Oh, Yeah, my Blog!



I knew there was something that I forgot! Sorry about that!


First thing's first: According to the website here, blogger is now available in Malay! Now all the Malaysia users can blog in their own native language! Sleep better at night knowing that this grave injustice has been rectified!


Well, a bunch has happened since last I posted, so let's jump right in. I'll try to go in chronological order, as well as I can remember it.


So, maybe I mentioned this, maybe not, but for Shelly's 3rd day of Birthdays, her true love gave to her... a large grill from Home Depot, after innumerable dropped hints regarding the matter. I dutifully lugged it home and assembled it, but unfortunately, I'm not the studly, well muscled wrestler I once was (if you laughed and said anything in the vein of "yeah, right" after that, you're forever banished from reading my blog, on your honor). In hoisting the box containing said grill onto my shoulder, I did something to my back. To bring that story to its rightful conclusion, this week, I went to see Shelly's chiropractor, Dr. Prebeck (almost like a literary character's name, isn't it? Think "Free Back"), and he got me pretty well straightened out, though I'm still icing my low back this weekend, and dulling the pain with bottles and bottles of painkillers. Since I mentioned the grill in that last paragraph, here's a picture of me using it for the first time:


So, going back to the week before this last one, Erika came over with Charlotte! Here's a picture of Charlotte, again demonstrating how big she is!

They had come over to feed the geese; unfortunately, when we went to get the bread out of Erika's 4-runner, in a transparent ploy to spend more time with us, we found she'd locked her keys inside. I'm nearly certain Charlotte had never before heard her mother use the resulting words; one of them even rhymed with one of the waterfowl we'd been going to see, the ubiquitous 'duck'!


With that particular Hawkins drama successfully resolved, that leads us to last weekend, when my parents dropped in! Fresh from a midnight ride down through MD, VA, and NC, they arrived at 12:30 am last Saturday. Despite my assurances that I'd be awake when they arrived, Shelly had finally taken revenge on my attempted drugging of her from two years ago and slipped me a muscle relaxer; I barely woke up the next morning, much less at midnight when they arrived. (Actually, that was a mercy drugging, since my back was killing me)


Over the course of the next two days, Dad and I cut into sheet rock, rearranged plumbing, installed outlet boxes in the 120 degree attic (OK, that one was all me), and replaced ceiling fans. I'm now happy to report that all the outlet boxes in the ceiling are up to par, and all the upstairs ceiling fans are now functional (IE, they don't wobble hypnotically). Here's a picture, commemorating the last of the ceiling fans!


Also that weekend, the two of them took Shelly and I out to Chili's for our anniversary. We'll have been married two years this Tuesday! For our actual anniversary, Shelly is taking the first half of the bar exam, and I'm trying to stay out of her way lest she slay me at last. In a token of friendship, Erika will be bringing us dinner that night, which we both much appreciate. Thanks Erika!


So, this past week. Well, I need to tell you what my wife did. After talking to me on the phone, and hearing how depressed I was at work on Tuesday (everyone was in a bad mood), Shelly went and bought the whole office Starbucks coffee and cookies, using a gift card someone had given to her. The change was almost immediate; everyone was telling me to thank her, everyone was perky and cheerful- it was astounding the difference it made. I really married an amazing woman, didn't I? Not only did she listen to me, she actually thought of a way to help... and pulled it off!

Oh, you should all also know that I rescued another turtle off the side of the road. This one was a regular painted turtle, so I really did just pick him up and take him to the pond. I have a picture of him, but Shelly and I are both in it, and to use her term, we look "to' up from da flo' up". (I apologize for even trying to get that right- it echoes LaToya's admonishments that I not try to use her phrase of choice 'little homey' back at her; in her recent words 'you don't have to pronounce every single syllable!'). So the adventures of Chris DeAdder, Wildlife Rescuer!™ continue!


And that leads us into this weekend. Old friend and coworker Steven Royster got married; with Shelly studying for the BAR exam, I went all alone, no one there beside me. I arrived a mere 20 minutes early and had to sit in the balcony of Mount Carmel Baptist Church. I quickly came to the realization that it was better to be Shelly-less on this occasion, as the chairs were uncomfortable and the balcony a balmy 90 degrees. After a brief ceremony, during which I reflected that it seemed my own ceremony had come and gone in the blink of an eye, and also during which I snapped several pictures that universally look like I shot them on a time delay, we all herded into the mercifully air-conditioned reception hall, where I actually got some good pictures. And heeeeeeere they are!

















Alright, that's enough for one night, don't you think? For any who don't know, I'm heading off to the Outer Banks next Saturday for an entire week, so there will be no postings while I'm gone. I will try to get one more up before I go, though, just to tide you over.
Goodnight, all!

