My mother asked me to put together a list of things that I'd like for Christmas. So after much thinking, I have put together a list of things using the tools found on Amazon.com. Anything not available from Amazon is listed below. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to add it here.

My Amazon Wish List
Oakley A-Frame Snowboard Goggles (Carbon Fiber/Persimmon, ~$85 OR Carbon Fiber/Black Iridium, ~$120)
Gap Gift Cards
Burton Clothing (Hats/Shirts/Hoodies)
The North Face Pumori Fleece (L, Graphite Grey)

As for me, this week has so far been a fairly stressful one. Between work and classes coming to an end, I just haven't been able to clear my head. The good news is that I'm heading over to Akron on Friday for the weekend and, as long as the temperatures fall like they are supposed to, they will probably be able to start making snow down at Mad River Mountain this weekend. While I could definitely use some time out on the snow, I'm not 100% sure that I'll be able to since I have a couple group projects that no one seems too worried about getting done. The more I think about next semester, the more I am unsure that I want to try and do the three classes and work full-time routine again. I guess we'll see how the rest of this semester goes...

It's official: I am now 26 years old. Of course, my day will be filled with going to work in the morning, and class in the afternoon until 8:00pm. Fortunately, it looks like a small group might be meeting at BW3 after class for a couple drinks in honor of this special occasion. As you can probably tell, I decided to go ahead and switch to RapidWeaver for my website design. As I get used to the capabilities of the program, I will likely add more pages to the site. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, please contact me.

As many people who visit this site probably already know, I bought my first new Macintosh back in January when Apple released the Intel-based Macbook Pro. Shortly thereafter, I moved this website over to iWeb, the website creation program Apple introduced as part of the iLife '06 suite. While it created a great-looking site, it could sometimes take awhile to load, especially when using Internet Explorer and/or slow internet connections. While it didn't bother me very much, I recently decided that I'd check out some of the other products available on the Mac platform.

RapidWeaver is a program that has been the benchmark that iWeb has been compared to since its release. It offers the ease of basic website creation with the ability to incorporate advanced features and interoperatibilty with other Web 2.0 services. Since the included themes are not as graphically-intense, the site should load much quicker than before as well. The software is free to try, but costs $39.95 to purchase so I will likely be testing the software before making any purchases. If you have any comments on the layout or how the site operates, get ahold of me and let me know. I will be importing at least some of the postings from the previous site in the next day or two.

Last night, I received a message from my grandmother that the snow had begun to fall at Mad River Mountain back in Bellefontaine. While the temperatures are still a little too warm for them to turn them on full blast, it looks like they wanted to test the 32 new snow guns that were installed during the off-season. I was really hoping that they’d be able to get an early start to the season, but it looks like I’ll have to wait another couple weeks to get back on the snow. I could definitely use a weekend on the slopes to clear my mind -- one of my favorite aspects of snowboarding. Much like swimming was when I was younger, snowboarding gives me a chance to clear my head of everything that has been weighing me down over the week and just enjoy being by myself. I bought a new North Face jacket (show here, Ignition Orange) for this snowboard season and am amazed at how warm it is, even without the add-in liner. It should be great for the “warmer” conditions in Ohio and the colder temperatures at some of the other places we visit. Also picked up a pair of Flow “The Eleven” bindings (here) that will hopefully work out great this year as well.

It’s been awhile since I brewed a batch of beer (October 9th to be exact), but I am cooking up some plans for two brews in December. My first original recipe (the Honey Raspberry Wheat) has been kegged and should be ready on the 1st of December. I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving, and hopefully I’ll have another update here after the Christmas Party over in Akron next weekend.