Welcome Back

I made it through finals, and now I’m right back at it. I only had two weeks off for break this year and it went by faster than I would have liked. The break started off with a trip to LA where Sarah and I celebrated her grandparents being inducted into the Erath Hall of fame, and afterwards we celebrated with tons of gumbo and drinks. Sarah found a new favorite song and drink while we were there. The song is called the “Wop” and the drink is the “lemon drop.” I think the most fun part of the night was going to a college graduation party out in the country. The party was in a large barn, and everyone was getting down. The best was when Sarah’s cousin started dancing with 2 40 year old blondes. Man, those Cajuns know how to party.
After LA, we came back to Katy and spent the week catching up with friends, going to Christmas dinners, and relaxing. Christmas came and went with the customary excess of food, drinks, and presents, but I’m not complaining (it sure beats being in school). The day after Christmas, my uncle, cousin, friend, and myself all headed up to the Guadalupe river to do some fly fishing. The company had overbooked the cabins so they put us up in a lodge complete with pool table, flat screen tv, and skylights. Outside was our own private inlet where we could see at least half a dozen large trout. It was awesome. The first morning we woke up at 6am to temps in the low 30’s. The water was only a chilly 56 degrees, but there was steam rising off the water because it was so cold out. Rob even had ice forming on the end of his fishing line. After only about 10 Michael caught one of the trout trying to swim uphill with just his bear hands (can you say survivor man). Saddly, after fishing all day that was all we caught until that evening Michael tried casting out with some salmon eggs, and sure enough, within 2 minutes he had another huge trout. That night we built a fire, grilled the fish, watched the bowl game, and drank some 12 year old scotch. It doesn’t get much better than that. The next day, the temps were much warmer and the fish were biting. After only fishing for about an hour, I got a strike, but I failed to set the hook. So I cast the line out again. He took it again and this time I made sure to set the hook. I was in the fight of my life this huge fish. Trying to test me, the fish leapt out of the water, trying his hardest to shake the hook loose. Finally, I let him tire himself out and then reeled him into the shallows where we netted him. He was mine. We left pretty soon after that, but I definitely want to go back.
The rest of the break I spent training, sleeping, relaxing, reading (finished Dan Brown’s Lost Symbols) up in Austin before Sarah and I had to pack it up and head back to Houston. The break kept me so busy I don’t think I was near a computer for more than 10 minutes at a time. So, now I am definitely playing catch up this first week, but it was SOOOO worth it! Hope everyone out there had a great Christmas and a safe and fun New Years.