curling!

That's right, curling! Eric and I attended the Granite Curling Club open house on Saturday with Matte. It was great fun -- with league curlers on hand to show us how it's done, we learned the rules of the game, some basic strategy, how to throw the stones, and of course, how to sweep the ice as the stone slides towards the house (which is the "bullseye" in the picture below, but at the opposite end of the ice). I am smitten. And for a newbie, I'd say I was pretty good (I got one "knock-out" shot!).

Here, Eric has just released the stone. It is now gliding towards the other end of the sheet, or ice.

On Sunday, we visited with Eric's roommates from Humboldt, Ross and Kim, who have recently relocated to Tacoma from a six year stint in Texas. They're settling in Gig Harbor, which will give us all the more reason to visit there again. They were living in Houston during (and through) Hurricane Rita -- their recounting of it sounded awful. Beyond awful. I can't even imagine....

And in other news, my paper on The Use of Climatically Appropriate Plants in Landscape Design in Southern California Between 1900 and 1950: The Work of Kate Sessions is done and turned in! Hurray! My final exam is next week, and I am all registered (and really looking forward to) the next class, Introduction to Planting Design. Does that not sound facinating?!? Up until now, I have had a nice, easy class schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00-7:20pm. After work hours, and really easy to get to. Next quarter though, class will be Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30-10:20am. Throws a bit of a wrench in the work schedule, but fortunately I have highly supportive supervisors, so it's alright.