Apr 01 2012

I’ve Been Tagged

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 12:44 pm

I think this game is going around the blogosphere, and i thought it was fun reading Ann’s post so i’ll participate. Since the Somethings have sort of died, this will replace them this week.

The Rules

  1. Post these rules
  2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
  3. Answer the questions set for you in the post you were tagged in
  4. Create 11 new questions for your tagees to answer
  5. Tag them on Twitter, Facebook or your blog

11 Random Facts About Me

  1. I’m a nut for puzzle games. Sudoku and Trainyard come to mind immediately.
  2. My car is 11 years old and i hope to keep it 11 more years.
  3. If i don’t have at least one cup of coffee in the morning i get a headache.
  4. I sleep on the right side of the bed, if you’re looking at it.
  5. Snoozing is required in the morning, unless i’m nervous about having to be somewhere.
  6. I love to try things i’ve never done before.
  7. I was a band geek in high school and somewhat regret not continuing it in college.
  8. I can trace my genealogy back to John Alden and Priscilla Mullen of the Mayflower.
  9. I don’t like olives, but i do like dirty martinis.
  10. I don’t wear a lot of jewelry. I have a few items that are special to me, and i wear them because i like them, not because they accessorize my outfit in any way.
  11. I like movies that make me cry. Sometimes a girl needs a good cry.

11 Questions I was Asked to Answer

  1. What is your favorite movie?  Tough one, but i’ll say The Girl Next Door.
  2. If you could go back and give your 16 year old self one piece of advice, what would it be? Oh my, that’s tough. I’ll have to settle for a short list. Don’t quit the swim team, the cool kids won’t matter after high school so stop worrying about it, your parents and brothers will become some of your best friends even though it doesn’t seem like it now, stick up for your brothers more.
  3. Why do you blog? I started when i was trying to hold myself accountable when i began running. It turned into sharing my thoughts on various things. Lately i’ve neglected it, but i’d like to get back into it.
  4. What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you doing that? I wanted to be a lot of things, my earliest memories are of wanting to be a writer. Not doing that, though i do try to do it for fun through blogging and writing bridge columns.
  5. M&M’s – plain or peanut? Peanut!!
  6. What was your first car? 1979 Datsun pick-up truck. Boy was it a clunker. Great car, though, lots of personality. For example, it would backfire, loudly, whenever you turned it off. I got to school an hour early every day so there wouldn’t be many kids in the parking lot to hear it.
  7. What is your favorite Halloween costume you’ve ever worn?  You know, i can’t even remember any of my costumes except for the ghost made out of a sheet with two eye holes.
  8. What are your favorite blogs to read? Brazen Careerist and the blogs of friends and family.
  9. If you were to have a boy and a girl tomorrow, what would you name them? It would have to be Scarlet and Gray.
  10. What was your favorite class in college? Personal Finance. I know it sounds lame, but the teacher was really dynamic, irreverent and just plain good and i learned a lot of practical stuff.
  11. What celebrity do you think it would be fun to be friends with? Jon Stewart.

11 Questions for You to Answer

  1. What’s your earliest childhood memory?
  2. What place would you most like to visit?
  3. What’s the scariest thing you have ever done?
  4. When was the last time you got a giggle fit and what caused it?
  5. How many cars have you owned?
  6. Who were your childhood heroes?
  7. What was your favorite game as a child?
  8. What book have you read that had a profound impact on you?
  9. If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you would do?
  10. Who was your favorite teacher and why?
  11. What is the thing you like best about yourself?

Now, I’m tagging:

Nathan at Nate’s Davar

Cindy at My $.02

Kerry at Kerry and Gabe (Ann tagged her too, but she can answer more questions)

Robert at Soaking Up The World

I’d also love to hear responses from anyone else who reads but doesn’t blog. Moms?

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Jan 22 2012

Sunday Somethings, 22Jan12

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 9:26 pm

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Weekends at home.

Something i am struggling with: Motivation to go to the gym.

Something i learned: We watched a documentary about Martin Luther King’s assassination called Roads to Memphis. It’s odd to look at our country at that time and hear the things that were said. It just wasn’t that long ago.

Something i am reading: Kushiel’s Avatar, by Jacqueline Carey.

Something i am watching: This video (from Saturday Night Live) cracks me up – mature audiences only. Or immature, depending on your point of view. Not safe for work.

Something happening around the house: Today was a Zelda and Dominion day.

