Christmas Break was wonderful, and now it's back to the grindstone. Over break, we managed to spend some great time with both of our families. The Chenettes even sponsored a cook-off between the three families: Nate and Heather; Claire, Mom, and Dad; and Sara and me. Here's our award winning meal:











(As you might expect from a Chenette family, there was no one winner. But, of course, we all benefited from each others' efforts.)

To back up even further: Near the end of last semester, I finally got around to going to the IU Adaptive Technology Center to see how I could deal better with one-handed typing. (I'm still trying to take it easy on my right wrist--that's a story for another time.) After showing me some strange keyboards, they finally checked out to me a copy of Macspeech Dictate, so now I can type with my voice! I was really excited at first--it's a terrific program, and I have few complaints. But I have to admit that I use it far less often now. For one thing, I'm no longer writing long papers. But still, I should use it more: it's just very awkward to know that Sara can hear every word I'm writing. Writing feels like it should be a private process, where others see only the finished, polished product. I still am getting used to that not being true.

We're also planning for our honeymoon! It's going to be to an exotic place, and when I mentioned that to Nate, he reminded me of Asiawheeling, run by fellow ex-Grinnellian Woody. I read a lot of the blog--it looks like such a fun project! I was jealous at first. But life is even an adventure at home, especially with a wonderful wife and two cats...