This One's for Chris

I have been told twice in the last week, in no uncertain terms, that I need to update my blog. Work productivity is rising in Sweden for lack of procrastination and, more importantly, Chris Cobb has been reduced to doing actual work on Monday mornings. So Chris, this post is for you, in part as a less-than-sufficient "thank you" for showing Trudi, Mike, and me a wonderful weekend of fun.

I flew up to Columbus last weekend - departing the day the terrorist alert went up to orange. I was careful to get to the airport early, and then the line to get through security was exactly two people long. It was the fastest I've ever gotten through in Houston, leaving me plenty of time to eat a Wendy's Frosty by the gate. Good times! In contrast, the line in Columbus on the way home was the longest I've seen at that airport. It took me a whopping seven minutes to get through! But I didn't break my streak of not posting to talk about airport security....

For those who weren't there - let's just say we played like we were 10, but with the joyous addition of adult beverages. There's nothing quite like a day and a half of alternating theme park rides with beer. (No, I did not puke.) The weekend started out in the humble city of Columbus, with a quiet dinner at home with Mike and his roommates. I spent Friday at Panera writing my thesis while Mike saved lives in the OR. Friday night we traveled to Sandusky, to spend a night at an indoor water park (left) that serves daiquiris pool-side. Saturday was Cedar Point (right) - twelve hours, five rollercoasters, four beers, and hundreds of unnecessarily-exposed stomachs later, I fell asleep in the car with a smile on my face. FANtastic!

A tip for the ladies: If you want to make a guy and his friends happy, bake them a chocolate Guinness cake. Just don't tell them you got the recipe from "Vegetarian Times" magazine, and be sure to let them lick the bowl and drink the left-over Guinness while it's baking.

Now I'm back in the "real world" of grad school, which involves article-reading, thesis-writing, data analysis, mock-therapizing, and other such obligations. Not exactly as fun as riding the Millenium Force - even though both involve a significant amount of banging my head against solid objects. Oh yeah, and I start class again on Wednesday. Here's to year #2!