Celebrating 100 Years

Papa Saying a Few Words

Last night, friends and family of George's grandfather gathered at Rey's in Cary, NC, to celebrate George's grandfather's 100th birthday! It was quite a dinner party, with great music and yummy food! I saw a number of people I'd met before, but also met a number of new people. I was impressed by how many people Papa has met from various places. There was a great energy in the restaurant all evening!

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.

The End of a Short Vacation

I head back to work tomorrow after taking last Thursday and Friday off of work with George. We didn't do as much as we'd planned, but it was still a nice break.

Thursday morning I decided to get my 10-mile run in while George had an appointment in Cary. I went to Shelley Lake for the run, and ran into Donna, another Galloway groupie. It was fun to run into a running acquaintance by accident, and it was a good run, to boot.

Thursday afternoon, I joined George, his brother, and his dad for lunch at The Food Factory in Cary. I hadn't been to the Food Factory before, and enjoyed a veggie wrap.

Friday, George and I drove up to Person County to have lunch at Clarksville Station and explore Roxboro. I blogged about the excursion on my North Carolina Odyssey Project blog, where I'm keeping track of my journey through all one hundred counties in North Carolina. My Person County post is here. Friday evening, we joined George's family for Shabbat dinner.

Yesterday morning, I enjoyed puttering around while the rain and wind from Tropical Storm Hanna blew through. (I love storms, as long as they aren't harmful!) Last night we celebrated a couple of family birthdays with George's family at Bonefish Grill in Cary. Little Talia turns 3 tomorrow, so it was fun to see her really enjoy getting birthday presents this year.

I've been having trouble with my red iPod Nano lately...the screen keeps going white. I've rebooted each time, but it's gotten harder and harder to get the index screen of songs and podcasts to show up. So, I decided I'd had enough of it this afternoon. I looked online and ordered a black 3rd generation Nano from Circuit City's website, and opted to pick it up from the nearest store with one in stock. I headed off to Cary (lots of time in Cary this weekend!), and came back with a brand new iPod! I've had fun figuring out how to fill it this evening. I think I've got what I need from the old iPod on it (it's still charging, so I haven't plugged the earbuds in yet).

Happy Mother's Day!

Late this afternoon, we met up with my parents, and joined George's family (which included his grandfather, parents, Henry, Phil & Heather plus their two children, and Elaine) at MacGregor Downs Country Club in Cary for the buffet dinner. The food was yummy and the company even better! Afterward, we went by Pappa's home for drinks and more conversation. It was such a nice time! My family and George's haven't had much interaction, so I'm glad it went so well.

Mom and Dad also got to meet Pappa's helper, Thomas, who is from Zimbabwe. Mom and Dad visited Zimbabwe eight years ago, so they all enjoyed talking about the country.

An Afternoon in Raleigh

Yesterday, George and I had Sunday brunch at Irregardless Cafe, a restaurant in Raleigh. I had a yummy garden (i.e. veggie, including tomatoes and avocados) frittata, and George had the chef salad. It was the first time we'd been there, and I really enjoyed it. It's colorfully decorated, and had live music. From there, we went to see the musical "Spamalot," which won the 2005 Emmy for best musical. The tickets were an anniversary present for George, who grew up on Monty Python. I did not, but we both enjoyed the show a lot! We saw friends Melissa and Robert there, to boot.

Afterward, we drove home and had a few minutes to power down before heading back to Wake County, where we celebrated Passover with George's family in Cary, a neighboring city of Raleigh. It was good to be with everyone, and I especially enjoyed talking with George's 14-year-old cousin, Jake. I first met Jake when he was every bit a 9-year-old boy. For the first time, we found a common interest in running, as he's joined his school's track team, and plans to run the Peachtree Road Race with his father this summer. It was nice to finally be able to talk with him about something besides his school. ("What grade are you in this year? What's your favorite subject?")

After being home sick since Thursday, it was nice to be around people, but there wasn't much down time, and I returned to work today a little worn out. It's been an especially long afternoon, and George and I have a covenant group meeting tonight. *sigh*

Back into the Race

I had fun running (and walking) the Cary Road Race 5K this past Saturday! My race report is here.

