Dispatch from the front

Okay folks, How long has it been since I sent out one of these emails?  but they do come eventually.

First off, I THINK school is going well.  My grades have come up in my Psychology class, I was getting a string of C's and C-'s and I recently got an B- and then an A on some tests, so that makes me feel good.  I am fairly confident about all my other classes since my grades have been pretty good.  I don't want to count my chickens before they are hatched, Lord knows there will be something, but I think that all I have to worry about now is a paper that is due Friday (which I have started already), a few final projects and exams, and I should be home free.

My social life has improved drastically since the last time I wrote and email.  I feel that I have many good friends around campus, including one who I go running with quite often.  He lives on my hall and he and his roommate and I spend a lot of time together.  Our classes are such that we are almost always able to eat lunch together.  We often spend weekend evenings together.  The theater in town offers a "Midnight Movie" that is only two or three bucks a head so we often catch that on weekends.  We also like to play hangman and other games.  Often we will stay up until two in the morning (WEEKENDS ONLY, MOM!). 

I also have been making friends in band.  In my last email about the band, I said that I was going to wait until the spring to play gigs with the band but I have changed my mind and have actually done three gigs with them, including last week's football game.  That was really fun because the other team, Southern Oregon, had brought their band with them, so we had a little "Battle of the Bands" across the football field.

My running is also on the upswing and I recently began to do long runs again (around 90 min.)  My friend and I go running together about twice a week and I like to go running on my own once or twice by myself.  Because my friend has run competitively, he is a little faster than I am, which pushes me to run faster, something I greatly appreciate.  I have also found a pretty good calisthenics workout that I am doing after I run.  Unfortunately, I have a tendency to wonder how good I am starting to look after doing my workout, which is of course complete BS.  One should work out for the mental discipline, not to change one's physical appearance, so I have to watch my thought and keep away from the stupid mirror.

Other than that, my life is pretty normal, I will take Amtrak bus/train back down to Oakland, where I will spend Thanksgiving with my grandmother and my aunt and uncle and some other relatives (to be honest, I am not sure EXACTLY who will be there) and then it's back up here for two more weeks and then back to Chicago for Christmas Break.  What a whirlwind!

I hope all is well with all of you.  Happy Thanksgiving and STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!!!