Second Week in August 2012

I guess I'm on a streak of Monday migraines. The weekends must cause all sorts of dehydration and weekdays must cause all sorts of stress. It was an early bedtime.

Tuesday right after work I went to the grocery store. I am trying to figure out why I keep blowing my grocery budget, I know what Maeg says, making ice cream at home is expensive, and it is, but I think it's only about an extra $5 or $6 a week, not the $25 or $30 I'm going over. I ended the day with run #27: 3.83 miles in 40:43, 10:37 pace. It's my new mileage record. I was determined to make it three times around the neighborhood, and I did it, if I go four times it will be five miles ... it's coming soon.

Wednesday I left work a little early and went to church at Saint Bernadette's on my way home. Frank was there too.

Thursday after work I ran with Sarah, 2012 run #28: 2.60 miles in 30:00 / 11:37 pace. I ran with her and she was doing the Zombies, Run game, I liked it so much, I decided to purchase the game myself, more to come. Later in the evening, Troy, Maeg, and I played a game of Small World, I used my favorite tactic of building a big lead and then losing it at the end.

Friday after work I had dinner with Frank at his house, then headed to the regular Friday dance, and afterward to Donut Stop. While we were at Donut Stop I managed to drop my donut on the floor, frosting down. I picked it up, and actually considered eating it for about five seconds, but then I figured that the carpet in there is dirtier than the bathroom, and I threw it out. Cecily busted out a game of Cranium Hoopla. This game might have been more fun if Cecily didn't know all the cards, which reminds me, I have to put the Game of Things in the car.

Saturday I was supposed to go golfing with CJ in the afternoon, but the weather kept us from playing. I decided to make the best of not playing by being super productive with chores, I got an amazing amount of things done.

The day was topped off by going to Kaleb's for birthday game night. I didn't play much, I helped a couple of new people play Shadow Hunters.

The first game I did play was 7 Wonders, I didn't do particularly well, but I think it was because so many people had my strategy of blue cards. I ended up 3rd or 4th.

There was some some around the world ping pong, but not a complete tourney.

There was some Werewolf ... about seven hours worth of it. We played so many games with so many configurations I am not sure about how many times I won or didn't. I do know a few things. The first game had 35 or 36 people in it, with three teams, Werewolves, Vampires, and tasty humans, it added a really interesting subplot as the werewolves kill instantly, and the vampires victims didn't die until just before voting.

I was moderator for one game, I tried to really keep it moving, but I'm not sure if I succeeded. One of the last games Marcus and I were the werewolves and we pretty much punked everyone. Needless to say, the next game was an early death for me.

Saturday also marked the beginning of a hostage crisis for me. More to come next week.

Scott and Melissa try on a baby for size.


Forget Rabbit Fever, Kaleb has baby fever. Photo credit: Matt


An actual picture of around the world ping pong. Photo credit: Matt


Roslyn explains why she isn't a werewolf, she's probably lying. Photo credit: Matt

Sunday I went to church and sat with my coworker Natalie and her daughter Bella. It was about the third or fourth time I've sat with them. I think Bella finally remembers me. I try my best to get her to sing along, but it's a tough sell, she won't sing at all.

After church I went on 2012 run #29: 3.22mi in 33:22 at a 10:22 pace. It was also my first mission on Zombies, Run. As far as apps go, it was pretty expensive, however, I think it's already got me to want to run more. Warning: it's not a starting program, it kicked my butt.

The last part of the day was a benefit for Sarah's sister Melissa, you can read her story here. Even for someone like me, it's a tough read to not cry. She is so upbeat, friendly, and inspiring. Please find a way to be inspired in your daily life and to be an inspiration to others, read her story.

First Full Week in August 2012

Monday was the start of another beautiful, warm, Midwestern week. After work I went for 2012 run #26. 2.60 miles in 24:48, that's a 9:31 pace. It was my first run with MapMyFitness, I've even deleted the Nike app. I like that it's super flexible with what you're doing and will record time / distance no matter what your activity; running, walking, biking, lawn work. The Nike app didn't do that.

Tuesday I went to the dentist to get a cleaning before work. Clean teeth are happy teeth. After work I did something I hadn't done in probably twenty years, I made myself a hamburger, it was okay. When you don't cook something for a long time, okay, what I mean is when I don't cook something for a long time, it doesn't go well. As I was cooking up the burger, I made up some ice cream.

We got some rain, well, we didn't really get rain, but we got a show to the north.

Wednesday turned out to be a fabulous day:

Fish tacos that were very tasty...


...and the first rainbow I've seen in two years.

Thursday I went for 2012 bike ride #2: 5.08 miles in 36:55. This bike ride seemed easier. I don't think I have the ideal bike for what I'm trying to do, which is ride on the street in the neighborhood, it's a 'mountain bike'. Really it's just a cheap bike that is so I'd have one, I don't know if it would be worth the money for what is, right now, something that is a sort of hobby.

