Duke-Virginia Tech Football Game

George and I went to the Duke-Virginia Tech football game Saturday night. It was the third home game of the season, and the second night game this season. (I love a night game under the lights, especially when it's not too cold!)

After starting the season 4-0, we were hopeful for a Duke win on national TV (ESPN2). No such luck, though. With a bye this coming Saturday, I hope the team can rest up, and otherwise do what they do to get ready for the next game.

We're enjoying the location of our new season tickets, the first I've bought on my own, but I sure miss talking with Dad over the phone about the games. Love you, Dad.

Duke Graduation

Lisa, Emily, Laura, & Craig after Graduation

Duke held its graduation festivities this past weekend, so we had a fun weekend celebrating niece Laura's graduation with extended family in town! George and I enjoyed several activities around West Campus, including a reception on the Main Quad, a breakfast in part of the athletic facilities, Commencement in Wallace Wade Stadium, and Laura's Economics Department recognition ceremony in Cameron Stadium. Laura, Emily, Lisa, and Craig were even busier, but it was all great! We also enjoyed a yummy celebration dinner at Four Square!

Congratulations, Laura!

More Graduation Weekend pix here.

25th College Reunion

This past weekend, George and I attended my college reunion at Duke. 25 years, impossible! It was good to see old friends and meet some new people. We attended the class party at the Nasher Museum Friday night, and the class lunch in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday. I also did a behind-the-scenes tour of the Conservation Lab and the Digital Production Center of Duke Libraries on Friday afternoon. I wish I'd done more!


One of my favorite pictures from the weekend, shown above, is of George and me in the Schwartz-Butters Athletic Center. The Cameron Crazies are painted on one wall!

Um, Congratulations?

Folks who know me well, know I'm a big fan of the Duke University Blue Devils! This goes wayyyyy back, as my parents both graduated from Duke, where my dad attended on a football scholarship. Yes, I was a Duke football fan long before I saw a Duke basketball game. What makes this a little more unusual is that I grew up in SEC territory, where most of my friends pulled for Auburn or Alabama!

My sister followed the family tradition by attending Duke, and lo and behold, I did as well! Then, some 15 years after graduating, I returned to Duke to work. So, my Duke blue blood runs thick!

So, you can understand if I have trouble sometimes pulling for the "other team," the UNC Tarheels, the newly crowned 2009 NCAA besketball champions! UNC is Duke's biggest rival, and sometimes it can be a bitter one. But, I do have fond memories of spending time in Chapel Hill my senior year. I even got to attend the first basketball game in the Dean Dome (which happened to be against Duke)!

Truth be told, though, I think that having another great basketball team in UNC down the road helps make Duke a better team. If the rivalry shut down, I think Duke would be hard pressed to find another consistently good conference team to replace UNC in the schedule. It's like being part of a class, group, or work department where everyone is busting their butts, so you're motivated to do the same.

There's something to be said for the company you keep (or want to keep). That's why we join clubs, churches, interest groups. Joining the Galloway training group in Raleigh last year has opened up my running world, and I get a kick out of seeing the people I met there out and about in the area. They're an active bunch by the nature of it being a running group, and most of them are faster than me. Probably without knowing it, many of them inspire me to want to be a better running.

Although I didn't watch the game last night (it was halftime when I clicked on the TV, but it was bedtime for me), and in fact I haven't watched any basketball games since Duke bowed out of the tournament, I am glad that a North Carolina and ACC team won the national title--eventhough it wasn't Duke! UNC makes for good company. (Shhhh, don't tell anyone I said so!We're rivals, you know!) ;-)

The Local Running Community

Yesterday, I ran the Run for the Oaks 5K (in downtown Raleigh) in the rain! (Check out the race report here, if interested.) My performance was a bit disappointing, but the thing I took away from the race was that the online running community is alive and well in the Triangle! No kidding, I met three different online friends yesterday who saw and recognized me first, then I recognized them too. All three are from a combination of Facebook, Twitter, and/or running bloggers I follow. What fun! I also had someone comment on my race report that he was the guy who finished just in front of me in the red jacket, and asked if I was the one in the Duke t-shirt. (Yep!) I tried catching the red jacket guy for the last chunk of the race, but couldn't pull it off!

