A Visit to Earth Fare

Yesterday I visited Earth Fare, which bills itself as a "healthy supermarket." There's a store in nearby Brier Creek, so I was eager to see how it compared to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, which I've been to recently. I found a few goodies at Earth Fare, including some Westbrae Natural Stoneground Mustard with no salt added (woohoo!) and some Eden's Organic Beans (with no salt added) in cans, and a book called The Runner's Yoga Book, which I'm going to order online. But all in all, I found Earth Fare's prices to be more expensive (especially compared to Trader Joe's), and the staff not as friendly as at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

Trip to Trader Joe's

I visited the new Trader Joe's in Chapel Hill for the first time this evening, and had a fun time! I got some produce, including brussel sprouts and red peppers, two of my faves of late. I was happy to find some no-sodium whole wheat bread (haven't tasted it yet), some low-sodium marinara sauce, and Diet Hansen's soft drinks! Hansen's, like Diet Rite sodas, don't have any sodium, as well as the usual 0 calories, and they come in lots of flavors. I've got some diet ginger ale cooling in the refrigerator. :-)

The only thing that surprised me was that I didn't see any regular brown rice! I saw brown jasmine, brown basmati, and various medleys, as well as white, but couldn't spot a big bag of brown rice! Perhaps I'll ask an employee next time.

I do think the Cary store is bigger, so it may have more options. The time I visited that store, while I was still eating at the Rice Diet Program, I bought some shaving cream that was yummy! I looked for the shaving cream at the Chapel Hill store last night, but didn't see any.

Heading to Physical Therapy

I went to the orthopaedist at the sports medicine clinic today, and she prescribed four physical therapy sessions and return visit to her in six weeks to check on the groin strain. I'm looking forward to the PT sessions, which I start next week. I was told I need to work on becoming more flexible, which is a good thing overall. I wonder if I should look into yoga. Suggestions, anyone?

Lone Star

This evening I treated my mom to a birthday dinner, along with my dad and George, at the new Lone Star Steak House in Durham. I think it was a restaurant my dad want to go to mostly. ;-) I was a little concerned about what I could have for supper at a steak house, when health issues have steered me to a vegetarian diet in the past year and a half, but I don't want to be one of those vegetarians who's hard to cook for and/or go out to eat with. So I agreed and decided to make the best of it. I checked out the menu online ahead of time, and that helped. Also, we got to the restaurant before my parents, so I was able to ask the server about the salmon dish and the salads to find out how I could make the best pick for me. I ended up with a decent salad without bacon or croutons (but with tomatoes, mushrooms, and some cheese), oil and vinegar, and a plain baked sweet potato with cinnamon--my favorite part of the meal!

When they seated George and me at the table, they left us with a couple of metal buckets, one with peanuts in their shells, and the other one empty, for the empty peanut shells. I did have a few peanuts, but was able to stop with room to spare. The server brought bread with the meal, but I barely noticed it, a non-issue tonight. I was too excited about the baked sweet potato!

Interesting Week to be a Vegetarian

Since I left the Rice House, I've stayed the course on being a vegetarian, with the exception of salmon on Valentine's Day...at least until this week! I have been lulled into the complacency of thinking the healthy veggie options were everywhere, and that this would be easy! But not so much...

Our department had our belated holiday party at a local barbeque restaurant, one that's been around for decades. I remember going there with my family when we visited Durham in the 1970s, and it's still around, in the same location, even. Anyway, the gathering of people was lots of fun, but our family style eating options were not exactly healthy. On our menu: bbq, brunswick stew, hush puppies, french fries, green beans and cole slaw. I had seconds on the green beans and cole slaw, though I could taste the salt and sugar in each respective dish. I also had a taste of the barbeque and brunswick stew to see if I missed meat, and I discovered that I don't, really. It didn't taste bad--in fact I remembered why I used to love bbq, but I don't miss it now. Not a craving anymore. In fact, my stomach was a little unsettled for the rest of the afternoon, so I'm really not missing it! But, I did enjoy being away from campus for lunch, and the company was great, so I'm glad I went.

Last night, I went to the local Dream Dinners for a "Sneak Peak" promotion offered by our employee health program. As part of the deal, I got to prepare and bring home a 3-serving entry to be cooked at home. I'd heard of Dream Dinners, but never been in one, so I decided to check it out. I used MapQuest to get directions, which took me a back way, not on the interstate, and I was glad to learn a new way to that area, which was good.

