steph and the 5k (summer of happy #1)

As I kick off The Summer of Happy -- 100 happy things in 100 days over 75+ posts and 75K words -- I thought what better way to start that with someone who makes you happier than I do... The Lovely Steph Leann guest posts on her 5K adventures. She wrote it in early April, but I held it until now, just for this purpose.

This past weekend, I participated in my first 5K. I use the word “participate” as I walked most of the course. One of my dearest friends (we’ve known each other since 9th grade), talked me into it, in only a way a best friend can do. She knew I needed to work out, and was hoping this would give us both the motivation to a weekly routine. We started out meeting at Valleydale Church for a weekly aerobics class. Little did we know it was like some fitness routine out of The Biggest Loser. I must admit, I cheated most times we did any running by cutting out a lap or two. Otherwise, I might still be trying to finish. But, all that’s beside the point. Back to my 5K experience.

DeLisa signed us up for the “Color Me Rad 5K.” I gotta be honest here, a color run isn’t something I was all anxious to do. Much better than the “Warrior Run” where you run through mud (umm, no thank you), this still required that I would be getting “dirty.” And, breathing in colored cornstarch. I can’t imagine that it’s GMO-free cornstarch, either. Lucky for me, we haven’t completed our conversion to GMO-free dieting yet, so my only obstacle is getting dirty. And the fact that DeLisa wanted me to run at least part of the course. I have a philosophy on running, and it’s pretty simple. I don’t. Run. Things don’t stay in the same place when I run, and it hurts. Not to mention the last time I tried to run for exercise I ended up with stone bruises that hurt for a week. Yeah, never tried that again.

But, DeLisa asked me to and I’m a sucker to do anything my friend asks me to do (at least, for the most part). You know, it’s pretty funny that we’re even friends, now that I think about it. She’s athletic and enjoys the outdoors. I’m about as girly, girly as you can get and the outdoors has things that live there and I don’t want to be exposed to them. But anyway, race day.

Fortunately for me, the race didn’t start until 10. So, I got to sleep in until about 7:30. I’ve read on some Disney Blogs about people having to get up at 3 a.m. (this hour exists?) on race day, and I’m thinking, not sure about that. I get up and shower, and yes, I showered before going to sweat for an hour with colored cornstarch all over me – if you had my really superfine hair, you’d shower, too. DeLisa and a couple of other ladies, Jane and Jillian, picked me up and off we went to the Hoover Met.

The excitement is building on the way as I eat my breakfast – apple slices and peanut butter. I remind all the ladies that it will most likely take me an hour to finish the race – I’m realistic that way. But, they’re all cool, no biggie, it’s going to take me about that long – yada, yada, yada. We get there and there are people of all ages and fitness levels. All in their white tees and some in white shorts/pants. I saw this one guy in some really tight white shorts. Burned into my memory, I tell you. Scarred for life. There was even a Yeti.

We all made use of the port-a-potties (I didn’t really have to go, but preventive measures and hope that I wouldn’t have to be bothered again the rest of the morning came to mind, so I took advantage of the opportunity) and then gathered and people-watched until the race started. We were casualties in other attendees’ color warfare, so we were already a little painted before we started. Then they called us to the start line.

We ended up being in the third wave, which was cool. The announcer guy yelled “go” or something like that and off we went through a thick cloud of colored dust. I tell you, I jogged all the way down the hill with my friends. Then I ran out of jog-steam, and yelled to them to have a good race, and I slowed my pace. There were some hills, and I wasn’t expecting that. But, I kept going. I didn’t cut one corner, though there was opportunity. I kept hearing DeLisa’s voice in my head telling me that she knew I’d walked at least 3 miles at the Disney theme parks, so she knew I could walk this, even if I didn’t run it. BUT, what she never knew was I doubt I’d ever walked 3 miles at one time in a Disney park. And most of those are pretty flat. I’ve been close, the Soarin’ debacle of 2007 comes to mind, but I doubt it’s been a whole 3 miles.