While this could border on creepy stalking, so far the online community has been a great way to follow each other through training and races in the area, and getting to see pictures of each other helps a lot!

Wearing the Duke t-shirt garnered a couple of comments, but it helped that it was ACC Basketball Tournament weekend!

Meanwhile, the new Raleigh Galloway training season is starting in a couple of months, and I'm planning to sign up again. I've discovererd that I like running alone, but the Saturday group runs offer extra motivation, good running tips, and a sense of in-person community that I miss when I'm running alone. I've enjoyed following some of the Raleigh Gallowayers on Facebook in the off-season.

Busy Weekend

Boy, we've had a busy weekend! We didn't plan for it to be so busy away from home--it's just worked out that way so far.

George and I attended the Duke-Miami football game this afternoon, and my mom took a picture of the two of us to commemorate. Duke had a really good first half, but things started going downhill after the break, and Duke lost 49-31. Oh well. One of the highlights there was getting to meet the father of Desmond Scott, a top running back in North Carolina, who plays for Hillside High School in Durham and has committed to Duke for the next school year. (Wish he could've suited up this afternoon!)


Before the game, the Duke Libraries sponsored a Home Movie Day, where people from the comminity could bring old home movies to show on a number of projectors set up in different sections of the Rare Book Room. I let Mom know about it before they came to town, and she brought 30-40 old 8mm and super 8mm reels of film to show. George and I joined her at the library, and got to see a number of the films. It brought back a lot of old memories, including vacations to North Carolina and Disney World (this is when I lived in Alabama), birthday parties, holiday celebrations, a ballet recital, Girl Scout camp, church youth group, various pets, a Japanese tea party, and family get-togethers. (And those were just the films we had time to see before the football game!) Mom got some good advice and a recommendation for someone local who will transfer the films to DVD, and I really, really hope she does it!

Last night, George and I joined his family for a spur-of-the-moment dinner in Cary, which I really enjoyed. I happened to sit next to Papa, George's grandfather, at the dinner table, and he shared with me a story about his then-girlfriend (later wife for a gazillion years until she passed away earlier this year), whom he took barnstorming in Black Mountain while they were still dating. She didn't tell him until afterward that it was her first airplane ride! That was an interesting insight into her personality.

Who is This Team?! And Where Have They Been Hiding?!

George and I spent last evening on the Duke campus, mostly in Wallace Wade Stadium, for Duke's footbal home opener against James Madision University. Duke's football program has been pretty lackluster for too many years, but with the hiring of new head coach David Cutliffe from the University of Tennessee and the University of Mississippi (between those two football programs, he coached both Manning brothers), we Duke football fans have been hopeful.

Before the game, George and I went to an employee appreciation picnic (which included free football game tickets for up to six people to encourage families to come, face painting and a few other things for kids), which had a great turnout. The food was standard picnic fare--cole slaw, potato salad, hot dogs, bar-b-que, and what I heard were veggie burgers (no more left when I got up to the front, so I had cole slaw and potato salad for supper, not the healthiest, but oh well! It was still fun!).

We also got to watch the football team's new tradition of marching from the Chapel to the football building, amidst a good crowd of fans. (We were near the football area, so I don't know what it was like between the Chapel and the area near Cameron Indoor Stadium and Wallace Wade Stadium, where we were.) They were led by Coach Cutliffe, and followed by members of the marching band and the cheerleaders. What impressed me most about this new tradition is that Cutliffe and the players were all dressed in suits and looked very classy! They were holding their shoulders high, most with big grins but a few with their game faces on already. Many shook hands with or gave high fives to fans in the front of the crowd. It looked like a team with a different attitude!

George and I ended up inside the stadium way early, but just relaxed and enjoyed watching the stadium slowly but surely fill with fans. It turned out to be one of the best crowds I've seen for a football game at Duke in a long, long time! The players came out for some pregame warm ups, and it was impressive to see everyone out there. About an hour before the game was supposed to start, two parachute jumpers landed on the football field. We were impressed, but wondered why they were jumping in the middle of warmups by both teams. It turns out that they landed in the wrong field! They were supposed to land at the UNC-McNeese St. game a few miles away--it happened to start an hour before our game (was supposed to start)! Oops! Read more about the wayward parachute jump here.

