Weather update

It's 12 degrees out.  Don't worry, though: it's climbing all the way up to 19 degrees today.

A snowy day for studying

Well, there's snow in the air, and it's beginning to accumulate on the ground.  Fortunately, my agenda for the day consists primarily of an indoor activity -- studying -- so I shouldn't be very affected by the weather.

Fortunately, we had quite nice weather over the weekend, which was great, as we were out house-hunting.  We found a few contenders, and we have another viewing scheduled today.  Perhaps we will be homeowners soon! We'll see how things go.

I'm afraid my upcoming three weeks are going to be rather uneventful (with the exception of a trip to Austin), so don't get too excited for any posts before February 23.  I know you'd normally be jittery with anticipation for any impending post, but try to prepare yourself for disappointment.  I'll probably post sporadically, but my days will mostly be filled with fascinating topics like purchase money security interests, freehold estates, false pretenses, and piercing the corporate veil.  Don't be too jealous!

32,524 vertical feet and counting

And that doesn't include the days we've skied Eldora or Aspen Highlands!  We haven't quite broken even on our ski passes yet, but we are well on our way.  Our passes have RFID, so the resorts can follow us around the mountains.  My stats thus far:

Neil's brother, Ian, is here visiting this weekend.  We hit up Vail on Saturday and Keystone on Sunday.  Ian also went to Eldora today, while Neil and I pursued the exciting pursuits of work and study, respectively.

Tomorrow afternoon, Ian heads off, and the studying recommences in earnest.

The return of the prodigal Texan

Back in Big D!  We arrived here on Saturday and leave tomorrow, and it's been a short -- but good -- trip.  I've gotten to see a few folks, do some car shopping (no results yet, but keep your fingers crossed that something will turn up overnight!), and pet the family dog (Olivia!).  Surprisingly, it feels colder here than in Boulder, though it's roughly the same temperature in both places.  I hadn't realized how much colder the humidity makes things.

In other news, my brother-in-law, Ian, is coming to Boulder this weekend.  We'll be doing some skiing, though we haven't yet decided to which resort we'll be heading.  Between searching for cars online, I've been clicking through pages on VRBO.com.  It's fun to check out the properties that cost a few thousands a night, though I think we'll probably opt for something a little more modest.

We're booked to fly back to Colorado tomorrow, though if we end up buying a car in the morning, I'll be hitting the road in the new vehicle instead!

From sun to snow

Well, we arrived back in Boulder late last night.  (The "late" part was thanks to an epic Super Shuttle ride.)  We returned to Colorado to find snow on the ground -- and just about everywhere else.  It seems a bit incongruous to have peeling shoulders (I may have gotten a bit too much sun on the trip) while tromping about in the snow.  Incongruous, but apparently not impossible.

About the trip, though.  It was, in a word, great.  (Hey, I only promised a word, not an eloquently descriptive word.)   In Australia, we went to Melbourne, Sydney, and Cairns.  I had never visited Melbourne before, so it was nice to see it, though we spent only about a day there.  However, we did manage in that day to visit one of the Great Sites of Australia: the country's only Costco.  We even got the hot dog and soda special.  (It costs $2.50 there, a full dollar more expensive than stateside.)

The highlight of Sydney was New Year's Eve.  Though we endured about twelve hours of sweltering heat followed by chilling cold in order to see them, the fireworks were absolutely spectacular and worth the wait.  I think I have seen some pretty fantastic fireworks in my day, but these were absolutely unparalleled.

Though Cairns was rainy for much of the time (you've probably seen news coverage of the record rainfall in Queensland), the rain was irrelevant for purposes of snorkeling -- and for our introduction to scuba.  We got a kick out of tickling giant clams and passing sea cucumbers back and forth.

As for New Zealand, the wedding we attended on Waiheke Island was lovely, and we had a great time spending time with the other guests.  The island is home to some nice wineries and some breathtaking scenery, and it was a beautiful venue for a wedding.

We spent an afternoon and a night in Auckland, then proceeded to the Bay of Islands in northern New Zealand with the bride and groom.  (Yes, we crashed their honeymoon.)  We spent a few relaxing days sailing, eating oysters and mussels, and taking in the views.  We even attendeda local party, complete with hangi and dancing.

We rounded out the trip with a quick stop through LA (where I got to visit my friend Liriel and take advantage of her topnotch knowledge of delicious eateries), then proceeded back to BoCo.  All in all, it was an amazing few weeks.