When I got there, the local DD owner and a dietician from the employee health program were there to explain things. It all seems like a great idea for busy people, especially busy people with families. There were three freebie entree options to choose from last night, all three of them meat! I decided to be a good sport while I was there and put together the honey and herb grilled chicken breasts. I went to the station, where they had three frozen chicken breasts in a plastic ziplock already, and I followed the instructions on the sign for putting in the various spices and toppings to get it "cooking ready." This included non-fat buttermilk (which I passed on, very high in sodium), honey, mustard, and a variety of spices. They provided the recipe for cooking it on a sticker that's on the front of the bag in the picture to the right. It was fun enough to put it all together and bring home, but it's chicken, and I haven't ventured down the chicken road yet. I'm not sure I want to yet, so I stopped by the grocery store and got some things to make a whole wheat veggie pasta salad, which turned out very well! I didn't use a recipe this time, just picked up some fresh veggies (squash, zucchini, red peppers and cherry tomatoes) to steam and add to the whole wheat penne pasta I already had at home. I threw in some olive oil, shredded swiss cheese, and Mrs. Dash on the flip side. 30 minutes start to finish, and yum! The thing I learned from last night is that I'm having fun putting my own ingredients together and cooking.

Lunar Eclipse!

I just stepped out of my apartment to see a great view of the lunar eclipse! I've always been fascinated by astronomy, so I dig things like this.


(Image not mine, found on the internet.)

First Race Casualty

It looks like I'm going to have to ditch Saturday's 4 mile road race! &^+.}^!!(*&@! I've done a little internet diagnosis and seem to have a groin pull as a result of a long(er than I'm used to) 5-mile run/walk with a group on a Saturday, followed the next day by a hard-run 5k road race (which I ran in 35:30, a new PR for me!). That muscle area hasn't been the same since. I tried running again on the treadmill a couple days ago, and didn't make it but a couple of minutes.

So....I'm back on the elliptical machine, which doesn't cause me pain like running does, and have an appointment with a sports medicine doctor next Tuesday. (What kind of "-ist" is a sports medicine doctor--anyone know?) I'd hoped for a quicker appointment, but that was the earliest available in the local group of sports medicine doctors), and the soonest I could see my regular doctor is the day before, on Monday, as she's out of town. *sigh* I can WALK, it's just not comfortable, and if I've been sitting down for a while and need to get up and walk, ouch, ouch, ouch!

I'm trying not to be a baby about this and take advantage of cross training, but I am sticking my bottom lip out a little. I'm also avoiding my running podcasts for some reason. Could I be jealous of the podcasters because they're getting to run while I'm sidelined? Hmmm, not sure if that's totally it. Maybe I'm just being cranky, not being able to get in to see a doctor, not knowing what I can do to get well yet. Well, I do know from the internet to rest (okay, so I'm being a little impatient there), and use ice (gee, that's a little tough in that area). I am looking forward to hearing from a real person how I should proceed to get well and stronger for running.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Last night I cooked for George for Valentine's Day, and it turned out quite well! I went shopping at Whole Foods, where I ran into a coworker from the library, which as fun. I picked up some salmon and fresh brussel sprouts to go with the brown rice I already had at home. (While I was there, I also picked up some brown basmati rice to try, and some whole wheat pasta for a pasta salad.) I added some dill, onion powder, and olive oil to the salmon, and cooked it for about 23 minutes. I steamed the brussel sprouts (which George had never tried(!), but liked) on top of the rice cooker while cooking the brown rice, a first for me. It all turned out quite well...I don't think I'd change a thing!

I did miss having bread, and something sweet for dessert, but that's just old habit coming out. I was plenty full!

Smells Like Eggs and Bacon!

When George got up this morning and came into the kitchen, he said, "Something smells like eggs and bacon!" I think it was wishful thinking on his part! I was in the kitchen, but emptying the dishwasher while pinto beans cooked on the stove. So much for eggs and bacon! Not exactly on my diet! ;-)

Getting Ready

I'm getting ready to run another 5K race this afternoon, this one in Raleigh. 2PM start times are unusual on the 5K circuit, but I don't mind, being a pretty nippy morning. I'm a little out of sorts, though, changing my eating schedule a bit. I need to be fueled, but don't want to have to make a pit stip in the middle of the race. (There usually aren't any pit stops in the middle of a 3.1 mile race, which is part of the problem!

Yesterday afternoon I went to Cary to pick up my race packet at the sporting goods store that's one of the sponsors of the race. While I was there, I bought some high-tech running socks that are supposed to keep your feet dryer, as well as some gloves, which are supposed to keep your hands warmer! (I just noticed that my toes got in the lower right corner of the pictures! Oops!)

Inside the race packet/bag were several info sheets for upcoming races, was well as my bib number and the race t-shirt, which is long sleeved-yay! It's a pretty cute t-shirt.

