring to, you need to watch more "Around the Horn" and "PTI".

There's something about being a man and enjoying the simple things in life: food, sports, and Schwarzenegger flicks with other men. You gotta love it.

The Girl of My Dreams...

No, this is not about her. I just wanted to grab your attention.

Work on my dissertation has been progressing much faster than I would have ever dreamed. Chapters thus far: two in, two almost in, two to go. My advisor gave me the goal of February 14th to have everything done. It'll be close.

Most days, I put in several hours of work. Some of my friends have wondered aloud where I've been since I've been gone so much. Nothing too special, just long hours at the coffeehouses. At night, I have gotten into the routine of reading something light to help me unwind so I can sleep. Of recent, Donald Miller has been the author of choice.

I share a lot in common with Donald. We're the same age, have traveled and lived in a number of the same place, and are attracted to the same type of women. Blue Like Jazz--which I loved!--was my first read, followed shortly thereafter by To Own a Dragon. I'm now reading Through Painted Desesrts and will probably start Searching for God Knows What sometime in the near future.

My question...what should I search for after that? Any interesting reads to recommend?

Can you believe it?

A few shockers this past weekend...

1) K-State's win! For those who watched the game, does anything less than incredible come close to describing it?

2) Chapter #3! (which will actually be Chapter #4: Historical Geography) This weekend, I put a number of hours in and think I may now have another chapter done minus pictures and citations. Three more to go!

3) Mom's birthday! (yes, I remembered...geesh, give a guy some credit) Who would believe she's a day over 39? Lots of love Mom!

Let the people speak...

This should be fun.

As I noted in a previous post, I recently switched political parties...or so I thought.

This weekend, I recieved my voter registration card and, much to my surprise, I was marked as a Red Stater. When I registered to vote, the lady working initially was excited to see my interest in registering to vote. When I stated that I wanted to register as a Blue Stater, she suggested I apply for an absentee ballot (to make things simpler, of course). I laughed to myself, but didn't give it much thought until I recieved my card.

Tomorrow being Election Day, I will leave it to YOU, the voters!

Was this a sign from God that I am to remain loyal to my former political party?

OR...

Is this another conspiracy by the REAL Axis of Evil (Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld) to prevent voters from defecting in mass?

You vote! You decide!

Note to Mom: This did not effect my vote on my absentee ballot. Let's just say you would not have liked my choices!