(d$ note--The Soarin' Debacle was in 2007, when The Lovely Steph Leann and I were around the American Pavilion in Epcot, when we realized our Fastpasses--the old paper tickets--for Soarin' ended in the next 15 minutes. Not knowing that we could show up past the "end time", we high tailed it across Epcot... and when I say "across Epcot", I mean across the ENTIRE PARK. American Pavilion was about as far from the front gate as you can possibly get, while Soarin' is in a building near the front... so it was a fast walk in 15 minutes, a walk that The Lovely Steph Leann paid for dearly with sore feet, heaving lungs and bruised calves. Not magical, I tell ya, not magical indeed)

I heard lots of great conversation. Moms/Dads and their kids, encouraging them to keep going. I tried to encourage this one young lady. After our 6th hill, we approached a pretty steep climb. I told her just to take it slow, it’d be ok. She made it up, but after that, she was pretty spent. I think she cut some of the course. And, you know, that was ok. But, for me, I had to complete the whole thing, no cuts. I’m not always good at finishing what I start. I’m a procrastinator. And, I’m lazy. I don’t like to admit it, but it’s true. My twin sister is Scarlett O’Hara, and never have I met a motto I like more than “Tomahrrah is anutha dayuh.” Thank you, Margaret Mitchell for giving the world a valid reason to procrastinate. So, I pressed on.

Up and down the last hill, through the last blasts of yellow, then pink, my shoes rubbing my pinky toe raw, and through that Finish line. I never saw a clock, so I have no idea how long it took me. I know I finished in under an hour, but only barely.

DeLisa on the far right, The Lovely Steph Leann looking colorful (and
lovely) in the middle, and their two 5k mates on the left.

What did I learn? It’s good to finish something. I hope I can pass that on to little Campbell instead of my legacy of procrastination and laziness. Will I do it again? Probably, though I don’t know that I’d actually run the course. Did I mention the hills on that thing? Maybe I can jog the flat parts. The girls are talking about doing the 5K in the fall, and David and I have briefly talked about the Disney races (though, those are timed, and I really have no desire to do actual marathons).

That means I need to get a little serious about training. Unfortunately for today, my inner Scarlett has won and I did not bring workout gear for the exercise room. I go to Atlanta tomorrow for work, returning Wednesday. So, I’ll bring the clothes Thursday. Maybe I can do the fall 5K in 45 minutes…

The 2010 Cool Express

Okay, so its December 28th, with only half of a day today, and three full days left in the entire year of 2011.  And here I am, still 30 cool things away from listing the coolest things of the year 2010.  I could say that life, Campbell, pregnancy, American Idol, audio books, Disney trips and more got in the way of finishing, but lets be real here--I've had 361 full days to complete this list, so truly the only reason is that I'm just lazy.  I mean, I do have ambition when it comes to certain things, but in many respects, I'm as lazy and unmotivated as a Wall Street Occupier.

So rather than try to dish out another three or four posts, I am just going to shoot through this list real quick-like before the year ends, and I am starting The 100 Coolest Things of 2011.

Quick recap for you:
The 100th through 91st Coolest Things of the Year... Alabama's National Title... "Just Wright"... The Miz... Lotso Huggin' Bear... "The Pony Exce$$"... Big Al... "The Other Guys"... Jamie's Post... "Leap Year"... "Iron Man 2"
The 90th through 81s Coolest Things of the Year... "Live Like Your Dyin'"... Zoe's Kitchen.. "Red"... Daylight Donuts... "Death at a Funeral"... Sandra Bullock wins the Oscar... "Morning Glory"... "Undercover Boss"... AllState's Mayhem... "Unstoppable"
The 80th through 71st Coolest Things of the Year... "The Town"... "American Honey"... "The A-Team"... "Tron: Legacy"... Auburn's season... Glee does Queen... "The Wal-Mart Effect"... "The Wal-Mart Effect" Authors response... "Zombieland"... Middle Eastern Night
The 70th through 61st Coolest Things of the Year... Facebook DeFriended App... "Love the Way You Lie"... "Hawaii Five-O"... "Christine"... The Tipulator... "The Book of Eli"... "...featuring Norah Jones"... "Just the Way You Are"... The Candlelight Processional... "Kick-A**"
The 60th through 51st Coolest Things of the Year... Disney's Autism... SI's Playoff Push... "The Expendables"... Dixon's dinner... The New Orleans Saints... "The Fighter"... Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains... new Mickey Gloves... my favorite new hat... "Showgirls, Teen Wolves & Astro Zombies"
The 50th through 41st Coolest Things of the Year... "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part I"... Via Napoli... Stuff Christians Like... Lil Sister Ashley's ring... The Rev'rn Ty Coffey's ring... "Nothin' On You"... Audible.com... "How to Train Your Dragon"... "Under the Dome"... Chris Z's burgers
The 40th through 31st Coolest Things of the Year... Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife... "Firestarter"... Disney in July... "Tangled"... "Break Even"... Sara Barellis... Trey Cartledge... The Film Vault... Pablos... The Keys to the Kingdom Tour

30... "True Grit"
The Clinton Portis novel is a quick read, its narrative is light and well written, and its a great classic, little known western.  And it was almost as good as...

