Closing Time...

...but not for my parents! Despite the setback in the move, my parents still took the time to come down to North Cackalak to spend the weekend with me. They got into my good graces by buying me an awesome new suit for my birthday (sorry, no pictures; Shelly warns me not to post any, since she'd have a hard time fending off all the female attention I'd garner), but that still doesn't mean that I still can't post this picture of the gregarious pair!

Just to get the moving news out of the way, the home-owner, loath to spend money on a house he'll be selling soon anyway, is now trying to get my parents' real estate agent to compensate him for his water damage. So, long story short, avarice and rank insanity are currently jeopardizing the entire NC relocation.

They arrived here Saturday afternoon, and after a brief unwinding period, I guided them to Summit Governor's Village, where we sighted and photographed the mythical (no longer) Australian Black Swan. This is the critter I alluded to last time, who, in times past, earned my eternal gratitude by attacking Erika and Sonny and driving them from the vicinity of his pond (Sonny demonstrated his bravery during the incident by tucking his tail firmly between his legs and fleeing). Of course, recognizing my purity of heart, the swan took no such action with me, choosing instead to sit serenely and allow me to photograph him. And here he is now:

Once finished with the swan-finding expedition, we returned, gathered up Shelly, and went to Chili's for my birthday dinner. After a ridiculous wait, the likes of which I'd never experienced before at Chili's, we were seated and the festivities began in earnest. (Shelly would like me to point out that, between those two events, we played roughly fifty rounds of Twenty Questions, which Shelly thoughtfully totaled for me at 1000 questions).

That just about did it for that night. We came back to the apartment and watched Over the Hedge, but I was the only one who saw the whole thing- a Phyrric victory, as the movie wasn't very good at all.

Sunday we relaxed and took our time. My parents spent the morning checking out our DVR, using it to record a Lifetime movie called The Burning Bed (why must new technology always be put to the worse possible uses?). Later, they took a trip up to Roxboro to inspect the damage, afterwards reporting that it didn't look too bad. The rest of the day passed relatively quietly, with the purchase of my new suit and a birthday present for Danielle being the highlights.

Oh, yes, and who can forget the tax return! Before my parents arrived Saturday, Shelly and I went to NCCU to get our taxes done. Long story short- four figures, baby!

I'll end this lengthy post by saying "Happy Birthday" to Danielle, whose birthday is tomorrow, and Steve and Scott, whose birthdays were yesterday (they thwarted my attempts to call them by going to bed at 9pm, the pansies). And, just to get you in the spirit, here's a picture of me blowing out the candles. If you don't know how many, it's better not to ask...

(Insert Clever, Intriguing Title Here)

Hello, again, everyone! Hope you all have fared well in my week-long absence. Hopefully this doesn't affect my readership much!

Anyway, so, what's been going on? Lots of stuff, glad you asked!

Firstly, I took my last four modules this past Tuesday, and we will have to see how I do. I don't feel particularly good about two of them (out of four), but let's hope I can chalk that up to nerves. So far I've passed all but one on the first try.

Big news on the Parental Move front today! Apparently, the new house had a pipe burst yesterday, collapsing the ceiling in one room and ruining the floor in another. Fortunately, Mom and Dad got news of this in time to cancel closing on the house this Monday (does this remind anyone else of another recent occurrence in my family?); if it had happened next week, they wouldn't have known until they came back down again, and then it would have been their problem. They still want the house, but the closing's been delayed for the time being.

Also, since last I wrote, Shelly and I have gotten DVR service! Since we moved to a Verizon family plan, saving forty dollars a month, Shelly wasted no time in signing us up for DVR, instantly consuming three quarters of the savings! I kid, sweetheart. :) Seriously, despite only using the 'Record' feature once, I can already tell it's going to be a welcome addition to the DeAdder homestead!

In the department of "Work Week Pick-me-ups", here's a shot of my brother, enjoying his vacation in Florida:

It's a hard life, but I guess someone's got to do it.

Also, Erika and Jason have seen fit to bestow some pictures of little Charlotte upon us. They sent us quite a few, but I choose the best one, I think. She is still in the hospital but is doing well; her big homecoming isn't expected for a few weeks still.