Out and About

Today has been a busy day! George and I went to get our taxes done at H & R Block, and our appointment was delayed, so we tried a new (for us) restaurant in Cary for lunch, the Tangerine Cafe. I enjoyed the Organic Salad, and followed it with the Thai Vegetable Curry. Both were very tasty!

After our tax appointments, we drove back to Durham, and stopped by Panera Bread to read and relax before attending a surprise birthday party for our minister at ERUUF. It was a big birthday for him, so it was fun to share in the celebration. I'd had a yummy banana pecan bagel at Panera, so I wasn't tempted by the birthday cake. I did have a lot of folks ask about my nose and offer sympathy. One of the most interesting conversations I had was with a little boy and his mother. I noticed the little boy (maybe 3-4) looking at me and asking his mother something. She replied, "Well, let's go ask her." So they came over, and she said that her son wanted to know what happened to my nose. I explained it all in a matter of fact, but non-technical way, that I'd tripped and broken my nose, that it was much better, but that the doctor wanted me to keep the bandage on for a few more days to protect it while it finished healing. It turns out that the mom had sinus surgery about 10 years ago, so we commiserated about the nose packing, which was irritating at best, and a bear when the nurses pulled the stuff out last Monday. I was glad that the mom encouraged her son by modeling how to ask nicely and compassionately "what's wrong."

From the birthday celebration, we drove back to Cary, and hung out for a little while at another Panera (no bagels this time), while we waited to join George's mother, brother, and grandfather at Lucky 32. I first enjoyed Lucky 32 in Greensboro, and this was my second time to enjoy the Cary location. This time I had the mixed greens salad and black bean cakes with star pasta and green beans, all yummy! Unfortunately, I couldn't even start on the last black bean cake, as I'd eaten so much all day.

Tomorrow, I'm treating George for Easter brunch/lunch (though I haven't told him where yet--it's a surprise!), and then it's back on track with the diet!

Explorations Over Vacation

I enjoyed having some time to explore my new apartment surroundings while on vacation last week. There are some convenient things nearby, but some of my "comfort zone" places are still a hike, which is something I'm still getting used to.

Although not exactly nearby, I drove to Cary to scope out the new Trader Joe's there. Although it's not where I'd be able to take care of all my shopping needs, it's got some unique goodies. I bought a couple of tubes of honey mango shaving cream that smells yummy!

I've rediscovered books on tape (ok, CD) with my added commute, and now I look forward to getting into the car. What a great invention!

Still hanging in there

So far, being insulin-free is going well! My blood sugars have ranged from 89 to 101, falling pretty close to normal. As I continue to lose weight, those numbers should improve. I'm amazed at how the Rice Diet and exercise have trasnformed my diabetes! And I'm thrilled to be free of injections for now. I'm glad to know I can self-inject when needed, but I really appreciate being able to take a break from it. I won't be taking my health for granted any time soon!

The official results from Saturday's Autism Ribbon Run were posted, and my gun time was 50:42, though my chip time was 50:09. I put myself near the back of the pack, as I know I'd get off to a slower start than most. The chip time started when I actually crossed the starting line., where the gun time started when the race started. My pace per mile was 16 minutes, 19 seconds.

The race was a pretty fun experience, and I'll likely run it again. The weather was great, and I liked the finish line, which was a decline for the last bit. There was a sign that read, 1/4 MILE TO GO. When I saw that, I noticed I could see the finish line ahead, and I was able to finish in a trot. :-) Timmy the Termidor Bug, about 6 feet of fur, was there at the finish line to give me a high five. LOL

I did miss hearing split times at the mile markers, especially since I didn't wear a watch. (Next time, I'll try to remember to wear one.)

My time in this 5K was 6 minutes faster than my last 5K back in April. Yay! Now I want to look for another 5K to work toward.

Thursday, I'm joining George's family at a favorite restaurant in Cary, NC, Bistro 64, formerly the Cosmopolitan. When I received the news from George about the family gathering, I was concerned that I might not be able to go because of my Rice Diet. I found the chef's address on the website, and emailed him yesterday about my dilemma. We've exchanged a couple of emails now, and he's been very accomodating! He's going to whip up some salmon, steamed vegetables and plain potatoes. I'm looking forward to seeing George's family and enjoying a meal out with them.