Back in Tucson

After a wonderful Thanksgiving break Tiff and I are back in Tucson. The plane trip back was entirely uneventful, which is a good thing when you're flying. I had Thanksgiving lunch with my family in San Jose and Tiff went up to Sebastopol for dinner with her family. All in all it was a great break for both of us! Tiff got to hang out with our friend Abhishek from Stebbins in Sebastopol too. Mr. Roy was visiting the bay area from Illinois for the break and unfortunately I didn't get to see him, but I hope the next time he's in town we get a chance to hang out. In any event, I'm sure he'll agree that all in all it was a nice break for all parties involved.

Last night's events focused on figuring out what exactly a doxology is, what the melody that goes along with it, and also the words that make it up are. Thanks to youtube, we got the lowdown. Tiff's mom was especially grateful for that.

Lots of work to do before Christmas break, which will start for us on the 20th of December it looks like.

Nearing Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving Eve. Tiff and I went to Berkeley last night and met up with Jessica for dinner at Char-am. Let's see, what did we all order... We shared three plates of chicken and vegetables with various types of curry sauce. There was a bit of confusion over the tea... "We'd like Thai hot tea please" "Thai iced tea for 3, ok" "No no, we want the hot tea" (it was darn cold outside!)". And there was a bit of confusion over the meat "We'd like number 28" "What kind of meat with that?" "Yes!" "What kind of meat?" "Oh, sorry! Chicken."

Then we marched over to Yogurt Park for some frozen yogurt. I over-did it by ordering a small and having a tough time finishing it. Just like the old days...

Lots of reminiscing overall. Tiffany ran the fire trail earlier and really enjoyed it (perfect running weather!). Oh yes, and the tree-sitters protesting the construction of a new practice facility for football by living in the trees that would have to be cut down for months straight without coming down. Ahh, Berkeley!

The El Tour of De Tucson

Tiff, Tiff's Dad Jay and I biked 66 miles in the El Tour of de Tucson today. Right in the middle of the day too, when it was as high as 85 degrees out in the sun. It was a whole lot of fun, although I'm pretty tired/sore/exhausted right now. I first died at mile 8, but I think that was more of a mental thing, like I couldn't believe that I still had 60 miles to go. Then around mile 40 I REALLY died. My legs were like lead and I couldn't pedal at all. People were passing me like crazy until I reached the next aid station, where they had food and water. I ate about 12 bananas, several oranges, pretzels, and grapes along with a cliff bar before heading off for the last 17 miles. Thankfully those last 17 went pretty well. They even called my name out when I crossed the finish line (I was pretty much alone when I finished)!

Tiff and Jay waited for me for most of the tour which was very nice of them. For the most part, they weren't too far out in front of me, but they definitely waited at least a minute before I showed up the three times we stopped. Then at the last aid station (the one where I had been dying the several miles before I reached it) they ended up leaving before me since I was so busy stuffing myself with food. Apparently Tiffany "really dropped the hammer" over the last several miles and refused to be passed by anyone!

It took us about four hours to finish 66 miles, which isn't so bad. I finished 15 minutes or so behind Tiff and Jay, which I think is not so bad, given that my main goal was just to finish the darn thing!

End of a Short Week

My parents left town this morning. It was great having them stay here and Tiff and I wish they could've stayed longer, but I guess it was time for them to go. Aside from a major picture project on my part, we also went up to Mt. Lemmon for a short hike and did a lot of walking around the neighborhood with the four legged furry animal commonly known as Tucker.

Next weekend Tiff's Dad comes to visit to ride in The El Tour of De Tucson, for us a 66 mile ride around town. I've been training by riding my bike at least 1.5 miles every day on the way to and from work. I'm pretty sure I'll be in great shape for the race.

The day after the race we head back to San Jose to spend a week in the bay area for Thanksgiving. November is going to fly by...

End of a long Week

Survived through the week somehow... My thesis committee meeting went reasonably well yesterday although it's still fairly early on, so there wasn't a whole lot for them to say, other than "meet the deadlines you've set for yourself."

Hopefully I can relax a bit this weekend while preparing for my talk on Monday. It'll be great to have my parents in town this week (and Tucker too!). Hopefully the earthquakes won't follow them to AZ!

The piano is sounding good after a two hour tuning session on Wednesday. It's already gotten a bit out of tune (not that I could tell) but the tuner dude is coming back in a month or so to finish the job. It's great to have it in the house sounding nice. I'm already learning a bit too. I can play Happy Birthday, using the cue card Tiff made :)