The game started about an hour and a half late due to weather, but we were relieved that it wasn't cancelled. (George and I bought ponchos to wait out the rain.) The players and football staff came through the tunnel flanked by fireworks (see left), but the big inflated football helmet they used to run through onto the field was gone. (Now that I think about it, that big helmet thing was a little cheesy!)

Here's a sampling of the home crowd--lots of Duke blue! It looked like a big crowd of ticket purchasers, in addition to the relocated student section on the west side of the stadium (about time!), and the general admission section which included all the employees who came out. They offered prizes for student living groups with the best attendance, as well as raffle prizes for grad students and employees who swiped their IDs to register.

Before the game started, Coach Cutliffe came over to the student section, I guess to thank them for coming out in such great numbers. Nice gesture. He seems to have worked on (and gotten) their support. The game finally started around 8:30, and here are the Duke and James Madison teams about to start the first play of the new season.

Duke made the first touch down of the game, was ahead at the half, and won the game 31-7! (Left is the final scoreboard.) I really enjoyed watching them play, and even George (not a sports fan in general) had a good time. They ran the ball well, started getting their passing game together, kicked very well, snagged some interceptions, and made several fourth down conversions. The total package was impressive for the Duke football program.

At the end of the game, many of the players came over in front of the student section to high five and cheer with the students. Nice, very different from many previous games of late, where the players have walked dejectedly toward the locker rooms after a loss. In the background, the goal post was brought down with long pole thingies by staff members (same with the other end). Cutliffe had asked that students not storm the field for the goal posts this time, since he wants everyone to start expecting Duke wins. Goal post hopping, he said, could wait for a bigger game.

After the victorious game, fireworks ensued.

Broken Nose News

I had my appointment yesterday afternoon, and no suprisingly, it was all about the nose. (So I didn't get to talk with him about a post-weight-loss tummy tuck or anything like that!) I'm going under general anesthesia at Duke Hospital tomorrow to have my nose reset, packed, and splinted. I was able to have my pre-op appointment by phone this morning, and I'll call this afternoon for my operating room appointment. Fun, fun!

UPDATE: My surgical appointment is at 9 tomorrow morning, not too early, not too late. This little bear needs to be there at 7 AM to check in, but considering I can't wear makeup or anything, that shouldn't be a problem. George is going to take me, and Tina's going to meet us at the hospital so relieve George so he can go to work. I'm feeling better already.

Freedom of Speech

Tonight I went to hear Karl Rove speak in Page Auditorium at Duke. Tickets were free, but they did end up "selling out." Now, my political views are a little more liberal than Karl Rove's, but still, it was fascinating to hear him talk and be in the audience, where there was clapping on both sides of the political fence, and even some demonstrators. Rove is a very intelligent man, but also gave me the impression of a spin doctor. (He knew a lot of facts and figures, which was impressive, but also...) I do think he answered many of the questions thoroughly, and handled the indoor protestors and hecklers very well, too.

The talk was moderated by Duke political science professor Peter Feaver, and he did a good job of moving things along, I thought. George's father joined me for the talk, and that was nice. I wish I'd had time to stay for more of the Q&A, but I had to rush off to a meeting in Durham. I did hear one person ask when his trial for treason would start, a reference to the Valerie Plame affair. Rove answered that if he were in the wrong, he wouldn't be sitting there on the stage.

All the way around, it was a very interesting evening, and I'm glad I went!

Duke Football

I know, I know, the words Duke and football have a much different meaning to most folks than, say, Duke and basketball. Still, I enjoy rooting for the football team as well. I've been a lifelong Duke football fan, in fact. Even before I became a Duke basketball fan, I was pulling for the football team. What's even more surprising is that I grew up in Alabama--SEC Country, close to both Auburn and the University of Alabama! The reason for this craziness is that my dad played football for Duke, so I grew up hearing football stories, and even going to some games, as my sister came to Duke, and I followed a few years later. I continue to follow the team, and usually attend at least one game a year. Part of it is that I love fall weather and an excuse to be outside, doing something social. I'm also an eternal optimist--yes, my glass is usually half full! I keep hoping things will turn around for the Duke football team, which has just one win (out of 10 games) so far this year.

