Sunday Nap

After an amazing summer Sunday dinner with a group of young married couples in the ward, we came home and collapsed. I don’t think I have had such a nice nap in a little while. It was one of those naps where you are instantly comfortable and you slowly sink into that deep sleep undisturbed by anything, even dreams.

I don’t know why I was so tired. I’ve been getting good rest and not really doing much to merit sleepiness; I had a new project at work, the people we are renting from moved out, and we visited with friends. For some reason I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. You know when you just can’t shake the grogginess of morning. I can usually get myself to roll out of bed and going, but it took an extra 15 mins today, so this nap was in a way anticipated.

I woke up slowly and lay in bed for a good while before my biological functions forced me to move on from this glorious nap. The only problem is I didn’t move for the 2+ hours I was sleeping and the left side of my body was numb not to mention my head still had that heavy feeling you have when you first wake up from a deep sleep. With effort I took care of my needs and have since regained the feeling in my body and mind.

I can tell my week is going to be better for this blessed Sunday nap.

Heartbeats

We just got back from the doctors and Little Quinn has a healthy heart beat at about 13-14 weeks. Sharon is healthy as well; confirmed by good blood tests, strong muscles, and a positive attitude. What a blessing! We are excited for our first child to be on its way. Little Quinn is due mid/late January.

Pandora

Pandora is a kind of internet radio/ music discovery tool that I've been using for a couple of year. You can define your own stations by typing in bands and songs you already know and they start playing songs from that band and others with similar characteristics.

I discovered a few things about it today. I found this 'widget' thing today and thought I would see what it looked like embedded in by blog. Now you can all see what kind of music I listen to. It appears they have added some 'social network' type of features as well. You can search and see other who listen to similar music, share stations, etc.

There is a free versions and a subscription version. I use the free one, the ads haven't bothered me as they are few and far between.(As I notice the AT&T ad in the top right corner of the widget :|)

Guyute

Guyute (Orchestral) (Album Version) - Trey Anastasio

In preparation for the phish concert I've been listening to phish more. I found this great recording of one of their songs, Guyute, as an orchestral piece arranged by Trey Anastasio (the lead guitarist).

4th of July

Sharon’s sister and brother-in-law came down with their family the morning of the 4th to visit. We enjoyed having them here. We took them including our cute nieces and nephews out to ice-cream at our favorite local shop, ‘The Dairy Godmother’. It is a really fun little shop that has two flavors of frozen custard, Vanilla & Chocolate, with a mystery flavor every day. They also have a handful of Sorbet flavors that are fun and creative. We discovered that since our last trip there President Obama had paid a visit to the shop and we were the lucky ones to sit in the chair he had used. We felt pretty special.

We decided to brave the crowds in Washington DC to have the experience of celebrating Independence Day in the Capital. It was hard not to feel patriotic watching the fireworks going off behind the Washington Monument and cheering with the hundreds of thousands of people sprawled all over the Mall.

Our Metro ride home was almost as much fun, just more personal with the millions of people trying to get home. I think I might have to add it to the top three of my ‘most crowded public transportation moments’. I never expected one of them to happen in the U.S. Every stop one person got off, three or more people tried to squeeze in. Sharon didn’t even have to hold on to anything for balance. In the end, we made it home safe and sound.

My conclusion is I prefer the small town 4th of July experience. I was reminiscing with Sharon about the 4th of July in Park City. I would sleep out on the trampoline, wake up and do the city fun run, eat\help at the city breakfast in the quaint city park, then watch the parade on Main Street. That would be followed by an afternoon BBQ or Dutch oven cooking in the back yard with family and friends; concluding the day watching the fireworks against the majestic mountains from our deck. It sounds like we might get that experience next year.

Mind Games

The New York Times has won the Anthony Quinn award for best mind games. Why?

SET
I discovered this week that New York Times has a daily challenge for a game called SET. Sharon grew up playing this card game, which we are borrowing from her parents(Thank you), and she always kills me when we play. It is a game of "fun, perception, and challenge" (according to the website). More specifically you look for patterns in the cards laid out. Each card has different characteristics which include:

• one of three shapes (oval, diamond, squiggle)
• one to three of the shape (1,2,3)
• one of three fills (solid, shaded, or empty) and
• one of three colors (red, purple, or green)

I decided to research the game a little and looked it up online. I found out that it was created in 1974 by Marsha Jean Falco, a geneticist. It originated from an idea she had to help her find patterns in genes. You can read all about it at the offical site.

So, while I was doing my research I found that New York Times online has a game section where they have 4 daily set challenges. They don't have a way for me to embed it in my blog so you have to link to it to play. I provided a screen shot of what the game looks like above. I've been going everyday to try and brush up my skills. However, Sharon has still only lost to me once. I guess that is normal, I found on the FAQ page that it is normal for females to do better than males, and younger people to beat older people.

Sudoku
When I ride the metro to work I will usually pick up the free version of the 'Washington Post' called the 'Express'. It's good for a few quick two or three paragraphs on news highlights with some fun random stuff thrown in that make the ride a little nicer. They have a Sudoku in the back. I have never done them before, but I decided to try it out one day. I totally botched it, so I tried the next day and got a better understanding of how to work it. The third day I got it because it was classified as 'hard' and wanted to see if I really got it.
And that is how it goes with Sudoku. You start and you can't stop.


New York Times also has it online. That is why they have won the Anthony Quinn award for best mind games.

Bringing up Baby

We have discovered the couple we are renting from has a good taste in old film classics. Amber, the wife, has had a constant stream of oldies but goodies such as ‘Rear Window’ and ‘Wait until Dark’ coming in from Netflix.

‘Bringing up Baby’ is a 1938 movie with Cary Grant and Catherine Hepburn, their first of three films together. It is a comedy with Grant as an engaged nerdy paleontologist who meets Catherine Hepburn, an eccentric young women, who is instantly infatuated with him. Everything Hepburn meddles in turn aria including Grants life. I won’t give any more of the plot away. We weren’t sure what to expect when we sat down to watch it. However, we were surprised to find ourselves laughing through a majority of it and joyously entertained at the conclusion. I feel confident recommending it to those who can appreciate a good comedy or an old classic.

Any other classics people would recommend?