A good problem to have...

So I'm in Costco a while back and I see they have a beer advent calendar. I like beer advent calendars. This one looks different than the one I had last year, and it says "European" on it. That can't be bad, right? And I have a general policy with things I see at Costco: if it looks decent at all, you better just buy it because it might not be here by the time you get back.

I think I showed remarkable restraint by only buying one of them.

Then my friend, Alan, tells me that he's received this year's advent calendar and I should pick it up. Did I pipe up and say, "Alan, I've already got a beer advent calendar, and nobody needs two." Of course I didn't say that. What a stupid thing for anyone to say.

So I went to pick it up. It was a different beer advent calendar. Not even done with October, and already a Christmas miracle! Not only that, but he got two of them for me. (Carols start playin in my head at this point) I was quickly able to find another ex-mormon who was interested in this extra calendar, which made me feel a little like I was living some sort of higher law, almost like I was consecrating my beer advent activities.

This friend says he may not be able to hold off until December 1st to start partaking, but that he will record his thoughts on each beer and see how they match up with mine. But this started me thinking, "Do I really want to be reviewing two separate beers each day?" I had enough trouble making sure I was staying on schedule last year with just one calendar, so here's how it's going to work:

I'm starting now with the Costco/European calendar. As soon as I'm done with that I'll begin opening windows on the Intercontinental Craft Brew version. The twist is that I've decided that I have to earn my beer each day with some sort of physical activity. Hopefully I've given myself enough of a buffer that I can get all of these down by Christmas Eve.

But don't be too surprised if I ocassionally decide to play a little fast and loose with terms like "earn" or "activity" or "physical".

Cheers!