Something i am thinking: I have a home-made box that houses my Dominion cards, of which i have five of the available sets. I think my box has room for at least one more set. Nathan, you’ve created a monster.

Something i am looking forward to: Bridge night with Mom should start up, and bowling league will be fun.

Something i am hoping: One of my first manager jobs is happening this week – annual reviews. I hope i don’t mess it up.

Something random: Baby monkey.


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Jan 16 2012

Sunday Somethings, 15Jan12

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 10:58 pm

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Watching Nugent at the dog park. I’d heard of its existence but never knew exactly where it was until recently. Dogs crack me up.

Something i am struggling with: Finding motivation (and time) to blog. I have things i want to say, but no time to say them.

Something i learned: Planning a trip to Disney with two planners can get complicated, FAST.

Some things i am doing towards my goals: I swam during my lunch break today. I’m trying to get back to a gym routine.

Something i am reading: Kushiel’s Avatar by Jacqueline Carey.

Something i am watching: We went to see We Bought a Zoo which was very, very good. I cried half a dozen times. Lots of cuteness in the movie, but a lot of raw emotions and grief, too.

Something happening around the house: We got halfway through decluttering this weekend. Which means some rooms look better, and others look much worse. Ha.

Something i am thinking: Lance has asked me a few times if my blog is dead. It’s not. At least, I don’t want it to be.

Something i am looking forward to: Starting a weekly bridge game with my mom. So far this year it hasn’t worked out, but it will, and i’m looking forward to the time with her.

Something i am hoping: To get to the gym a few more times this week.

Something random: What’s the difference between 300 and 279? One pin in the 7th frame. One of the guys on my bowling team bowled a near-perfect game, missing just one pin along the way. It was amazing to watch.

Something planned: Bridge with Lance and bowling.


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Jan 01 2012

Sunday Somethings, 01Jan12

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 9:27 pm

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Hanging out with Lance on my days off. He’s a pretty fun guy to pal around with.

Something i am struggling with: It’s the end of my vacation! Boohoo! I’m not ready to go back to work.

Something tasty: Black bean soup. I could eat it all the time.

Something i am reading: Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey

Something i am watching: Haven’t started it yet, but we just borrowed How I Met Your Mother from a friend. I hear it is good.

Something happening around the house: Lots of Zelda and laundry and Dominion in the last few days.

Something i am thinking: Happy New Year!

Something i am looking forward to: A new year, full of possibilities.

Something random: Girls rule, boys drool.

Something planned: A bridge board meeting. This is my last year on the board. I cannot wait to get out of bridge politics.


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Dec 25 2011

Sunday Somethings, Christmas Edition

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 7:28 pm

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Seeing Lance with his family on Christmas Day. It’s like seeing him in his natural habitat. We’re having a good time in Ohio.

Something i am struggling with: I want to play Dominion more than anyone else does.

Something tasty: Lance’s sister’s husband Will made these awesome caramel chocolate chip brownies that are impossible to describe except they are GOOD and you can eat only one as they are super rich. He’s going to have to give me the recipe.

Something i learned: Christmas can be good even if the present phase doesn’t last 5 hours. (One might even say, especially if…)

Something from the bridge table: Lance and I actually make an appearance, however minor, in the newest version of the Encyclopedia of Bridge, which was one of our Christmas gifts.

Something i am reading: Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey.

Something happening around the house: The Shull household finished the present exchange about an hour ago. We are now engaged in various activities such as Sudoku, cooking, walking dogs, throwing the football outside, and eating appetizers.

Something i am thinking: I think that a large majority of taxpayers would like the postal service to continue delivering mail on a daily basis, including Saturdays. So we have this one thing that nearly everyone can agree on, and what is happening? We’re letting it die a slow death. Of course.

Something i am looking forward to: A few more days here before a long drive back to Ohio.

Something i am hoping: For no more close encounters with hitting deer. We almost hit one on the way here.

Something random: I like dangly earrings.

Something planned: More Zelda, Dominion, bridge, reading, and good quality family time.

Something of a Christmas message: We have colleagues who work in China who sent holiday greetings to all of the US staff. They don’t celebrate Christmas, but they were being thoughtful and expressing good wishes to us. The note i got was so extremely perfect – “Have a wonder holiday.” This is probably a simple misapplication of English, but i love the implication. We use the word ‘wonderful’ fairly frequently in normal speech, but it has lost its original meaning, which it literally “full of wonder.”  Wonder holiday makes much sense in that context. I want to wish everyone a wonder-full holiday!