Speaking of Erika, just yesterday I confirmed the existence of a somewhat legendary figure in her and Sonny's past. I would elaborate, but without photographic evidence, I would doubtless be disbelieved. I will procure this evidence and post it this weekend, should I survive the expedition.

Also yesterday, Shelly and I attended our very first movie screening! Someone at work passed out fliers for free admission to see Zodiac, a new movie starring a bunch of people I'm not going to bother to name. We met several people from SECU there, and after surrendering everything that could conceivably be used to record the movie, entered the theater. All savings incurred by not purchasing tickets were lost in the popcorn/soda ream.

The movie was good (very brutal in parts), but Shelly and I thought it could have easily been half an hour shorter. Robert Downy Jr turned in a good performance- very believable as an obsessed cartoonist! But so much of the movie was his character chasing down leads, the majority of which turn out to be dead ends. This got old after about 45 minutes.

In a run of good news, Shelly and I, receiving a generous belated wedding gift from my mother in law, at long last paid off our honeymoon! Now we can finally put that agonizing week of massages, free meals, fun and equatorial sun behind us! Stunningly, the same day, I received word from my worker's comp company, Liberty Mutual, that they're going to be paying me a final settlement for my injury last year. That happened last Friday, the same day in which a female customer at SECU referred to me as 'handsome' and bought me a candy bar, and another complimented my competency on the job. To say I was flying high that day would be quite the understatement, although Shelly did threaten to go regulate on all these flirtatious women at my work, thus bringing my soaring spirits slightly closer to ground level! ;)

And now, again, just because I can, here's a adorable picture of Shelly, circa Christmas!

V-Day, NC Front

You can't say I didn't warn you; if you forgot Valentine's Day today, it's your own fault! Shelly and I just got back from a dinner at Kanki Japanese Steakhouse. Due to our calling ahead, we only had to wait fifteen minutes, 13 of which were us walking to the restaurant after parking a mile and a half away. I exaggerate, but not by much. I was mildly embarrassed to be the only one who finished my bountiful meal, especially since I finished it before anyone else had made much of a dent.

So, a lot of news this week! For one, it's already Wednesday! Where does the time go? Interestingly, this phenomenon never occurred before I came to SECU; it's amazing what enjoying your job can do for you!

On Monday, Erika came home. Shelly and I made dinner for her and Jason and took it over, along with Erika's long-lost dog, Sunny. Little Charlotte is still in the hospital but is doing well, and we got to see lots of pictures. Speaking of pictures, here's one Shelly took of Sonny and I right before we took him back:

And here's another of him reunited with Erika.

You can see that Sonny leads a very active life.

Getting back to Valentine's Day (after that foray into earlier this week), I finally pulled off a surprise for Shelly! Having procured tulips (Shelly's favorite flower),chocolate-covered strawberries (Shelly's favorite fruit), and coffee (Shelly's favorite beverage), I was favored to find the weather cold enough last night to leave all of those things in my car. This morning, forfeiting a much-needed ten minutes of rest, I went down, brought them up, arranged them on the table, and left for work. Shelly aided me by being totally unresponsive to anything short of an air horn. Later, I received a gushing voice mail.

In case you're wondering why, with Valentine's Day going so well for me, I have time to blog (aren't you the amateur detective), Shelly needed to finish something for her tutorial tomorrow. So I figured I'd write and tell you all about it (after I made a big-hearted trip to feed the Farrington Lake waterfowl in subfreezing weather). Feel free to leave comments with your own V-day experiences!

Speaking of waterfowl, we watched Fly Away Home this weekend, as part of our Blockbuster rentals. It was a great movie, and we both really enjoyed it. You should watch it too, although I realize not everyone shares my affection for waterfowl.

Ok, Shelly's done, and so am I! Happy Valentine's Day!

Welcome...