I'm excited about today's race, but wish I hadn't gone 5 miles with the new group yesterday. I am sore! It was such a nice morning in a new setting for me (Shelley Lake in Raleigh), and it was fun to meet some nice "new" people to run with, that I just couldn't bring myself to turn around at the 2 mile point to make it a 4-mile run (which would've been MORE than enough for the day before a race)! Oh well, I'm going to take a hot bath (and some more ibuprofen) this morning, and make the best of the afternoon race.

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things You Can Do Instead of Watching TV

1) Cuddle up with George :)
2) Play Scrabulous
3) Update one of my blogs
4) Read a book
5) Take a bubble bath
6) Go to the gym or run outside
7) Look for some new recipes for upcoming meals
8) Work on my family tree
9) Call a friend or family member
10) Plan a games night at our apartment

What's on YOUR list?!

The Things You Learn...

When I went grocery shopping over the weekend, I learned that the handy "ready rice" 2 cup packs of Uncle Ben's brown rice, which take 90 seconds to cook in the microwave, cost the same (at Food Lion, anyway) price as a 2-lb. bag of Comet long grain brown rice (with many servings) for the rice cooker (or stovetop, I guess). This shouldn't be so surprising, I guess. We pay for convenience, don't we?!

I also discovered this weekend that rice cooked in the morning in the rice cooker and kept on the warm setting until dinner doesn't taste so good, at least in the Cuisinart rice cooker I'm using right now. Otherwise, it's working well. I'm looking forward to trying out the other rice cooker soon!

Don't Let This Happen to You

Some of you know that one of my favorite hobbies is genealogy. I've been researching my family tree for over 15 years, and it's been a fun and fascinating journey. Several of my lines settled in North Carolina, some in Wilkes County and the surrounding area, and others in Sampson County and the surrounding counties. I've been fortunate to live in the middle of the state for a number of years, so I've been able to take numerous research trips to local libraries, courthouses, and cemeteries, as well as to the State Archives and State Library in Raleigh. I've also met several cousins I first met online, and have been included in an annual reunion in Sampson County, which has been fun.

Computers and the internet have really expanded my ability to search for and organize my family tree. I've tried several genealogy software programs, and my current favorite is one called RootsMagic. I've had a lot of success lately with a website called Rootsweb.com, which has a section called WorldConnect, where people can submit their family trees to share with others. The quality of submitted research varies, so I consider shared research as nice leads, and it's up to me to verify the information as I see fit.


Well, a few weeks ago, I decided to download a file (someone's family tree) from Rootsweb that was a treasure chest of information about one of my lines. I had had a lot of luck extending a number of families in that line in my database, as well as adding extra information about some of the ancestors and cousins I already had in my family tree. I'd been typing all the new information in manually, but I figured I could create a separate database for this file, and in usual Windows fashion, do some dropping and dragging. Doing that individually, one by one, was successful, but I could tell it was still going to be time consuming, and I was getting a little impatient! Next, I decided to start dragging family units over and connecting them to my own, and that was a hit too. I was excited! Next, I found someone in the other database whose ancestors and descendants I wanted to add to my database, so I clicked on the option to add everyone in that person's family tree (both up and down) intomy database. Well, that was the wrong thing to click, because it added that WHOLE DATABASE into my own! I suddenly had an extra 30,000-40, 000 names in my database, some kin to me, and many not! Of course, a good number were duplicates I'd already added to my database, but there were still thousands of extra people I didn't want mixed in with my information! It had been way too long (several hours, maybe even a day) since I'd backed up my database. I should've backed up just before I did that, but I assumed it was an innocent click. Ugh!

So, I decided to start cleaning up my database, bit by bit. A lot of the early deleting was easy. I was able to delete some families pretty quickly, others after doing some double checking. I'm also having to clean up some data fields, mostly the place notes. For some reason, the occupations field in the other person's database came over into the occupations PLACE field in my genealogy software. So, a person who was a cotton mill worker in the other database looks like he did an occupation IN Cotton Mill Worker (some place). So, I'm fixing all of those by hand, which is fun, fun! I'm glad to say that I've made a lot of progress, and am almost done with getting rid of the extra people in my database. Cleaning up the place names will take a little longer, but I'm making progress on that too.

Meanwhile, this has given me a chance to do some clean up from the conversion of my old database (from another software program) to RootsMagic. It's also given me an opportunity to learn my greater family tree a lot better, and that's a great thing, considering the fact that I've taken a 2-3 year break from this hobby. It's fun to be back in it, but I didn't expect this big bump in the road so early on.

