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Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: The smell and feel of clean sheets.

Something i am struggling with: A little bit of loneliness.

Something tasty: A hot biscuit with butter and jam.

Something i learned: Sometimes it pays to get to the end of a difficult novel (i refer to Special Topics in Calamity Physics, post forthcoming).

Something i am reading: MockingJay, by Suzanne Collins

Something happening around the house: It’s empty since Lance left Friday.  Me and the dog are just hanging out.

Something i am thinking: Change for the sake of change is not productive.

Something i am looking forward to: The beach! The beach!

Something i am hoping: For the quick arrival of something resembling fall weather.

Something random: After i finish this post, i am going to take out the trash because it smells.

Something planned: A trip to the beach!  The beach!

Something captured: Picasso. From the NC Museum of Art.

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: The feeling of being organized.

Something i am struggling with: Making food at home and keeping healthy snacks stocked.  I find myself eating out a lot lately.

Something tasty: Home-made strawberry smoothies.

Something i learned: Lots of interesting things at the Natural Science Museum downtown.

Something i am reading: Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl.

Something happening around the house: Today i took my first real nap in a long time.  One minute i was reading, and then i was asleep.  It was kind of nice.  I’m not usually one who can fall asleep in the middle of the day.

Something i am looking forward to: Lance is leaving for a week in Ohio.  I have mixed feelings about it.  I’ll miss him of course, but part of me is looking forward to having the house to myself.

Something i am hoping: That the new HBO series Game of Thrones will be as good as i want it to be.  I just finished a reread of the four existing books in the series, and even though i already know how the story goes, i was still riveted, ignoring Lance at Nugent at times so i could read some more.  I am enchanted by the books, and as much as i want to see them come to life on screen, i can’t quite imagine how they’ll capture its essence.  But i hope they can.  It will premier in the spring.

Something random: I purchased an iPod Touch as an impulse purchase from someone at work.

Something captured: Here we are at the science museum, dinosaur skeleton in the background.

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: A nice hug.

Something i am struggling with: I did battle with a huge cicada on the porch last night.

Something tasty: Fancy milkshakes (mint chocolate chip) from Cook-out.

Something i am reading: A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Margin

Something happening around the house: The minor repairs on the house are still being done - a few boards of new siding, new shutters, a few new shingles.  We also attacked the weeds that have been threatening the nice new landscaping and made a huge dent in them.  It feels good.

Something i am looking forward to: Wearing the new clothes we bought at the outlet mall today.

Something i am hoping: At work i’ve been asked to write up an account of our experiment about office temperatures, which will be posted on the external company blog, so i’m hoping i do well with that and mostly that i don’t sound like an idiot.

Something random: After a month of horrible scraped rounds near our house, the powers that be finally repaved Millbrook Rd.  It’s so nice and smooth now.

Something captured: This is me posing with the Filet-O-Fish that was given to me by Lance’s dad as a birthday present.  It sings.  And moves!  The bass-based gifts will never end, i fear.  I’ve been told that it was expected that this fish would be featured on the blog, so here it is.  Happy Birthday, Dad!

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Memory books.  The process of creating them gives me immense satisfaction, and looking back through them years later gives me joy.

Something i am struggling with: Motivation to make food at home.

Something tasty: Gallo pinto - Lance’s mom brought a fabulous recipe back from her trip to Costa Rica, and she made it from scratch.  Holy moly, that was some good stuff.

Something i learned: In Costa Rica, they serve gallo pinto with just about every meal.

Something from the bridge table: I wrote up my new favorite convention - Reverse Flannery

Some things i am doing towards my goals: I think i just decided to register for the Outer Banks Half Marathon again this year.  It’s about time to start running again.

Something i am reading: A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin

Something happening around the house: A friend came over to our house to fix something minor.  He then proceeded to point out a whole slew of things we needed to do to fix the house, and volunteered to be the one to do it.  I am so glad we have friends like this - we have no idea ourselves how to tell whether a fence needs to be replaced or if it just needs painted.

Something i am thinking: White lies versus outright lies versus broken promises.

Something i am looking forward to: Trying the Costa Rican coffee that Mom brought back for us.

