October is Warm, and so is My Heart

Cris is still slacking on her bloggering duties so I guess it's my job again this week.  The weather here has been AMAZING! and I don't use exclamation marks lightly!!  I have gone windsurfing twice this week and I didn't even need a wet suit.  On Monday the wind was super strong (I think surfers would say it was 'off the hizzy' or something like that) so I was moving faster than I've ever gone.  That also means that I fell a lot and have tons of bruises and sore muscles still.  There aren't words to describe how dope (another surfer word as far as I know) it is to ride on top of the water at 20mph while looking at the mountains over a beautiful blue lake.  I would imagine I felt just like the guy in this picture, but more sore:

Cris was totally amazing and helped to carry all my surfing stuff down to the lake both times.

We also went on a hike at Keowee Toxaway State Park which is one of a few free state parks in the SC.  We were planning to go to Caesar's Head, but the weather started going south (which happened to be towards us) so we changed plans.  It was a relatively easy hike compared to some we've been on, but there was still plenty of cool stuff to see.  There were some giant boulders, one of which made a natural bridge over a stream with a waterfall.

There were also a lot of other places where we went off the trail (don't tell anyone) to see other waterfalls.  Cris always looks super sexy in her giant guys hiking boots, so I have a hard time staying on the trail. 

 We have gone on a lot of hikes in the past few months, but there are still a ton that we haven't done yet.  What a great place to live.  Everyone should move down here and buy us land.  

Work is still pretty great.  I'm getting a little sick of all the paperwork (is it still called paperwork if it's on computer?) that I have to do on a daily basis.  I always like to concentrate on what is best for students' learning so the other stuff gets neglected a little bit.  I still can't believe how respectful my students are compared to the past five years.  I haven't heard a single student swear and they all say 'yes sir' and 'have a good day'.  I also haven't heard of or seen any drugs, weapons, or sexual activity.  

Cris is still kickin' butt by volunteering at the coop (not the chicken kind, the two syllable kind) and growing veggies in our 'yard'.  We've been having salads made with fresh grown romaine lettuce and will soon have broccoli and spinach.  She's an amazing cook and pretty decent company, so living in a trailer is still tolerable.  We are going to try our hand at hydroponics soon, so we'll see how that goes.  

We are both looking forward to going home over Christmas and can't wait to see family and friends.  If anyone (except inlaws) is around between Christmas and January 3ish, let us know!