Worse things have happened, though! It's a lot better than having deleted the whole thing without any backups! And now I take the time to back up my data a lot more frequently! I also keep backups on different drives, including a flash drive, and another online periodically.

Burning Water

Last night I decided to cook some frozen black eyed peas I'd bought over the weekend, so I read the instructions and put some water on to boil. Now, this was the first time I'd used the stove in this apartment, and I don't know that George has at all. It started smoking a little, but I didn't worry about it, figuring it to be "stove schmutz" in the drip pan or something, so I went into the next room. George smelled it, though, and exclaimed, "Something's burning!" Gee, my first burned water! ;-) The peas came out fine.

I fixed oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon for breakfast this morning, the Quaker Oats in the cylindar box and not the instant (added sodium, which I'm trying to stay away from). (I had to add the goodies myself.) It was the first non-rice breakfast I'd had in many months, and it was a nice change of pace. Afterward, I fired up the dishwasher for the first time. (George has used it since we moved in, but I haven't needed it!) I had to find the Cascade!Funny how all of this feels so new.

Well, off to work!

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things I Would Buy....

I subscribed to a weekly meme called 10 on Tuesday, and this week's meme theme:

10 Things I'd Buy if I Had a Million Dollars
(in no particular order)

New car with GPS navigation system
Digital SLR camera
Apple computer (laptop?)
Windows computer as well
Round-the-world plane tix for George and me
Local house, with room for a stocked home gym and library
Vacation home on a lake in the mountains
Sessions with a foreign language teacher (not sure what language yet)
Sax, flute, oboe, or guitar lessons
New wardrobe


Okay, so what would YOU buy with a million dollars?

More Signs of Domesticity

Okay, so I actually cooked "ahead" tonight, figuring out how to use Rice Cooker #1, a Cuisinart 4-Cup Rice Cooker. I put brown rice in, and later microwaved some broccoli to add to the rice. It felt pretty good to get that squared away, but it feels pretty basic too. I know I'll be sprucing things up pretty soon, but it's a start, right?

George had some comments to make, mostly about how rice should be steamed. It came up a couple of times, so I finally had to remind him not to rain on my rice cooker parade!

Grocery Shopping and the Kitchen

Although my last day at the Rice House is tomorrow, I decided to go ahead and go grocery shopping for the week ahead. It was an interesting experience, going up and down each aisle, thinking about nutrition, labels (both nutrition and brand name), portions, and even kitchen organization. I tried to do a little weeding out in our kitchen before we left, but when George and I got home from grocery shopping together, when had some more reorganizing to do. We started with the refrigerator and pantry, but we were both getting tired and a little hungry (and cranky), so we stopped. The kitchen IS better organized, but it's a work in progress, for sure. I feel like I'm finally making the kitchen mine, but in reality, George and I are sharing it. We moved in together last June, and I'm finally sinking my teeth into the kitchen. In all honesty, it's both exciting and stressful, everything like leaving comfort of the Rice House. It's also like when we moved in together last summer, both exciting and stressful then too.

I shopped at Food Lion (which was convenient) tonight, but I'm interested in shopping around for best prices and products in time.

End of an Era

Well, after nearly a year and a half of going to the Rice House, part of the Rice Diet Program, for my meals, medical check-in, and some classes, I'll be finishing up there this coming Monday. I'm both excited and a little nervous about venturing out on my own in healthier eating. I have yet to cook a real meal in my current apartment, which George and I moved into in June 2007. I've been collecting some cookbooks and recipes, even a couple of rice cookers (both given as gifts). I've learned so much on the Rice Diet, so I'll miss a lot about the facility, mostly the staff, and some people I met there. I'm looking forward to getting some flexibility back into my schedule, though! I've been going in every morning for breakfast before work, taking my lunch with me (very handy!), and going back for dinner before I could go home for the evening.

I've lost over 100 lbs. on the Rice Diet, but I'm not at goal weight yet. I'm thinking about joining Weight Watchers to stay accountable and get ideas from meetings.

Oh, the Weather Outside Isn't Frightful!

While George and I were at church for a class, it finally started snowing this afternoon. These pictures were taken from the balcony of our apartment, after it had been snowing a couple of hours. The latest prediction is for 1-2 inches, not much at all, but we need all the precipitation we can get! Plus, it's pretty to watch. :) George picked up some wood on the way home, so we're looking forward to a fire this evening!

