Denver

I've only been on break for a couple of days, and it's already been crazier than I had expected. Two weeks ago, my plan for Spring Break was to sit at home, maybe get a case of beer, and curl up in front of the tv watching movies and writing my thesis. Instead, I've attended a goodbye barbeque for Alex and Athena, two old friends who are leaving on Friday for a two-year stint in the Peace Corps. Destination: Kyrgyz Republic. That's one of the most intense and craziest commitments I've ever seen anyone take, but I have faith in their ability to roll with it. As weird as it sounds, if you had forced me to guess which two friends would be moving to the Kyrgyz Republic for two years, I would most definitely have picked them. So Godspeed, Alex and Athena! Keep updating your blog so I know what the hell is going on with you, and if I'm ever in Turkey I'll let you know.
Also weird: I wrote a couple of weeks ago that I'm traveling to Denver. I'm heading out there in just a few hours, and I found out just a little while ago that DebraLee, my brother's girlfriend, has been having more and more contractions lately, which means that it's possible that the baby will drop while I'm there. Weird shit tends to happen whenever I go somewhere new, so the fact that I might induce labor while in Denver would be pretty much par for the course. If the baby is born while I'm there, then great. I can't complain about that. But it will make the visit a whole lot more insane than I had expected.

I do plan on finishing my Oktoberfest story sometime soon, but I've been very busy the last few weeks and just haven't had the free time to sit down and give it the respect it deserves. And finally, I've noticed that a substantial portion of the traffic for this blog comes from Estonia, so I just wanted to say: Marili, if you're reading this, thanks for keeping my cold feet warm all winter.