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Dec 18 2011

Sunday Somethings, 18Dec11

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 11:59 pm

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Disengaging. Not checking email. Not being in touch. Even for a 3-day weekend it is liberating and i’m able to relax much more easily if i’m not checking in every few hours. A luxury when it happens.

Something i am struggling with: Keeping up with blogging.

Something tasty: Grandma Moody’s Hungarian Coffee Cake. Mom made it for us this weekend.

Some things i am doing towards my goals: I had a paper accepted at SAS Global Forum and i have to have it mostly finished by Jan 2. Yikes.

Something i am reading: Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey. A reread of an old favorite.

Something i am watching: We re-watched Lars and the Real Girl this past weekend with my parents. Mom was the only one who made it to the end with me, and i was glad she liked it. I really liked that movie.

Something happening around the house: In all our spare time, we are searching for the sacred flames in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Something i am thinking: How much of a free pass do old people get. Yes they are old and set in their ways, but aren’t they still held to the same standard of treating people the way they would want to be treated?

Something i am looking forward to: Our trip to Ohio this weekend! We are looking forward to spending Christmas with Lance’s family.

Something i am hoping: For safe travels and no dog vomit during our upcoming drives.

Something random: I ran out of fuel on the way home from Asheville. It’s no big deal these days – roadside assistance shows up 30 minutes later and you’re on your way. But i still feel like i failed at life for the day.

Something planned: Two bridge dates, working a little extra to get my presentation worked out, and Zelda anytime there is any free time.

Something captured: This photo is officially entitled “The Coldest Lance Has Ever Been.” Note that we have on hats and gloves and appropriately heavy jackets. However, our legs are only protected by simple pants/jeans. At this moment in time, we are near the top of Flat Top Mountain just outside Anchorage. It is snowing and the wind is blowing fiercely. The temperature is definitely below zero. We stepped out of the truck and headed to an overlook (that’s ocean you can see in the background), and near froze in the three minutes we were outside, despite the heavy coats.

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Dec 11 2011

Today Is Sunday

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 8:59 pm

Today is Sunday, and the Somethings are due and overdue, but the typical format just doesn’t cover all the things i want to highlight. So here are some thoughts.

  • Our trip to Alaska was totally rad! It was awesome to see Nathan and Heather in their natural habitat.
  • Alaska is far. Twelve hours in the air. When i told people we were going to Alaska, i got quite a few people asking us if we would be driving from Seattle to Anchorage. It’s easy to forget just how far away it is. It is about the same distance from Seattle to Anchorage as it is from Raleigh to Seattle.
  • Alaskans know a lot more about how to survive in the snow than we do. They all have engine block heaters installed in their cars so they can plug their cars in. All the parking lots have these chargers so they can plug their cars in.
  • We took a fair number of pictures, but i’m still sorting them out and trying to get them uploaded. The one below is me standing in front of a frozen lake. We walked on it. How neat is that?
  • Our 4 days in Seattle were fun as well. We played a 3-day event for players with 0-5000 masterpoints and finished 14th of 112. Not too bad. It was a bit disappointing because we were leading, by some, after the first five sessions, but just had nothing good happen to us in the last session. There wasn’t that much we could have done, and we just watched our win slip away.
  • Lance and i can host a damn good bridge party. We had three tables here the other night, which was a pretty full house. Nugent hid upstairs all night, and the adults all had a good time playing bridge and Taboo.
  • We learned a new game thanks to Nathan & Heather- Dominion. A very good game, and i predict more of it in our future.
  • Nugent seemed a bit sullen when we got back. Perhaps he didn’t like being left behind. We’re taking him with us when we go to Ohio in a few weeks.
  • I had 800+ emails waiting for me when i got back after 11 days of not checking at all. I was pretty stressed out all week, but i finally feel caught up.
  • I’ve seen Breaking Dawn twice now! The first time with Heather, as we have seen all the movies together so far. And the second time this weekend with another friend. (I learned that if you stay through to the end of the credits, there is a teaser for the next movie! I missed that the first time!) It was so fun.
  • Glad to be home. December us a busy month (and it’s already nearly half over).

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Nov 21 2011

Sunday Somethings, 20Nov11

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 12:31 pm

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Planning and packing and checking things off lists.

Something i am struggling with: Lots to get done at work before i go!

Something tasty: Our dinner at Mantra was very good. I love Indian food.

Something i am reading: Actually did not read much of anything this week, but Outlander is still next on the list, and i should get plenty of reading time on the planes.