George's Grandmom

Yesterday I had the honor of attending George's grandmother's funeral. She was one tough lady, and was 87 when she died on Sunday, after having a stroke Friday night. It was the first Jewish funeral I've attended, and while I didn't understand the Hebrew in the service, it was still a meaningful service. All four of the children, plus Papa, gave eulogies, then we went to the Hebrew Cemetery for the graveside service. There were some things that George, his dad, and his brothers couldn't do at the cemetery, because they're Cohains. For instance, they had to stay on the paved road in the cemetery, and they couldn't participate in the ritual of putting dirt on the casket. I did the dirt in George's place, which was very somber and sobering. George missed being able to participate in that part of the service, especially since he doesn't pratice Judiaism anymore, but he didn't want to upset his family.

I remember Bubby for often saying what she thought, and for always being a good cook. She opened up her home on Christmas night last month, when Tina had invited me (with George) over for Christmas dinner because she knew I was missing my family. Tina did all the cooking and took it over to Bubby and Papa's home, and I ended up having Christmas dinner with George, one of his brothers, his parents and grandparents! The food was good, the company even better.

Last night was the first night of sitting shiva, and it was the first time I'd ever done that. The prayers were in Hebrew, so again, I couldn't understand much, but I enjoyed the sounds and cadences. I also enjoyed seeing some people I'd met at other family functions, and meeting others who were new to me. It was touching to hear stories about Bubby from both family and friends.

Getting Things Done

One of my ongoing "New Year's Resolutions" is to improve my time management and become more efficient. This morning I tried a somewhat new approach for me, getting big things done early in the day. I checked off two things on my to-do list that I was dreading first thing this morning, before I even got to work, and it's made a difference in how I looked at the day. I got a variety of things accomplished at work today, and also took care of some things over lunch, like some banking and a call to my dentist to schedule an appointment for getting my teeth cleaned and checked.

Part of my motivation for the dentist appointment is a little vanity, I must admit. I recently swapped a Sunday with someone at church, and now I'm going to be the Worship Associate on February 3, which is sooner than I'd planned! My teeth really do need a check-up (I'm embarrassed to say it's been over a year!), but it doesn't hurt to have clean teeth for a Sunday morning service. I've also made an appointment for a haircut. :-P I really like putting my best foot forward on Sundays that I'm a Worship Associate. While looking good may sound a little vain, looking my best adds to my confidence when I'm in front of the congregation. I'm not sure what my roll will be that particular Sunday, but whatever it is, I want to be as ready as possible.

Now, the hair appointment, I'm looking forward to! The hair dresser I went to last time (as a new client) gave me a great haircut--I got compliments for days! My hair is pretty low maintenance (thank goodness!), but it's time for it to look a little more polished.

It's a Tie!

A Junior League friend and fellow blogger mentioned a poll on her blog that had 11 questions about the issues to show you which presidential candidates best match your beliefs. I just took the quiz, and three candidates tied for first place on my list with 57 points: Clinton, Obama, and Chris Dodd, who's pulled out of the race already. I like the way the answers list the issues in agree/disagree columns, in addition to links to the candidates's websites. Click here to check out the poll for yourself. It'll be interesting to see how things go in the coming months!

Busy Week

I have four meetings scheduled for this week, but thank goodness one was rescheduled! Whew! Hectic week, especially on the heels of having two weeks off.

I had a surprisingly delightful visit yesterday with someone that I didn't care for previously. It was amazing to witness the transformation, to learn more about her, to find out a little of her impressions of me. It made my day, really.

Another nice thing that happened was that the person who led last night's meeting I attended had some fresh veggies out as part of the snacks. Meeting snacks are usually salty and sweet things that I can't do on the Rice Diet, so I really appreciated her efforts.

Vacation's Over

Well, it's back to work this morning. I'm curious about what's going on at work and am looking forward to gettng things done there. I've got a busy week ahead, with three nightly meetings, but it'll be fine.

Highlights of this time off have been:

*Time with George
*Time with George's family, both local and from New Zealand, Boston, and Atlanta
*Having George's brothers and cousins over to play Apples to Apples and Zombie Fluxx
*Visits to Raleigh and Clinton to do genealogy
*Running outside in the Brier Creek area with my new Garmin Forerunner , and learning how to plug the Forerunner into my computer to download my workout info
*Working on genealogy at home on Rootsweb.com
*Christmas Eve service at ERUUF

Winding Down

My two-week vacation is winding down, and while I've thoroughly enjoyed it, I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine of work and normal things. I didn't do any excursions this week, as I'd hoped. Today and yesterday were too chilly to enjoy getting out and taking pictures in the places I would've visited, and I didn't really want to go just drive around, with gas prices going up again. Good thing I'm not on a deadline, huh?