Something i am hoping: That the battle with Lance’s car and getting it inspected will be over this week.  We took it to a Saab specialist and they still weren’t able to inspect it.  Grr.

Something random: Went to the NC Museum of Art Saturday morning; i hope to post a pictures or two soon.

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Home-ground and home-brewed coffee.

Something i am struggling with:  Getting pictures from NOLA organized and uploaded.

Something tasty: New Orleans Jambalaya.  I think we could figure out how to make it ourselves.  Yum.

Something from the bridge table: There were so many interesting hands from last week.  I don’t know why, but nearly every single hand seemed fun and challenging.  Then we went to the local club and it was just ho-hum.  Weird.  Anyway, i’m in the process of writing up some hands - look for them on my bridge tab in a day or two.

Something i am reading: A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin

Something happening around the house: We made laundry detergent again yesterday, which is a good thing since we were out.  Now we can wash all the clothes we wore during our week in NOLA.

Something i am thinking: Moving out of an apartment you have shared with your boyfriend for 2 years because “you don’t want to live together before you get married” seems pretty dumb to me.

Something i am looking forward to: I’m helping run a rather cool experiment at work.  We’re measuring the temperatures in the offices on our floor.  We used our software to design the experiment, we’ve got volunteers from the entire department helping take measurements, we’ll use our software to map the results and then analyze the numbers.  I think my office is one of the coldest, but we’ll see what the model tells us.

Something i am hoping: That Lance’s parents have a safe trip to see us this weekend.  We’re looking forward to a visit to the NC Museum of Art, a bridge party, a Durham Bulls game and good company.

Something random: Despicable Me was a wonderful movie.  Although i don’t think i care much for the 3D aspect of it.  Yeah, it was kind of cool i suppose.  But especially in the 3D previews, it seemed the only thing they really did with it was to pop the words out at you, which just hurt my head.  It was a great movie; the 3D aspect just didn’t add much.

Something captured: District 7’s GNT representatives.

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Vacation!

Something i am struggling with: Just a few things i really want to get finished with at work before i leave for a week.

Something tasty: Chubby’s Tacos.  But boy is it crowded at lunchtime.

Something i learned: Closing my office door serves as a pretty solid deterrent to distractions.  It’s not uncommon for my day to be interrupted half a dozen times or more by someone coming by to talk about random stuff.  Sometimes it’s hard to get back into the groove, and i can’t really afford to waste time this week.  So, the door has been shut most of the time, and for the most part i’ve been left alone.

Something from the bridge table: We played a 24-board match online against the infamous Gerard, he of God of the Machine fame.  This will probably mean nothing if you haven’t heard of him, but he has an entire website dedicated to analyzing his play.  It was awesome.

Some things i am doing towards my goals: I decided i want to keep track of the books i read.  Nothing fancy, but i went back through my blog and came up with this list, which i’ll add to ad i go along.

Something i am reading: I’ve read several books this week, but right now i’m working on Stephanie Meyer’s The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.

Something happening around the house: BridgeBase Online, practicing up for the tournament.

Something i am thinking: Lately, especially since canceling cable, i have gotten used to not watching any advertising that i don’t volunteer for (and about the only kind i did volunteer for were the movie trailers in the theater).  Lately, i’ve noticed a trend with rented DVDs - they force you to watch trailers and advertising before you can get to the DVD main menu.  It’s pretty annoying.

Something i am looking forward to: New Orleans!  Commander’s Palace!  Bourbon Street!  Cafe Dumond!  The bayou!

Something i am hoping: For safe travels.  And for early victories.  And to still be in the GNT event on my birthday (Saturday, day four of five).

Something random: Is the name “Audrey” really so little-known as to be un-spellable?  I’ve been to a lot of restaurants this week where they ask for your name when they take your order.  No one has gotten it right.

Something captured: Some cute kids hiding from the rain at the Durham Bulls game Friday night.

thers writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Shirtless werewolves.

Something i am struggling with: Despite family issues, i realized as i drove away from Asheville how much i miss being around my family members.

Something tasty: Snacks you’ve smuggled into the movie theater always taste a little better.

Something i learned: Nathan taught me a little of how to solve the Rubik’s cube, though i have my work cut out for me to really “learn” it.