Mom, you can skip this paragraph
Friday while at work we had issues in the neighborhood, you can read about it here. I rode past the house the night before on my bike ride. The standoff ended just as I got home from work. As I got out of my car I heard the pop-pop-pop of gunfire. I (probably incorrectly) thought it was far enough away that it wasn't really a threat to me, but I took no chances, Maeg, Troy, and I left and went shopping at Target.

Later in the evening I went to the Friday dance and then out to Donut Stop afterwards. We played Apples to Apples, and I found out that Dena is purchasable, I wanted to win a round and I offered her $1 to pick mine, so she did ... yes she kept my dollar, you have to admire that kind of moxie.

Saturday morning I did some lawn work and counted it as exercise. In the afternoon I finally caught a party at Tamra's house. There was an obstacle course team challenge. I drew Tamra as my partner, it went like this.

1) cooperative walking on planks.
2) wheelbarrow carry.
3) spinning around until you fall over.
4) bubble gumbubble gum blowing.

Matt has video of me spinning around the bat and almost falling through the fence. Somehow Tamra and I didn't win, we must have had points deducted by the judges. It was a beautiful night, the only thing that marred it was the cloud cover blocking the view of the meteors.

Someone discovered what a kitty was. Photo credit: Matt


Matt took the new, official, worst picture of me ever. Photo credit: Matt


Campfires and ghosts! I caught one on the camera!

You can see all of my pictures here, and all of Matt's pictures here. If the video of me falling down shows up on youtube, I'll give it a link. When it became clear that the weather wouldn't, I headed home.

Sunday morning I was up and at 'early' church, i.e. at 0930, then went on a quick run to Walgreen's, came home, and made some orange rolls for the picnic. The 1300 start time didn't quite work, my carpool of Anne and Heidi got there about 1325, okay, more like 1345.

First up, a picnic. No one was hurt, but Jon tried.




Followed up with a hike down the 'waterfall' trail to the Platte River.



The usual shenanigans ensued, leading to our album cover.



We headed over to the pool for some swimming in the unseasonably cool weather.
These five photos credit: Matt



We rented paddleboats, I was good for about 15 minutes worth of paddling.


We even went out to eat at the end of the day. Jenny appreciates me.

Obviously there are a ton of pictures, you can see all of Matt's here, and mine are here. What a great day to spend with friends.

Next week: parties and benefits

July / August Bridge Week 2012

Monday I continued my streak of bad wake ups with another day of feeling nauseous and migrainey. I got to work, and almost immediately took my lunch and went to the car and slept for an hour. I felt much better when I woke up.

Tuesday after work was evidently man date night with Troy. We went out to eat at Chipotle, and then we went for a bike ride ... so that makes 2012 bike ride #1 ... 2.81 miles in 20:02. My legs were quite sore.

Wednesday I went to lunch with Kimee...

... at Runza of course. Mmmm delicious potonions.

After work Maeg came up with a last minute plan to eat at Burger Star in Omaha, and a big crowd turned up. We sat and ate for quite a while, it turned into a very pleasant evening.

Thursday immediately after work I went golfing. I got a strange number of holes in, 12. Nothing awesome, nothing too bad, my swing is a little erratic right now, I think I just need to slow down my busy brain. After golfing, I went out to eat and ended up getting Alvarado's in Council Bluffs.

Friday I left work a little early to go to Jen and Patrick's wedding. Our little group was Joe, Frank, Julia, Maggie, Tom, Lan, and myself. The wedding itself was fabulous, and I guess we were the side show.

The lovely couple.


Tom discovers bubbles.


This was Joe's idea, he did something similar.


Wedding cake shenanigans.


Frank can dance to anything, and laugh while doing it.

If you'd like to see all my pictures from the wedding, you can find them here. After the wedding, I went downtown to the dance, and finally ended up at Donut Stop with Dena. We chatted for an hour or so.

Saturday morning I got to cleaning up for the Annual Nothnagel Party, now with food, dancing, and games. The party began at 1400. I made sure I was ready at the start time with a sangria-ish drink that I invented. It was pretty good, but I didn't have too much of it.

The first game we played was Arkham Horror. It was pretty chaotic even for our usual Arkham Horror games. The investigators won, and I sort of knew about it ... CJ sat in for me a little bit while I was doing hosting things.

The second game was another installment of Cards Against Humanity. I am bored with that game, so I didn't feel so bad when I got up and left.

Maeg made these, they were very tasty.


Polish and proud baby!


Yes, I tricked Billy into the middle slide.

I kind of put my camera aside for quite a while, but I still got about 30 pictures, you can see them here. I cleaned up as the party went along, so at 0100 went it was breaking up, it only took about ten minutes to finish it up. Thank you to everyone who came out and/or brought tasty noms.