I have enjoyed working a lot on my family tree while I've been on vacation, though. Between trips to the State Library and the Clinton, NC, library last week, and a wealth of good fortune on Rootsweb this week, I've made a lot of progress, especially on my McLamb and Tart lines. One thing I've been reminded of is how important documenting sources is. Thoroughness has helped me out in other ways too. When inputting spouses of related people, I've been including parents, grandparents, etc., of spouses when provided. It's been fun to discover connections to some of those families from other sources. It's reminded me of the phrase, "What goes around, comes around." Never underestimate the power (and fun) of a sliver of information!

Still on Vacation

I'm still on vacation, and it feels guiltfully luxurious. This afternoon I did get some errands done, including getting an oil change and a new battery for my car. I'm thinking about going on one of my "field trips," but haven't decided which direction to go in. I'm thinking of heading west from Durham, but how far I get depends on how early I get started.

For newbies to my blog, I have a goal of visiting all 100 counties in North Carolina and documenting my travels with pictures and posts on this blog. Although I've been across the state before, I decided to start fresh with this pet project. I've dubbed it the North Carolina Odyssey Project, and I've got 5 counties under my belt.

I just had a thought--maybe down the line I'll include some videos too. I don't have a video camera, but I think the digital camera I'm using (George's) has a video feature! Hmmmm.

Happy New Year!

George and I had a fun time bringing in the New Year with his family in Cary last night. (Relatives from New Zealand and Boston were also in town.) His mom had lobster for everyone, but set aside some fish cooked healthfully for me. Afterward, several of us played a game called Apples to Apples, that's a lot of fun. Every round, someone is the judge, and the judge picks an adjective from the card pile. The rest of the players, each with seven cards in hand, put down a card with a noun that goes with that adjective. To get points, the judge has to pick your noun card out of the group as the best. The judging is a bit subjective, so it helps to know the other players, as everyone takes turns being a judge. Sometimes you don't have any good matches in your hand, so you have to go with something random; sometimes going in the opposite direction makes it funny and wins you the point. This was a fun time last night, as various family members came by the table to watch or visit and laugh with us while we played, anc a couple of people even joined in on occasion.

This afternoon, George's brothers and cousins came over, and we played Zombie Fluxx, followed by another round of Apples to Apples. Fluxx is a card game where the rules change throughout the game, based on cards played by the different players. I'd played before, but never the Zombie version!

The Joy of Christmas Cards

Today I got another round of Christmas cards in the mail, and it reminded me how much I've enjoyed getting Christmas cards this season. Some of them have been newsy, and some of them have included pictures of friends and family. Some have been typed form letters, while some have been personalized letters (handwritten or typed). It's been a real treat this year.

I'm hoping that in the coming year, George and I can have a picture taken together that can be a good Christmas card picture.

Click here for a history of Christmas cards.

NC Odyssey Project: Sampson County

Today I went to Sampson County to do some genealogy research. My mom's mother, a McLamb before marriage, grew up in the town of Newton Grove. I've been to Sampson County numerous times since I started working on my family tree, and it always feels like a historical "home" whenever I drive through the county! The picture on the left is a plowed cotton field along Hwy 421. There are lots of farms in Sampson County. The picture on the right is for Spivey's Corner, home of the National Hollerin' Contest.

The county's most famous resident was William Rufus King, who was a US Representative from North Carolina, a Senator from Alabama, and the 13th Vice President of the United States! He was born in Sampson County, graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1803, and practiced law for a bit in Clinton. He had a long career in Congress, and was elected VP under Franklin Pierce. He was in failing health by that time, though, and was inaugurated in Cuba, where he's gone for health reasons. He eventually returned to his Alabama home, where he died, and was buried in Selma, Alabama, where I grew up.

I enjoyed working in the J.C.Holliday Library in Clinton this afternoon, in the North Carolina Local History Room.

Sampson County is the second largest in the state in terms of square mileage behing Robeson County. One of its most unique town names is Turkey. While driving through the county heading northwest toward home, I passed the Coharie Tribal Center on Hwy 421. I wished I stopped and taken a picture.

NC Odyssey Project: Johnston County

Today I was heading to Sampson County to do some genealogy research, so I decided to follow the brown NC Historic Site signs for the Bentonville Battlefield, and play tourist. Well, it turns out that this place is in Johnston County instead! Bonus county today! I'd planned to visit the Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield for my Johnston County adventure, but historical things are great too.

I was glad to find the Bentonville Battlefield open today, unlike the Battle of Alamace site earlier this week.

There's a pretty good visitor center there, and this display, with lights AND sound, showed how the battle played out between Johnston's troops and Sheman's men in the Civil War.

This is a cemetery of some of the soldiers who died from battle wounds,

This house, owned by a Harper family, became a Union hospital.

