Wed-nes-day

So I handed my attorney a check for $750 and proceeded to watch him open a Microsoft Word document, add some names, add some addresses, print it out make a copy for me. That was just the retainer fee; there's at least $250 more in my future. And if we have to make more than one court appearance, he gets $150 an hour. He's helping me out though. I must remember that. Yes, he's helping me. The legal papers will be served tomorrow, so I should be getting cussed out by phone sometime tomorrow afternoon. C'est la vie, I guess.

Ah McKellan... How I love thee

Upon arrival at church around 1:30 for 2 PM services...

Nick: Daddy, where is everybody?

Me: Nick, everyone's not here yet. We're early. People will get here soon.

Nick: Wow! We've NEVER been early before!

Anderson folks will appreciate that one.

NBA action is fantastic

The NBA playoffs have been absolutely amazing. All of the big guns for the playoff teams have performed as expected, and in some cases, beyond what was expected, even for superstars. Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat is shooting near 70% from the field against one the defending Eastern Conference champions, whose trademark is (was?) defense. Shaquille O'Neal, also of the Heat, has forgotten that he's supposed to be on the downside of his career. Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks has crossed the threshold of mere very-goodness to great with one play against the San Antonio Spurs; likewise, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns has shown that maybe he did indeed deserve that MVP trophy. Detroit, the team with no superstars, the team that epitomizes the word TEAM, teeters of the verge of elimination, while their first-year coach is hearing the ghosts of playoff failures past. The games have been exciting and hotly contested. As my squad (the 76ers) didn't even make the playoffs, I've adopted the Miami Heat as my favorite to win it all. That way Shaq gets a championship without Kobe. Yes, I know that's petty. Here's to 3 more weeks of give-and-goes, pick-and-rolls, and alley-oops!

Quickie

A quick blurb before I run to meet the bus. The church picnic in Charlotte was fun - they learned not to have it in August, for one. Guess who pitched for the first time ever? My line: 1 IP, 9 runs, 28 hits, 6/7 errors, 5 ER. Of course when I came up to bat it was time for the blessing of the food, and the game never resumed. I think we only had one casualty - let's just say that time is catching up to Mr. Lyons' ankle. Nick and Noah had a blast; Noah fell asleep in his seat before we could even make it out of the parking lot. The trip to my folk's place was pretty uneventful and quite hot. I must get the A/C fixed this week. That is #1 on the to-do list (not counting my meeting with my attorney tomorrow to set up legal visitation). I'm definitely asking for the Feast - wait, it's 8:16 and the bus comes in 4 minutes. Bye!

Edit: I hurry to the bus stop to find out that the schedule is different in the summer... The next bus doesn't arrive until 8:50.

Checking in

Check out our new kitchen with the avocado green countertops. It definitely has a 70s feel to it.


The living room before the boxes.



Future $20,000,000 man




Nick has oficially been turned on to Spaceballs. Today he's being indoctrinated into the adoration of all things Godzilla. I've gotta run now; we've got some shopping to do before sundown. Maybe we can finish unpacking over the course of the weekend. Oh wait, we're going to Charlotte Sunday, and probably on to Clio Sunday night/Monday. Dad's all giddy b/c he finally has a computer. It's full of architectural drawings and software, but at least it's a functioning computer. It's much better than the Commodore 64 he bought 10 years after they became obsolete.

Withdrawal

Post(s) forthcoming. No internet access at the new crib.

Fool me once...

...shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you - and I guess that means I'm stoopid.

Noah tends to get up in the middle of the night and makes his way to our bed to feed nurse. I always wake up on the edge of the bed with his feet in my back, our bodies forming the letter 'H'. Yesterday, I wake up to find a nice, cold, wet spot in the center of the bed where his diaper overflowed. Too much H₂O the night before, I guess. OK. This morning I wake up to find another wet spot in between us; this time with lumpy white particles on the sheet and pillow. Let's just say that I think Noah OD'd on milk and poppy seed rolls last night. I think it's time he learns to sleep in his own bed.

Oh yeah - FYI: Young kids and venetian blinds don't mix.

Biblios

Some books I loved as a kid/young buck. Some I need to re-read, as my memory of them is somewhat sketchy. These will be in the kids' library. Definitely.