Something i am reading: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  Love it.

Something happening around the house: Perhaps the largest pile of laundry we’ve ever seen is being slowly diminished.

Something i am thinking: I spent some time during my drive back to Raleigh thinking about what i would do if i won the lottery.  Which of course i’ve never even bought a ticket for, so it’s a silly exercise.

Something i am looking forward to: I’ll spend some time this week researching possible side trips and excursions that we might embark on while we’re in New Orleans.

Something i am hoping: That Adam forgives me for calling the day after his birthday.

Something random: I have a dentist appointment this week.

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: A long weekend with nothing planned - ample time to relax and reload.

Something i am struggling with: Weeds, weeds everywhere.

Something tasty: I think i finally perfected my mom’s vegetable soup.

Something i learned: Dryer sheets work pretty well as insect repellent.

Something i am reading: Self-Made Man: One Woman’s Journey into Manhood and Back, by Norah Vincent

Something happening around the house: We’re searching for the cosmic jewels in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Something i am thinking: It’s rather amazing how my body responds to healthy food.  The past few days we’ve made more of an effort, and Lance and i both have more energy.

Something i am looking forward to: I’m going to see Nathan and Heather this weekend for a vampire weekend.  Heather and i have bonded over a crush on Jacob Black, and we’re excited to see Eclipse this weekend.  It has unfortunately gotten bad ratings (so did the first two Twilight movies), but i don’t care. 

Something i am hoping: I’m feeling a time crunch at work, and i hope to have a productive two weeks before i take a week off.

Something random: Lance’s car needs to be inspected.  The auto shop did some work on his car a month or so ago, and said the computer in the car needed to reset itself before they could inspect it.  He’s taken it back twice since then and the computer still hasn’t reset itself.  What’s the deal?

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Being in the middle of a good book that you just can’t wait to get back to.

Something i am struggling with: General fatigue and overloaded-ness.

Something i am reading: The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

Something happening around the house: This weekend we played bridge during the day and got stars in Super Mario Galaxy 2 in the evenings.

Something i am thinking: Bridge is dying.  I just heard that ESPN approached the ACBL (bridge’s main governing body) and asked if there was any way they could put bridge on television.  [Look at what being on TV did for the game of poker!]  But the ACBL said “Nah, forget about it.”  ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Something i am looking forward to: A semi-slow week and a 3-day weekend!

Something random: I want to see the movie Babies!

Others writing the Sunday Somethings: Kerry

Something that makes me happy: Playing bridge with Lance on Saturday mornings at the Triangle Bridge Club.

Something i am struggling with: I’m studying strip-squeezes, a bridge play technique.  They are immensely cool, but i’m despairing of ever actually recognizing one in real play.

Something tasty: Coffee made at home.  We went for a week without it, and no one else’s coffee is quite the same.  It’s often too strong, and always too hot.  Why do they need the water to be 150 degrees or whatever it is?  When it comes out of my own coffee pot, i can drink it without burning my tongue.

Something i learned: WD-40 really is magic.

Something from the bridge table: A couple of hands from the recent regional tournament are written up on the bridge tab.

Something i am reading: Geek Love by Katherine Dunn.

Something happening around the house: Raleigh is hosting another sectional tournament this coming weekend, so i’ve been doing my thing making a few goodies to bring and share.  I like making food for the tournament because i always make things that i rarely make on my own,

Something i am thinking: I heard an amusing segment on NPR about the rearrangement of the major football conferences.  It seems somehow wrong that the schools are making shittons of money off of these kids, who don’t see any of it.  I guess it comes back in the way of NFL contracts for some of them, but plenty of them won’t make it professionally.

Something i am looking forward to: More bridge this weekend at the Raleigh sectional.

Something random: We took Nugent for a walk at Lake Lynn yesterday.  On the far side of the lake there’s a long bridge under which turtles congregate.  We fed a few of them some bread, and once word got out that there was food being doled out, all sorts of turtles, big and small, started heading our way.  I counted 30 turtles at one point.  The fun part was trying to drop the bread bits where the turtles could snatch them before the ducks stole the loot.

Something captured: I just haven’t gotten my camera out recently.