Smithfield is the county seat of Johnston County. In addition to being the home of Ava Gardner, it has an outlet mall I stopped by last summer on the way home from a McLamb reunion.

One of my childhood memories of summer travel is of going through Johnston County on our way to Atlantic Beach, NC. Early on, I remember seeing the signs for Selma (the one in Johnston County), and wondering if we were close to home, as my family lived in Selma, Alabama! After traveling in the car for 630 miles from Selma to Selma, I'm sure I was wishing for my own bed! Of course, getting to the beach was always worth it!

As My Birthday Month Draws to a Close

Your Birth Month is December

You love life and exude an outgoing, cheerful vibe. Blessed with a great sense of humor, you can laugh at adversity. Your soul reflects: Celebration, success, and wealth Your gemstone: Blue Topaz Your flower: Narcissus Your colors: Indigo, green, and blue-green

What Does Your Birth Month Mean?

An Afternoon in the Library

This afternoon I spent several hours working on my family tree in the State Library on Jones Street in Raleigh. They have a whole room devoted to the Genealogy Collection, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This was the first time I've taken a laptop with me to do genealogical research, and it helped a lot. I used to make lots of copies or write things down until my fingers hurt, and enter things on my desktop when I got home. (They have a couple of tables reserved for laptop users, with power outlets in the floor.) It also helped to be able to look up people on my genealogy program immediately, rather than wonder if I had them in the system. They've expanded the room where the Genealogy Collection is located since the last time I was there, and it's laid out much better now.

I can't wait to return, and to check out the North Carolina State Archives again too. I've transcribed some old wills there--a very neat thing to see the handwritten wills of my ancestors!

NC Odyssey Project: Alamance County

Since I'm off work today, I joined George for lunch at his work today. He works at a company called Kidde, which is part of United Technologies, and his office is in Mebane, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and visit another county in my North Carolina Odyssey Project.

Mebane is in Alamance County, North Carolina, and is just west of the center of the state, between Durham and Greensboro. Burlington is the largest city in Alamance County, but Graham is the county seat.

Alamance County is the home of Elon University, a regional school that was called Elon College when I moved to the area. I'd intended to take a few shots of Elon to include here, but I got sidetracked! I took the exit before Elon to stroll down Memory Lane at on outlet mall I used to go to called BMOC (Burlington Manufacturers Outlet Center). Apparently, it's changed hands, though, and is now called Burlington Outlet Village. I was a little disappointed by the selection of stores--it made me wonder if I missed some of them! I certainly remembered being impressed by the area some years ago. I did stop in a FinishLine outlet store, but a customer who came in after me let me know one of the tires on the passenger side of my car was looking low. Yikes! I may have stayed longer and gotten into the shopping groove, but I decided to search out a place to get my tire looked at, since I was 30-40 minutes from home.

I found myself at Burlington Honda, and they said it would be about an hour before they could look at my tire. *sigh* I was glad to have made it there safely, though! One of the men there pointed out that my inspection was going to run out at the end of this month, so I decided to go ahead and have it taken care of there. They couldn't find a leak in my tire, so I'll just have to keep an eye on it. At least I got the inspection done, and they were friendly. I did pick up a pamphlet about the 2008 Honda Accords, as one of my 2008 New Year Resolutions is to start saving for a new car.

I decided to head toward home at the point, but I really wanted to do something touristy. I'd seen signs for the Alamance Battleground on my way down the interstate, so I decided to follow the signs and check it out. I enjoyed driving through rural Alamance County south of Burlington (about 6 miles out), but when I got there, it was closed! Rats! I did get to drive through the rural town of Alamance, though, and it was kinda neat.

Before I left the county, I stopped at a Sheetz station for some really cheap gas!!

One of the things I'd like to do when I return to Alamance County is visit some of the wineries on the Haw River Wine Trail. Having gas prices like this ($2.79 9/10) might help. ;-)

Merry Christmas 2007!

This has been a different Christmas, but a relaxing one, for sure. I stayed in town to stay on the Rice Diet Program, and since George had the day off too, we've been able to spend some time together! I worked out at the gym this morning (ran 3.61 miles in 40 minutes), was the only one there. Then George and I went to the Rice House for Christmas lunch. I opened some nice presents from my family in between! (A couple of favorites are a Garmin Forerunner 205 and a picture of Duke Gardens!) It was great to talk to them by phone this afternoon. (Mom and Dad are visiting my sister and her family in California.)

This evening George and I had dinner with his brother, parents, and grandparents, in Cary, and that was a treat. Eventhough they don't celebrate Christmas (they're Jewish), it was great to be with my surrogate family for the evening.

