Glorious Monday!

Drive-by comments aside, it was a pretty good weekend down here in North Carolina.

We started things right out of the gate Friday afternoon, when Shelly picked me up after work and drove us over to the Carolina Inn, where we met up with Erika and Charlotte. They were having a fund raiser for the UNC NICU, which Erika has been a part of ever since Charlotte was born. (Actually, I’m sure I got something wrong there, but no doubt Erika will helpfully post a comment and correct me, right Erika?) They had bluegrass music and food and drinks, and the turnout was quite high, helped, no doubt, by the exceptionally pleasant weather. I didn’t think to bring my camera (that would have meant I’d have had to lug it around at work all day), but I took a bunch with Erika’s, so as soon as she forwards some of those to me, everyone can have a look at them. No pressure. :)

As a bit of an aside here, that Charlotte seems to have quite a knack for dancing! No doubt she’ll give her parents fits in later years, as she sneaks out and puts those burgeoning skills to use!
After the fundraiser, the four of us walked down to Ben and Jerry’s, where we all had some ice cream. I ordered some kind of sundae concoction, which was based on a brownie, and mounted with ice cream (my choice of flavor), chocolate syrup, and any additional toppings I might like. I originally chose chocolate ice cream with M&M toppings, but the girls cautioned (wisely, as it turned out) against such chocolate monogamy, so I switched the ice cream to vanilla.

Saturday, Shelly and I managed to squeeze a gym excursion into our morning routine (we actually had a bit of an argument- totally my fault, honestly- that I channeled into knocking a solid minute of off my pace per mile). We worked around the house in the afternoon, doing some needed laundry and other chores (despite our best efforts, the plants in our hanging baskets had given up the ghost, so I disposed of them), and then met up with the Hawkinseses at Brixx for dinner. Afterwards, the five of us went back to their place to hang out; after putting the little one to bed, the adults played Taboo, which resulted in Jason and I getting beaten rather soundly by the girls. Of note, the regular buzzer to the game was broken, so we substituted Charlotte’s ‘Elmo Remote’; I must say, it was downright bizarre to hear Elmo’s voice intoning ‘rubber ducky!" and chuckling in response to my violation of one of the taboo words.

Sunday was fairly lazy, with Shell and I getting up and going to church, then having lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s, then watching Taken in the afternoon. It was a good movie; Liam Neeson is usually worth watching (even in his less-impressive movies, it’s more the actors around him that are the problem), and he didn’t disappoint this time. Later in the evening, we went to feed the waterfowl again, and were gratified to see that all the ducklings and goslings we saw before are still doing fine (ducklings in particular seem to have about a 30% mortality rate, judging by the last couple of years). But Sarah (their mother) seems to have things well in hand, as all eleven of them made an appearance again last night.

In other news, despite several phone calls, I have still not heard from my dear sister about a possible visit sometime this month. So, sister, you might want to contact me! We have open weekends but they’re filling up fast, as we’re in high demand! So act now, operators are standing by! :)

Finally, I’m waiting with baited breath for word of my CCW permit, since I applied for it on March 8th, and by law, the Durham Sheriff’s office has 90 days to give me an answer one way or another. Since I’m sure I would have been notified by now if I’d been disqualified (which would have shocked me, since nothing in my record would have justified that), I assume that they’re simply waiting the maximum amount of time allowed them before telling me yes. I’ll let you all know about that once I hear something.

Alright, that’s about all I have to say. I’ll catch you next time (which, you might have noticed lately, is likely to be happening sooner than you think, so check back regularly)!