...little Charlotte Emma Hawkins to the world, born today at 1:51 am, weighing in at 3.5 lbs! The doctor's induced Erika's labor yesterday, and she gave birth early this morning. Both mother and daughter are doing well, and perhaps tomorrow, when Shelly and I go visit, I'll have a picture or two to post. No promises, though- Erika might not let me in with a camera!
In related news, Shelly and I are dog-sitting Sonny again, much to his delight. His solitary existence the last few weeks has depressed him, and he was very excited to come stay with us last night. However, today he nearly caused me to re-enact a disturbing scene from Single White Female (which we're well equipped for, with a third story balcony)! See, after spending every waking moment with him since he arrived, Shelly and I locked him out of our room for ten minutes this morning so we could get dressed. That was too much for poor Sonny, who demonstrated his displeasure by crapping twice, in different places, on our floor. I wonder what he'd think of once again becoming a Rescue Greyhound.
Also, forgive me Jen Glass for blatantly stealing your video idea, but people need to see this!
Not much else is news here. Parentals' moving plans continue to gather steam. My final set of modules are coming up not this week but the following week. Oh, and gentlemen, it's Valentine's Day on Wednesday, so don't jeopardize your life by forgetting.
So, I hear my Maryland friends got a little snow? We've been without a single flake since that catastrophic day a few weeks ago, when the whole world ground to a halt due to two inches of snow. One wonders if the Good Lord would be so cruel as to curse us with such twice in one year.
Oh, and Mrs. Glass? I received your email, sorry about not responding. In answer to your question, the natural anti-inflammatory Shelly is using is called bromelane, which is made from pineapple enzymes. But I'm going to have to pass on hosting the Jennifer; my wit would be rendered pale and without luster next to hers!
Well, not much else to report just now. Hopefully I'll have something new for you tomorrow!

Yeeeeeessssssss! Precious! Precious!

I finished my short story! After three months of working on it, on and off, in between Thanksgiving, Christmas, studying for modules, visits from parents, performing husbandly duties (I mean chores, sicko), impromptu visits from Law School Melissa (we had another one last night), showers for Erika (and even longer, invitations for showers for Erika), I finally managed to finish my short, 38-page story. Regrettably, even those of you who have heard of Starflight, the game which provides the universe in which the story is set, probably don't have the background knowledge to make heads or tails of it, so I'm not going to do something as vain as post it here. Besides, I have a delicate psyche, and could doubtless not withstand the withering criticism I would take at all of your hands. Which doesn't explain why I publish this blog every day or so...
So, we have had a pretty good weekend here. Shelly and I started by watching Thank You for Smoking on Friday night, which was pretty funny. I expected it to be preachy and predictable, but I was wrong on both counts. As it turns out, the do-gooder Senator trying to ban smoking comes out looking like the biggest idiot, which truly shocked me, since most of the time, Hollywood does everything but draw little halos around the heads of champions of liberal causes.
Yesterday, Martha showed up at the crack of dawn (9:30 am) and whisked Shelly off to the hospital to see Erika. Accidentally leaving her cell phone here, Shelly set me up for an hour-long conversation with my mother-in-law. I suspect Shelly did this on purpose in retribution for all those other calls I take and then imitate her, astounding her friends with my mimicry. (Just kidding, as mother-in-laws go, I have a good one, and talking to her is no chore).
Having dispensed with Martha and Erika, Shelly returned home in the afternoon. Later on, after a long nap, we went to the gym, where I found my precious treadmill occupied. Killing time, Shelly and I went back to the apartment to retrieve some bread, which we then used to feed Penny, Drake, and a quartet of honkers. This led to one of Shelly's more absurd admonishments, brought on by Drake's snatching of bread from Penny: "Drake, that's not very nice!"
Once the treadmill was available, we completed our workouts, whereupon I was dispatched to Brixx to pick up dinner. Shelly got her usual Greek pizza, and I my spicy shrimp. Hardly had we finished eating when a timid knock sounded at the door. It was none other than...LAW SCHOOL MELISSA! (da-da-DOOM). Brushing aside our attempts to introduce her to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, we instead watched Little Miss Sunshine, which I liked despite myself, even though Shelly relegated me to the floor halfway through.
Speaking of Shelly, she visited the chiropractor this week, who adjusted her neck and upper back. Unwilling to aggravate her lower back at this point, which is the source of most of her troubles, he instead prescribed some natural anti-inflammatories and ice for the swelling, and fish oil for help with the joints (contrary to my expectations, Shelly does not have to ingest a spoonful of translucent, milky, mucousy, fish-smelling liquid; the oil comes in capsules). So maybe after taking those steps, he'll be able to help her this coming Wednesday when she goes back.
Ok, that's all I have time for. The Superbowl is coming on, and Shelly and I are having our own, private party.
Talk to you soon! ;)