I wonder if these subject lines get really repetitive for other people or if it's just me...

Dear all,

First of all, I am done with physics now forever!! Okay, so technically I could take an astrophysics class and then complete an astrophysics minor, but for all intents and purposes, I'm done with physics!!! It definitely good to live to tell the tale, although I know it'll be odd next year not having lecture at the same time and only having math classes as my IT classes... I'm sure I'll get used to it. :-P

So, yeah, now I'm finally back in Bemidji. Yesterday, after the physics exam, a few of us went to Annie's, I packed like mad, Mom and Tess picked me up, we went to a Barnes & Noble for a little while, and then dinner at Lee Ann Chin's (which was nice, but I'm getting used to the Wok's style myself... although this place could be better for food on the go). Then, we spent the night with Steve, where I gave him my Christmas gift to him early (a Wii remote). He and I played Wii for a while, and then everyone went to bed. (Oh, and playing the Madden game made me realize that I am no good nor am I that interested in sports video games... )

The first night or two during break after college is certainly different... at least for me personally. It's just kind of odd since one night, you're hanging with other college kids and not really worrying about the time (or studying, which did happen big time on Tuesday), and then the next night everything is dark (which is different from the hallway lights that are on 24/7) and all the people around you are asleep at like 11. That's one thing about going back home for break... curfew. Okay, it's not really the curfew, it's that I worry about keeping my parents up while using the computer or watching a movie downstairs. Oh well, I have three weeks of earlier nights, but I will have to get used to an earlier schedule for next semester anyways (breakfast shifts @ UDS).

So anyway, just Mom and I left this morning (Tess is staying with Steve in St Cloud until they come up to Bemidji for Christmas Eve), and after two stops in Pine River (one to visit my grandpa at work and one to drop off/pick up stuff/visit my grandma at the farm), I finally got home! Oh, and it actually looks like it was snowing up here before! Grandpa showed us the radar, so basically when I was coming back to Bemidji, I was running ahead of the snow... dang. Then again, that means that we didn't get caught in any storms, which is nice.

Oh, now that I'm home I have a new computer monitor! Sure it's not the best in the world, but it's bigger, has less junk behind it, and is lighter. I feel bad though because I want to pay my mom some for it since I know how much the monitor costs and let's just say that my mom doesn't need extra expenses, especially around this season. I'm sure I can find some time to talk about it.

Umm... let's see. Oh, my dad seemed pretty glad that I'm back and all. I've been hearing stories about my dad working on fixing the back door more than usual because I'm coming home...? It's kind of odd. Instead of just putting up strings of Christmas lights on the fence, he made a design of a blue star with yellow trails running down the garage--it's pretty neat, actually. It's definitely a "Dad definitely put time and thought into this". Tomorrow he and I are going to get a Christmas tree, and even though it's not exactly the "I must do this!" type of activity for me, I can tell that Dad likes it when I come with to get a tree (this also was the case last year). This is the point where I get philosophical about Dad, but I'm deciding to omit those random thoughts since it would take up way too much space here.

Well, I'm in Bemidji for just about three weeks so hopefully I can spend time with Bemidji people, but there were also some projects that I wanted to work on over break. If you're in the Bemidji, feel free to give me a call. I should probably wrap this up so I can get some other stuff done online (especially given the dial-up internet... I'm just grateful to have Internet at the house). I'll be online some and post blogs some, but my personal computer is staying offline while on break (since I don't want to worry about re-installing the modem and such... plus it'll deter me from being online for several hours at a time), so I'll be using my mom's laptop for Internet purposes. I wish everyone the best of travels, and to have an awesome Christmas season (or other holiday, if applicable)! Talk to you later, take care and God bless!

~Matt dB