I'm not one of those that's going to apologize for not posting for a while, saying something like "Sorry for not posting for a while. Nothing has been going on around here, so . . ." Plenty has been going on, thus the paucity of recent posts.

Last week was spent preparing for this weeks finals and wrapping up a presentation and literature review for soil microbiology. I completed my finals as of yesterday and am overall pleased with how they turned out: The aquatic chemistry take home test was given out about two weeks ago and completed yesterday. Wednesday was my supposedly most difficult exam, physical inorganic chemistry, but it didn't turn out to be as tortuous as the past two. Soil microbiology was supposed to be a comprehensive exam over the whole semester, but I don't remember any questions from the previous sections of class material. These tests are usually a little tricky - in class we've focused on a more broad approach at learning a large amount of material, and the tests generally cover the broad stuff and a bunch of little specifics.

I've also taken to road cycling over the past five weeks, or so, and am now considering purchasing a new bicycle - used or new. My mountain bike isn't able to cut in on 35 and 40 mile rides; but the road bike a friend lent me has been wonderful to ride. Last Thursday I went on for a short 25-mile ride and was completely beat up by the wind! It was as though I was a sail trying to pedal my way through a strong, North wind. A ride that should have taken an hour and twenty minutes took almost 2 hours. Saturday's ride was by fire the longest I've ever undertaken - 44 miles. I've signed up for a cycling tour along the WI/IL boarder for May 28th and have registered for Tour de Corn on June something-or-other. My main goal is to complete a 100 mile ride at the end of the summer, maybe September.

Other events happening soon: Fellowship of the Huge is back in the swing of things. I've put off lifting weights because of time, electing to go for bike rides over going to the gym. I am fairly sure that next week we'll start our regular workouts again. Also, Michael and I will start brewing our own beer come this saturday. He will be leaving for a summer internship in Germany come a month from now, so we need to get a move on in fermenting some hops. If we get a complete batch by the time I visit Kansas I'll see about bringing some with me (assuming it tastes fine).

Please pray for my research: my advisor will be leaving for the summer, meaning that I'll be responsible for keeping disciplined and keeping to my goals. Please pray that the proposal and research methods become solidified and complete.