Sunday morning I was up and off to church with Joe and Frank. Frank and I went out to eat at Village Inn afterwards. The weather was so I nice I tried to set up a swimming adventure with friends, but it ended up not happening this week ... look for one next week. Plan B was golfing with CJ, and sometimes plan B works out really well. It was a really nice day and the course wasn't crowded. CJ did pretty well (he only went 9 holes), but I golfed very average, one birdie, six pars, ten bogies, and a double.

Next week: Meteors!

My Birthday Week 2012

Monday was the first time I have worked on my birthday in a while. It was all good though, because I wanted to keep my birthday low key this year. After work myself, Troy, Sarah, and Frank went to the casino ate at the buffet and did a little gambling. I don't know if it is my age or the economy, but I don't think the casino is as interesting as it was ten years ago. I might need a new birthday tradition.

We came home fairly early, I made some ice cream and we played some Fluxx, both regular and the Martian versions. I kept drawing the card that allows you to play two extra cards on your birthday, what can I say, it made me smile.

Tuesday after work I gave Frank a refresher course in driving a car with a clutch. It turns out that he didn't need much refresher he stalled once and then did just fine, but it was cool to hang out.

Uh oh, someone is watching me.

Wednesday I ended up staying home from work for the first time since the end of February. I woke up with a pretty nasty migraine. I didn't do much of anything but Diablo 3 and a little bit of chores. In the evening there was finally rain ... sort of ... at least a lightening show.

Thursday nothing happened really at home, because I went to bed pretty early so ...

... I could get up at 0400 to take Troy to the airport. It really wasn't a big deal, the traffic at that hour is negligible. I came back home and went to sleep for a little while, and then off to work. Friday evening I made a lateish appearance at the usual dance and had a nice discussion with Christy about not being cool, but instead being 'warm'.

Saturday morning as soon as the clock hit 1000 I was out cutting the lawn. After I finished, I cleaned up and then and napped so I could stay awake for Kaleb's game night. I arrived as a group was finishing up a game of Eclipse ... Jared was the plant people that I was last time. I played a little bit of ping pong with Lydia, Roslyn, and Tom just to warm up.

The first game up was 7 Wonders. It was a very entertaining game that moved very quickly, in fact, I think it was pretty close to the 30 minute listed play time. The different players at the table used several different strategies, resulting in a close game; something like 59-58-57-57-56-53-41. I had one of the 57s.

The second game was Kingsburg. For the second time in a row, I once again I built a substantial lead in middle and late part of the game, but I couldn't hold at the end and eventually lost to Kaleb. My early and mid game strategy works, but it falls apart at the end.

The third game was a four player game called simply Kingdom Builder. It was a nifty little game of, go figure, kingdom building. This was a game that previous knowledge of the game is really helpful. I finished last behind Maggie, Melissa, and Nick.

Werewolf was up next. For the first game we tried a new card, the Ghost, and that was out quickly as being too powerful and broken. Natalie did an excellent job as the last werewolf. The second game was a lot like the first, this time with CJ trying to fend off the townsfolk by convincing Maggie he was safe. We played with the Minion, a townsperson who, if chosen by the werewolves, turns into a Werewolf instead of being eaten. In theory, this should be a powerful ally for the werewolves, however the minion was not found, so we didn't get to see it in action. I was thinking about playing Werewolf, I think we have probably played 70 to 80 games of Werewolf. That is tremendous staying power for any game, the next closest game is probably Shadow Hunters, and that really isn't that close.

There was a game of around the world ping pong that so many people played, we actually ran out of paddles. I ended up winning (i.e., the first player to win five games), even though I didn't think I played skillfully. We went upstairs and watched the end of a game of Munchkin.

We played one more game, Chrononauts. This one is one of Maeg's favorites. I ended up winning by trading missions with Elliot and having the right cards in the trade to complete my new mission. I was pretty sure when I traded I was going to win, it's was a rare case of me 'counting' cards. I like the game much more in theory than in practice, I think it's a little too random for good gameplay, but I probably thought that about Fluxx at one time too, now I can see how you can manipulate the rules to your advantage.

By this time it was after 0300, and I was trying to stay up all night so I could be awake to take Frank to the airport at 0400. I ended up getting home about 0320 and found things to do until Frank texted me around 0355, however one thing led to another, I didn't take him to the airport, and I was asleep by 0415.

Sunday morning I got up and with Maeg, went and picked up Frank's car at the airport. She went to do something, and I went home for chores and nap. Later, after Maeg got home, we went to pick up Troy from the airport. Yes, I spent a lot of time driving back and forth from the airport in three days. Troy got dropped off and Maeg and I went to the grocery store. The weekend ended with another run #25 for the year, 1.78 miles in 18:09, at a 10:09 pace.

Next week: more heat, less rain ... and a party.