Psych

OK, just to be sure I receive no more panicked emails, yes- I was kidding. Well, half kidding- the turtle thing really did happen, but I didn't get impatient and try to pick him up, losing half a finger.
Shelly and her mom came with our large kitchen trash can, and I shoveled him in there and walked him over to the lake, where he happily took to the water.
That staged picture looked pretty good though, didn't it? :) It's amazing what some gauze and a red permanent marker can do!
However, I re-thought the whole thing after Jen emailed me this:

"Okay, I just read your blog this morning? I can't actually tell, but I want to say that the tip of your finger is gone? Is that true?? That looks so painful. I called Tim immediately this morning and told him. He has been calling me back all morning to find out an update. Anyway, email me if you can?"

It made me feel somewhat bad that I was making my friends worry, so I called her right away and told her the truth. Hopefully no one else was tramatized too much.

So, today was Shelly's birthday!! Fresh and excited by the fact that she wasn't waking up next to a maimed husband, she went and picked up Jen Glass from the airport, and then her and Jen and Mary all had breakfast (while I was at work, enjoying the pleasures of the front desk). Later in the morning, Shelly's dad came into town, and they spent the day together (while I was, again, at work- not that I can really expect much sympathy after what I put everyone through with my last entry). I actually came home early, not feeling especially well, and we all went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory- I have a picture from that but my camera's in the car and I'm not going to get it right now. Then we walked across the square and saw Hancock.

I liked it, though I think they could have toned down the profanity a bit. And there honestly wasn't really much of a story- actually, it was more like there were two movies altogether. The first part of the movie, what all the previews focus on, is him being a drunken superhero that everyone hates, and then cleaning up his act. The second part was totally separate, focusing on his backstory (which got nary a mention until halfway through). The real weakness of the movie, though, was the villian, who was basically just some two-bit criminal. I have to imagine there will be a sequel, with a villian a little more worthy of the hero.

Alright, well, I'm heading off to bed. Thanks for caring, guys, and sorry to scare you. Cut me some slack, though, OK? I didn't get to play any jokes for April Fools!

Happy Independence Day

Well, the Fourth was good enough, but for reasons that will become abundantly clear later, I haven't had the best weekend.

For Independence Day, my absolute favorite holiday of the year, Shelly's mom came up to visit. Instead of grilling out this year, not having a grill, we instead reacted our Rehearsal Dinner (minus the scorching Rehearsal part) and had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's.

Forgoing the monumental crowds in Cary, where we went last year, the three of us traveled to Durham and parked in a Kia dealership parking lot to enjoy to enjoy the fireworks at the Durham Bulls stadium.

However, God had other plans, and gave us his own fireworks show. Within minutes of us parking, the sky opened up, and rain started coming down in buckets. Lightning struck all around the area (we were pretty sure that it hit a neighboring building), and about ten minutes into the storm, the power went out. So, no man-made fireworks this year, but we sure did get to see a heck of a show.

So, Saturday. A day that will live in infamy for me forever. Shelly had to study for the bar all day, so Mary and I went out frolicking together. First, we went to the Farmer's Market in Raleigh, and bought Hostas and Hydrangeas for the garden. After a quick drop off, so they wouldn't die in the car, the two of us went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which I liked much better than I thought I would. Incidently, it occurs to me that I owe that movie an apology- the Communists were actually the villians, not the Nazis, which is totally fitting for a film set in the 1950's. And it turns out, I'd actually misread the review that I was going off of that said that. Oh well, my apologies, I too can make mistakes, it seems.

If only that had been the worst one I made. Later on, on the way home, I noticed something on the side of the road as we neared the house. Asking my mother-in-law to back up, I got out to investigate. Yep, just as I suspected, wildlife in danger.

Time for another episode of...

Chris DeAdder, Wildlife Rescuer!

Mary went back to the townhouse (which was within walking distance by this point) to retrieve Shelly. She was gone an abnormally long time, long enough that I got impatient and decided to pick up the beleaguered individual and take him back to the lake. What I did not count on was that this animal had a longer neck than I anticipated, and was also slimy enough from the water that when he struggled, I lost my grip a little. Between those two miscalculations, he was able to reach behind and bite my finger.

"No problem, Chris," you say. "You've been around ducks and geese a lot, and they can't really hurt you. What's the big deal about one of them them biting your finger?"

Well, read back. I said 'wildlife', not 'waterfowl'. Here's what I was actually dealing with:

According to this helpful article at wikipedia, which I read a day too late, it's not at all unheard of for snapping turtles to amputate fingers.

Anyway, a trip to the UNC emergency room and night in the hospital later, the doctors released me with a stern admonishment to leave animal control to the authorities. Don't worry, lesson learned:

Well, I still have two knuckles worth of index finger, at least. And the pain medicine isn't making me sick anymore, at least. But sorry, folks, I think that was the series finale of Chris DeAdder, Wildlife Rescuer. No more crazy stories from here on out.

Alright, I am starting to feel a little woozy again, so I'm going to head to bed again. I hope everyone had a better weekend than me.