Didn’t have to work Friday because I had a “comp day”, and I was very productive – my free day included washing and vacuuming my car and doing about three hours of yard work. That night Clinton and I went out for veggie pizza at the Mellow Mushroom and stayed home to watch one of my new favorite movies called “Stranger than Fiction”.
On Saturday, my running group and I ran the most difficult twelve miles we’ve ever attempted, as we’d picked a particularly hilly course. Our half marathon in Virginia is coming up in less than two weeks! After the run, I went home to cook mini baked veggie burgers and get ready for our housewarming party. About 20 of our friends showed up for a perfect afternoon (sunny, 70 degrees) on our back deck and a walk to the Eno River. A great success! Even Charlie was on his most charming behavior.
On Saturday night we went to the Carolina Theater and saw the coolest Korean action-adventure-comedy-tragedy called “The Host”. It’s about a terrifying (and funny) sci-fi monster that kidnaps a little girl and the rampage that her crazy family goes on to save her from the depths of Seoul’s sewer system. Highly recommended!
On Sunday, Clinton and I had coffee duty before the first service at church. It was a special day at church because ERUUF had a guest speaker – a Unitarian Universalist named Reverend Dowd who travels the country preaching about evolution. I was a little turned off by his evangelical style, but I thought his main points were interesting – that all the world’s great religions came into being back when we still thought the world was flat, and that today’s religion needs to evolve and commensurate with the body of knowledge we now have about science and the universe. Evolution, he says, is the one Great Story that cannot be refuted. It could bring together the world’s warring nations, as it is something we can all agree upon. We should treat the universe’s amazing evolution story, he says, as a sacred narrative, the same as people do the Bible or the Koran. Whew!
After church, we had French toast at George’s Garage and then went home for a long afternoon nap – the much-needed kind where you wake up face down in a puddle of drool with creases all over your face. Then we moved furniture around for a couple of hours to prepare the house for the carpet installation people who are coming today. (Can’t wait until that’s over with!) Then, despite the thunderstorms that were predicted for the evening’s weather, we met four of our friends at the Durham Carnival to ride a few rides (Clinton already felt ill after the first one!) and to eat some junk food. (Nothing beats a candy apple!!!) The strangest part of the evening was our discovery of a “mouse roulette” game. Basically, there’s a spinning table with a sad, dizzy little mouse on it, and you bet money to guess which hole he will crawl down. Needless to say, we didn’t play the game, but we did marvel at its creepiness and the zombie-like way in which other carnivalgoers seemed to be drawn to it… To top off the night, Clinton and I watched yet another movie – the dark and ultra-violent “Narc” starring Jason Patrick and Ray Liotta.
Yesterday I waited patiently all day for the carpet people to finish their job. I heard all kinds of horrible crashing and scraping noises coming from upstairs, which made me awfully nervous. But they are professionals, so I assumed it would turn out okay. It did.
It was more than a little disconcerting to be without the Internet all day. (We had to remove the cable plug and WAP from one of the rooms they were carpeting). I was shocked at how absolutely powerless, bored and alone I felt being unable to get online. Whatever did I do before the Web?!?!