Well, I was just checking this week's football rankings. Duke is #86, and this week's worthy opponent, Notre Dame (also 1-9 for the season), happens to be ranked #88! On paper, it should be a close game! Wish the game were going to be in Durham, but it'll be in South Bend. I'll be crossing my fingers!

Happy Halloween (a day late)!

Even with work and a busy evening, I had a nice Halloween! This is my second Halloween on the Rice Diet, so sweets are off limits, of course. I decided to pass on yesterday's annual library-wide Halloween lunch, which included pizza and homemade desserts this year. It sounded wonderful, but I decided to forego the temptations! Last night, though, I went to the library on East Campus to hear Reynolds Price tell his Halloween tales, and it was charming, as always! He has such a wonderful, melodious voice, and a good sense of humor, to boot.

Afterward, I stopped by to see one of my nieces, LLJ, who's a freshman at Duke, and lives near library I visited last night. We had a good visit before her night out on the town in Chapel Hill, which has a big bash on Franklin St. every Halloween. She shared a cute story from earlier yesterday! She and a friend decided to dress up as ghosts for their big Econ. lecture yesterday. They went to class early and put their bookbags in seats in the middle of the lecture hall, then slipped out to don their sheets, which they cut holes in for their eyes and mouth. Only catch was, they accidentally bought bottom sheets, so the bottoms of their sheets were curling under and poofy! They glided back into the lecture hall just as the class was about to start, now with a full room of people! Now, with their sheets on, no one knew who they were, but with the sheet bottoms acting as they do sometimes, elastic and all, they kept getting hung up on chairs and knees and stuff as they made their way to their seats. Afterward, LLJ says, other friends from the class were saying, "Who were those two people dressed up as ghosts?" LLJ and her friend shrugged their shoulders, "I don't know!" Cute!

I didn't get home until after 8:00, and we didn't have any trick-or-treaters, but I didn't expect any, really. I didn't even buy any candy.

How did YOU celebrate Halloween?!

Well-Rounded Week

This has been a busy week, and it's only Thursday! I've had two meetings-both ERUUF-related but different. I had a paper due for my computer class at Wake Tech, which had me awake past midnigt the past two nights, but it's DONE! On Tuesday, I got to visit with LH, a former co-worker from my Wake Forest days. Her husband was having surgery at Duke Hospital, so I was able to walk over and visit with her while she waited. It was really good to visit with her!

Today I had lunch with JC, an former intern in our department last spring and summer. She's in library science school, and is interning in the Reference Dept. at Duke now, in addition to continuing her degree at UNC. It was fun talking with her about a variety of things, including school, the GRE, and apartment living.

This afternoon I made an appointment to talk with a TIAA-CREF rep next week about my retirement fund allocations. Since most of my retirement funds are with TIAA-CREF now, I need some advice, perhaps some reassurance, about how things are set up right now. My retirement has really been on my mind lately, so I was glad to see the opportunity to talk with someone, even if the rep is going to be a little biased toward his company!

I must admit, I'm feeling pretty wiped out. My exercise sessions have gotten shorter as I've gotten more tired. I feel low on energy, but am fighting the urge to succomb to caffeine. Tonight, I'll go to bed early.

Move-in Day!

I just got back from East Campus, where I saw my niece getting settled into her dorm room for her first year at Duke! She's looking so cute! I'm very excited for her, and hope she really enjoys herself at Duke. Her roommate seems very nice, and when I left, they were still busy getting their room squared away. The whole family was there--Craig and Lisa, of course, and Emily just flew in on the red-eye from San Fran, Mom and Dad, and George was even able to come by, since he had the day off from work.

Duke news

The remaining allegations against the former Duke lacrosse players were dropped yesterday...at least that's when the news broke. I'm relieved that the main issues have been resolved, but damage has already been done. The boys' lives have certainly been changed forever, that's for sure. Allegations aside, I do think they used poor judgement by having the party with the underage drinking and the stripper, and the repurcussions of their actions have had ripple effects across the university as well as the city. I hope some good things come from this in the long run.