29... "True Grit"
I was a little skeptical about this remake of the John Wayne classic, but just about everything about this movie works.  Jeff Bridges is wonderful as Rooster Cogburn, while Hallie Steinfeld acts well above her age.  Even Matt Damon makes a convincing cowpoke.  Great film.

28... New Wookiee Baby
Wookiee had another one!  Well, Mrs. Wookiee, anyway!  Little Abby Grace... and the only reason this isn't higher is because this is his second one.  Congrats, a year later!

27... New Mikey Baby
Mikey had a baby!  Well, his woman, Ashleia did.  Little Charlotte.  Add that to Big Tom's kid, SyJo, and we've got half a future Deucette.

26... The Weekend with DeNick and DeLisa
Anytime we can go to the beach, its a good thing.  And anytime we can go with friends, its also a good thing.  Hence, spending the weekend with DeNick and DeLisa, and little DeGeorge in October, down on the Gulf Coast.  Great food, comfy room, and just a whole lotta fun.

25... "It" by Stephen King
The books that are known as "masterworks" by King are "The Stand" and the "Dark Tower" series.  Perhaps right under that is "Salem's Lot", and maybe even "The Shining"... but an underrated classic is "IT".  Yes, its the one with the bad clown guy.  Its huge, with a cast of kid characters who grow up to be adult characters, and the story is told in back and forth parallel... one chapter its 1957 and a few pages later, its 1985.

And the story is scary... yet, its more of a character study than anything.  Bill Denborough, the future writer... Ben Hanscomb, the chunky kid turned manly man... Beverly Marsh, the abused girl turned abused woman... Ritchie Tozier, the class clown now and future... Stanley Uris, the local Jew who finds refuge in the group... Eddie Kaspbrak, the weakling both as a boy and as a man... and soon, Mike Hanlon, the black kid who makes a great addition to the group.  Each kid has his/her own issues as a child, and those issues reflect their grown-up world... and they are all thrown back together when the horrific event that unites them as children brings them back as adults--namely, Pennywise the clown, an evil entity that exists in the sewers below the town of Derry, Maine.

Besides Pennywise, the kids also have to deal with the local school bully, Henry Bowers, and his cronies who, at first, are just your beat-em-up, money stealing bullies, but evolve into something a bit more sadistic.  And you begin to see the grip that Pennywise has on the town and its citizens, as the whole town starts dying slowly... not the people, but the town itself.

Its a brilliant book, a great and meaningful story and though its big, its reads easy.

24... Pawn Stars
I will watch this show every time its on.  Rick, Hoss, The Old Man and Chumlee make the 30 minutes its on just a little bit better... and who knew that there was such a market for pirate coins, or Civil War maps or old magazines?  Addictive.

23... "Easy A"
It feels like every year there is one movie that I like a little more than I probably thought I would, and maybe than I should.  In 2010, it was "Easy A".  Emma Stone is a hoot as a high school chick named Olive (who names their kid Olive?  Olivia, sure, but Olive?) who is branded unfairly as a harlot... and decides to use it to her financial advantage.  Also starring Lisa Kudrow, Thomas Haden Church and a hilarious Amanda Bynes, who I dig, plus either Aly or AJ from the Disney duo Aly & AJ (not sure which one), and of course, Stanley Tucci.  Everyone loves The Tuch.

22... Disney in February
What a great trip.  Nine days in Disney, first with Little Sister Ashley and McQ, then on our own, then catching a ride with Snow White and her Sidekick Sarah, it was an awesome time.  I can't elaborate, though, as it was 22 months ago, and I'm having a hard time remembering the details.

21... "Forget You" by Cee-Lo
Yes, I'll admit it.  On my iPod, I've got all three versions, from "F&#( You" to "F-You" to "Forget You", and they all make me laugh.  I tend to make "Forget You" the version I sing along to.