I didn't get a Christmas tree up this year, and I wish I had! I think I've missed having Christmas traditions this year. I have a year to think about what I'd like to do about that. Since George and I share an apartment now, I'll have to consult him before layering the apartment in red and green, but I'm sure I can come up with something!

10 New Years Resolutions for 2008

Every so often I look for a meme to inspire me. A cute one I just came across is called "10 on Tuesday." Although it's not Tuesday, I decided that 10 on Thursday works too. So here's a list of 10 resolutions I'll work on in 2008:

1) Get to goal weight
2) Run a half marathon
3) Organize my cubicle at work
4) Take more pictures
5) Make progress on personal project of visiting all 100 NC counties
6) Read more
7) Spend more time with friends and family
8) Hang up pictures in the apartment
9) Organize my home office
10)Start saving for a new car

Running

This morning I ran 4.54 miles on the treadmill, the longest I've run in 20+ years! I'm excited about my progress....and feeling a little sore and tired right now. It's a "good" sore and tired, though. I've signed up for a 4-mile race here in Durham in February. While I'd like to sign up for more races soon, I'm a wuss when it comes to cold weather! Still, I'm interested in seeing my progress on the road, since I normally run indoors on the treadmill (when not racing).

I'm on the verge of signing up for a fall half marathon, as a big goal for 2008. It's exciting to think about, but it gives me butterflies too. Can I be ready?

Tracing My Roots

I've enjoyed getting back into my genealogy work this weekend. I'm on my second genealogy software program since getting a new computer back in August. The first, The Master Genealogist, is supposed to be for serious genealogists. I found it to be a bit tedious, to be honest. Granted, I had a busy semester with school in addition to work, exercise, the Rice Diet, Junior League, church, etc, so I didn't have the time I'd hoped to spend learning the program.

I finally bit the bullet and purchased a second genealogy program, RootsMagic, the succcessor to Family Origins, which I used to use. (It was discontinued and support ceased.) It was such a relief to install and pull it up on my computer! It was as if I'd come home! It reminds me a lot of the Family Origins software, but I can tell it's been updated. Needless to say, it's been much easier for me to use.

I've spent some of my free time this weekend entering data on my McLamb line, and it's been a treat. One of my projects for 2008 is to put out a McLamb family newsletter. It's nice returning to work on my family tree!

In My Car...

I'm listening to books on CD in my car again. I just finished listening to Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, a book about his hiking journey on the Appalachian Trail. I'd read this book a few years back, because at the time I was fascinated by the thought of hiking the "AT." I enjoyed listening to the book this time. One of the things that bugged me, though, was that I thought the narrator on the CD was pronouncing "Appalachian" wrong, with a long A sound in the third syllable, rather than the short A sound that I use. I just learned, though, that the long A pronunciation is used in the northern part of the Appalachian mountain range that the Appalachian Trail is named for, while the short A pronunciation is used in the southern part of the range. It turns out that Bill Bryson is from New Hamsphire, and I'm in North Carolina, of course, hence the difference in pronunciation.

Now I'm listening to Two for the Dough, by Janet Evanovich. George's Aunt Gail recommended this mystery series to me, so I'm going through them while in the car, since I have a longer commute now. I've already listened to One for the Money.

Time

Since I finished my online class (Intro to Computers) at Wake Tech Sunday night, and it's been so nice having more free time the past couple of nights. Of course, most of my after-work time so far has been spent running errands and doing things I've been putting off while I studied for the class. There are still so many things I need to do, and look forward to doing, in the weeks ahead. I feel like this extra time is a gift, and I want to make good use of it!

One of the things I'm looking forward to doing soon is Christmas cards!

Toy Car Spotting

Okay, so it's not a real toy car, but a real car with toys glued ON it, and it offically falls under the category of an art car! It's a blue Mazda 626 with all sorts of things attached to it, in an "underwater mah jongg" theme! I've seen the car several times in the past year and a half, mostly in western Durham. Check out a picture of the car and its owner here.

A New Year

I turned another year older a couple of days ago. It was a nice day, all in all! I worked, of course, and met George's family that night at Stonewood Grill in Cary for the beginning of Hanukkah. George kept it a surprise for me that he was also coordinating a little birthday party for me in conjuction with the family get-together. It was all very nice! George even got a muffin recipe from the Rice Diet and had his mom make a mini-birthday cake for me! The server at the restaurant brought it out with a single candle. :D

It's put me in a pensive mood this week. What do I want to accomplish this coming year?

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!

Jingle Bell Run 5K Race Report

I had a great time running the Jingle Bell Run in Raleigh yesterday! I knocked about two minutes off of my last 5K race time with the help of an unexpected running buddy! My race report, on my other blog, is here.