The news trucks are back on campus, though not as many as this time last year, and just in time for Reunion Weekend (again). Speaking of which, I hope to see cousin Cynthia sometime over the course of the next week.

Weekend update

Saturday afternoon, George and I went on a walk around the cross country trail, led by a lady at our church. It was part of a fundraising auction at our church, and this was something George bid on for the both of us. It was a beautiful afternoon for the three-mile walk, and it was a treat to get outside and meet some fellow church members.

Saturday night we went to the Starlite Drive-in to see "Ghost Rider." The movie was okay, normally not my kind of movie, but kinda fun to see at the drive-in!

Yesterday I took it easy, and watched a portion of two Duke basketball games on TV, which was relaxing and fun (especially since Duke won both of them!). The women's team is undefeated, which is quite an accomplishment.

Sense of Community

I've been thinking a lot lately about community, and how I fit into different communities. It's more about just fitting in here in Durham, but in different areas of my life as well.

Some things, like my church, Eno River Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, have been pretty easy to become a part of. There are many opportunities to get involved, and the people there are open and friendly. Other things, like my Junior League group, have been a little harder for me to break into. I have some acquaintances, but no one I talk to outside of meetings. Every meeting or event I go to, I try to meet someone new, or talk with someone I've met a little more.

I'm still a Mary Kay consultant, though I haven't done much with it lately. I love the makeup and skin care, so I plan to keep up with it so when I'm ready to become more involved with it, it will be there. I do miss going to the weekly meetings, but the adopted director's meeting I attend is a good 20 minute drive each way, in addition to the two-hour meeting on a weeknight, so that's something to consider.

I'm also the moderator for a Yahoo Group called Triangle Friends, which is a "job" I inherited about 4.5 years ago, when the previous moderator bowed out and appointed me. It become a group of one (me!) and is now 600+ members strong. The activity on the group board has dwindled, and it's been close to a year since I've had time to organize any events. Attendance had been a little spotty, but I have met some interesting people along the way through this group. I've been trying to decide how much time and energy I want to spend on it. It would be nice to get it going again, I think.

Of course, there's my work at Duke, which I enjoy, and I'm feeling more and more a part of the community there. Our department will be moving next year, and I was glad to be put on the worklife committee for that move, since I am concerned about things like community.

Update

I ran in the Reindeer Romp 5K in Cary, NC, yesterday. Although I didn't improve my time like I'd hoped, I finished in about 52 minutes, not bad for me. It was a fun race, and my buddy Stephanie ran with me, which made it even more fun! It was a beautiful morning, to boot.

My niece, Laura, found out on Thursday that she got into Duke! I'm so excited for her! Looking forward to seeing her more, too.

Back to work

I'm back at work today, with much to do! I guess that's the price I pay for being on vacation for a few days!

Thanksgiving Day was good. George joined me for lunch at the Rice House, then we went to visit his family in Cary.

Saturday, we went to the Duke-UNC football game, which Duke lost by 1 point! The final score, 45-44.

I tried some different approaches to exercise while on vacation, mostly walking in different locations. It was refreshing to get outside later in the week and get a change of scenery while exercising. I enjoyed being back in the gym this morning at my usual time, and that let me know that the change of routine was good for me.

Weekend

Had a pretty busy weekend, but a pretty good one. Saturday, George and I went to visit Papa and Bubby, and ended up having dinner with them. (Bubby cooked yummy salmon!) We dropped by to see Tina and Barry before going home.

Last night, I went to the Duke-Columbia basketball game, Duke's first of the season. They played well, and won pretty handily. It was fun to see the young Duke team in action!

I may some progress on cleaning my place, but didn't get as much reading done as I'd hoped.

Cross country trail

Yesterday after dinner at the Rice House, I walked on the Duke Cross Country Trail for half an hour. It's soooo pretty there, lots of trees, a creek, and woodland sounds. It's a 5K trail in Duke Forest, which also goes by part of the Duke Golf Course at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club. I'm looking forward to being able to run the whole thing. There are some good hills on the course, a great workout and training for 5K and 10K road races.