Something i am watching: Lance got the new Zelda game, and i’ve been watching him traipse through that game. It’s fun – almost like a movie.

Something i learned: Podrey is pretty good about navigating through video games. I have a good sense of direction, even in video game land.

Something happening around the house: Lots of leaf-blowing. The leaves are falling so fast and thick you can barely tell we did anything. I can only hope that a thinner layer of leaves will be less likely to kill the grass than a triple layer will. It will be another two weeks before we get another chance.

Something i am thinking: I love seeing a friend that i haven’t hung out with in awhile for a totally mundane reason (returning an outfit) and then having it turn into this great unplanned night out.

Something i am looking forward to: Our trip to Alaska! Seeing Nathan & Heather! Snowhoe hiking! And of course, Thanksgiving dinner – the best food of the year!

Something i am hoping: That the snowshoeing doesn’t kill us and that we don’t freeze to death while we’re out there.

Something random: It has “warmed up” to a high of about 15 degrees in Anchorage. We are told this is much much better than the -2 degrees of the past week.

Something planned: An 11.5 hour plane ride.


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Nov 14 2011

Sunday Somethings, 13Nov11

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 12:22 am

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Knowing exactly how the cards lay even though we’ve only played a few tricks of a bridge hand, due to bidding and play.

Something i am struggling with: New-fallen leaves have already obliterated all evidence that i cleared them away just 6 days ago.

Something tasty: A friend’s chocolate tort that she made us for dessert after having us to her house for dinner and bridge. Yum.

Something i learned: Already knew this, but i have rediscovered that Christmas shopping is so easy by mail.

Something i am reading: I just finished rereading The Host by Stephanie Meyer, just for fun. Next is Outlander by Diana Gaboldon.

Something i am watching: We just finished getting caught up with all the episodes Netflix has available for Modern Family. Love that show.

Something happening around the house: Laying low and laundry.

Something i am thinking: Whether or not we should drive 5 hours to Spartanburg this weekend to try to qualify for the North American Pairs. It’s such a long drive. It would probably be fun. We’d have to finish in the top 3 to make it worthwhile. If we do, we get money to go to the Memphis bridge nationals in the spring. If we don’t, it’s just a 10-hour drive.

Something i am looking forward to: My last week of the bowling league this year. It starts up again after the holidays.

Something i am hoping: That i get to use my Groupon to Mantra before the expiration date (end of the month) – have to work it out in the next 10 days.

Something random: A math problem Lance got from his Mom. Each character is a digit. What do the characters represent?
NOW
+NOW
+   NO
——–
CHOW

Something planned: One more week of relative quiet – before the crazy holiday season begins! Packing! Travel! Alaska! Seattle! Asheville! Ohio! Lots of excitement in the last six weeks of the year.


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Nov 06 2011

Sunday Somethings, 06Nov11

Category: Uncategorizedpodrey @ 7:33 pm

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Naps.

Something tasty: Dinner at the Bloomsbury Bistro at Five Points. It’s the usual birthday dinner celebration location that a small group of friends frequents.

Something i learned: Nathan has been posting a summary of his visit to Singapore to visit his friends. A surprising fact: you have to purchase the right to buy a car. How much does this luxury cost? $35,000 Singapore dollars. Conversion rate? $1 uS = $.8 Singapore. Translation: $43,750 spent before you even get to go shopping for the car. Does this mean the cars are very very nice, ie only the rich have cars? Or does this mean that there are a lot of really inexpensive cars, since everyone spends their whole budget up front?

Something i am reading: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, by Marshall Goldsmith & Mark Reiter.

Something i am watching: Today began the live coverage of the World Series of Poker final table. The November Nine. It’s so much more interesting than the 2-hour ESPN final that they’ve shown in previous years, since they show ALL the hands instead of just the interesting/dramatic ones.

Something happening around the house: I meant to get outside and blow leaves today. It was such a nice day to be working outside, too. But i didn’t.

Something i am thinking: I’m glad my computer told me about the falling backwards, b/c otherwise i wouldn’t have known.

Something i am looking forward to: It’s still a few weeks away, but i’m really looking forward to our trip to Alaska!

Something i am hoping: To win the lottery. I’ve never bought a ticket, but i think it might be fun to start buying a couple tickets a week just for the fun of it.

Something random: Ants ants ants, little tiny ants! In the bathroom – why? What are they after? And where do they come from?

Something planned: Bridge with Lance Tuesday.


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