I have a day and a half of school before I get to go to the airport and fly back to Iowa. This is exactly how I am going to feel at school because I am so excited for a break! Everything is still going well at school. I have an assignment due on Tuesday before I leave, so I went in today to finish it because I know I won't want to worry about it tomorrow night. 

   The weather has been like Iowa lately... hot one day and freezing the next. Last week it was so nice one of the days that I got to go to the beach in a t-shirt. The very next day students saw snow flurries on their way to school. 

   We had a guy, Douglas, come talk to us about Japanese boat building last week. He has had five apprenticeships in Japan and the stories he told were fascinating. For example, he said there wasn't a terrible language barrier during his first apprenticeship because there wasn't any talking allowed in the shop. The boats are handmade by Douglas and the master. Douglas had to observe while sweeping the floors for months until one day the master finally handed him a chisel and expected him to know what to do. It sounded just like Karate Kid. There are no drawings or dimensions or instructions on how to build the boats because there is so much secrecy behind it. Only the master has that stuff memorized. 

  Here is Douglas' site: Douglas Brooks Boatbuilding.

These are some of the tools and materials they use. I don't know what they are. 

   Okay. I tried making pancakes for breakfast. I decided it would be a good idea to make one giant pancake rather than a bunch of small ones. I didn't like the idea that if I made small pancakes, the first ones would get cold by the time I was done making the rest. So one giant pancake was the way to go. 

Nope.

   It is impossible to flip a giant pancake to the other side. At least I didn't have to cut it, right? It still tasted just fine. 

   Kennebunkport put up the huge Christmas tree in Dock Square this weekend. I didn't see it being put up. I know they'll decorate it too. Maybe they are going to do that right after Thanksgiving. I'll get some nice photos of it when it is. I actually ventured out into the cold today JUST to take this picture of the tree for you people reading this. And then, Kelly, I RAN back home. 

   Sorry I've been lacking with good pictures of what I've been up to. I'll try to get some good shots of my break with Devin and his family this week. Oh, by the way, my pancake mess today was good... but not anywhere close to Karen's pancakes with the pecan syrup. Can I put in a request for that? :)

   And here is a stupid (poor quality) video of my fish. Mrs. Black is always trying to show off for me... as you can see in this video.

Grandma... if you click the 4-corner box in the bottom right corner of the video it makes the video bigger.