• A Wrinkle in Time, The Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet - Madeleine L'Engle
  
• Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
  
• Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo
  
• The 21 Balloons - William Pene du Bois
  
• The Martian Chronicles/The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury
  
• Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
  
• Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George
  
• Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
  
• The Chronicles of Prydain - Lloyd Alexander (The Book of 3, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The High King)
  
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert C. O'Brien
  
• Sounder - William H. Armstrong
  
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
  
• Animal Farm - George Orwell
  
• The Cricket in Times Square - George Selden/Thompson
  
• Old Yeller - Fred Gipson
  
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle - Beverly Cleary
  
• Where the Wild Things Are - Max Sendak
  

Thank you, English teachers, Mrs. Powell (4th-grade Gifted and Talented Teacher), Childcraft/World Book Encyclopedia, and the Troll book order program for introducing me to the wonderful world of lit. Oh yeah, and my favorite children's Bible. There's nothing quite like losing yourself in a fascinating world that someone created in their head and captured on paper. Too bad journal articles don't excite me the same way.

Monday

About a year ago, I posted something of an autobiographical sketch which covered my early years. (It was May 6, '05 if you're interested.) I was sitting here reading old posts when I realized I'm glad I started this blog. Reading the archives brought up memories and feelings that had been buried since I initially captured them on "paper". I'm looking forward to reading them again a few years from now, and see how I've changed over time.

We went by the Brooks' after services this week for one last hang-out with Ashley before the move to Ohio. We had a great time as usual, and finished off the night with an airing of "War of the Worlds". It was... interesting. I didn't like many of the characters in the movie, though Tom Cruise's character becomes tolerable by the end of the movie. The ending, while true to the H.G. Wells story, seems sorta rushed and the movie seems to end as if the studio just ran out of money and decided to wrap it up wherever they were. The Martians were pretty cool, although they appeared to me to be the same aliens from "Independence Day". I wonder how they rigged up those death rays to not damage clothing at all.

Luckily for Charlotte, the softball game this Sunday was rained out. Now the offensive juggernaut that is Anderson will have the opportunity to practice once or twice before we head up to make up the game. Maybe that rainout wasn't so lucky for Charlotte after all. Especially with our dead-eye pitcher having another few weeks to prepare.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

Warning: Title of post has nothing to do with the actual post.

It's been some week. I've started the Couch-to-5K program again, and I'm trying to drag the M.r.S. along. We both made it through day one with a little residual soreness. We're going out this afternoon for day two. Hopefully Nick can keep Noah occupied by pushing him around in his stroller; if not, well, we'll figure something out. The prospect of jogging while carrying 25 lbs. of jiggling boy around on my shoulders is not appealing.

We're supposed to be moving in 10 days. I guess we should start packing. Perhaps we can have a big get-together at the crib 2 days before we move again. In reality, everything will probably just get tossed into boxes on Mother's Day. Hopefully this is our last move before I graduate and purchase our first home. I'm really looking forward to having grass to mow, a garden to plant, gutters to clean, etc... I think I'll start looking now for some garish oil paintings for the walls. Something that has dogs playing poker or something like that.

Well, I've got to run and take my daily dose of The Cream and The Clear, and my daily injection of human growth hormone - after all, I've got a softball game to prepare for. Have a wonderful Sabbath, dear reader.

Edit: It's 7:34 and the M.R.S. is in Wal-Mart. Looks like Couch-to-5K is out for today.

Busted!

I went to Jalen's school for lunch today. He was quite surprised to see me - especially since he happened to be sitting at the "lunch detention" table for talking in class. I talked with the teacher who sent him to detention while I was there, and she assured me he wasn't usually a problem. Of course, by the time I see him again, I'll probably have forgotten this transgression.

I just met with a faculty member to pick her brain about a direction for my project. She gave me a couple of ideas which I'm about to read up on; hopefully, I'll still be able to get out of here next year. Now it's off to read some microsatellite papers. Ciao!

Feelin' old

My body shouldn't feel this bad after 3 games of basketball. I don't know what kind of shape I'll be in after this Sunday's softball game in Charlotte. Some practice beforehand would be nice, seeing as how I haven't played competitive softball since I was 18. (Well, there was one failed attempt to play intramurals in 2000, but I'd rather not talk about that.)

Today I became the father of a teen-ager. *sigh* Where has the time gone? I now know why parents make videos of their kids doing random things like playing in the living room. We watched a video last night of Nick playing in his walker and taking a bath in the kitchen sink when he was a baby. Again, where has the time gone? And man, could you ever see the resemblance between him and Noah!

Oh, and for you Anderson folx, this week's sermonette will either be about sin, God, or some combination thereof.