20... Red Mango
All natural frozen yogurt, I hope this shop sticks around when the Fro-Yo craze finally dies, which I think will be soon.

Its got a stellar cast, but the reason to watch this is almost entirely
Jesse Eisenberg's performance.  He makes this movie what it is.

19... "The Social Network"
Its that Facebook movie!  Everything about this movie clicks, from the script to the killer score by Trent Reznor to locale to the cast (even Justin Timberlake!) to the direction... and Jesse Eisenberg is brilliant as Facebook co-creator Mark Zuckerberg.   Love love love this movie.

18... Sirius XM
When I got my new car, Red Robin, I was given a trial subscription to satellite radio.  And I can only describe it by saying it revolutionized my radio experience in the same way that my iPod revolutionized my music listening habits, or DVR revolutionized my TV watching.  I found it difficult to pick only 18 channels to program into the car, out of the 180+ or so... but ended up choosing gems like The Blend, which is pop and rock... and The Bridge, which is classic rock... and 20 on 20, which is modern hits... Coffeehouse, which is acoustic... and of course, the 60s channel, the 70s channel, the 80s channel, and the crown jewel of the radio, the 90s on 9.  When you are traveling to work at 420 in the morning, and "Baby Got Back' comes on 90s on 9, its worth it.

17... Darius Rucker
Hootie!  Hootie!  Hootie!  While I'm sure he's not ashamed of Hootie and the Blowfish, he probably does enjoy being known for more than just Hootie... so I'll give him the props he deserves.  I've always enjoyed him and his talents, but his latest solo CD, "Charleston SC 1966" is rockin' awesome.  He's countrified in every way, starting with the lead off single "The Come Back Song" to his ode to a sparky night with his woman, "Lucky".  Great stuff.

16... "Waking Sleeping Beauty"
Telling the story of Disney's animation renaissance from 1984 to 1994--years that brought "The Little Mermaid" and "Lion King" and more--this documentary is pieced together from archival footage, personal video footage and old interviews.  Don Hahn, a Disney producer, narrates,and if you are a Disney enthusiast and history buff like myself, this film is essential.

15... "Game Change"
Written by political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, the book tells the story of the 2008 presidential election and more importantly the primaries.  It opens up on Hillary Clinton, who was the heir apparent to the White House--she believed it so deeply that even before the primaries were run, she had secretly gotten her White House Transition Team ready to go.  And then, this little Senator from Illinois, Barack Hussein Obama shows up... and not only steals the thunder, but takes the nom from Clinton and John Edwards, who's own issues are highlighted.

More than half of the book is dedicated to the Democratic race, but there is juice in the Republican side too, as it goes through the candidates and their failures to succeed, like Guiliani and Thompson, then it dives into the McCain and Palin race, plus the animosity that builds between them.  Then it takes on the actual presidential race with juicy tidbits and stories, and does so with very little political slant.  Great read.

I love the yellow speedy guy... I can deal with the triplets... the black
bird is the bomb... however, I do hate that boomerangy one.

14... Angry Birds
I won't bother explaining this, because if you know, you know, if you don't you don't.  But the amount of hours spent on this game number in the hundreds, easily.

13... "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum
Great song.  Who doesn't love this song, even though its really about a drunk booty call.

12... The LOST Finale
It took six years to get here, and by this time, I just wanted a good ending.  I wasn't even concerned with tying up all the loose ends (good thing too, because they weren't concerned about that either), I just wanted the story to wrap up nicely and with some point of satisfaction.  Now, you could argue that it didn't come close, and it left too many things unanswered, and thats all valid thoughts... but I liked it.  The second time I watched it, I loved it.

11... Starbucks ASM
After The Happiest Place in the Mall shut down and became Jihad Toys and IEDs, I had to find somewhere to go.  I stayed at Starbucks part time, and was able to come on for what was essentially full time as an hourly barista, but some time around May, I was able to step up to management again.  I became Melanie's assistant manager, and let me just brag and tell you, our store rules.  Man, it feels good to be a gangsta.

So, that's 90 down... how about 10 more to go.  Never fear.  Its already written, I'll just need to tweak a few links and add a few pics.  Another song, a few more movies, some Magic, a hot chick and more... just in time to get ready for The Coolest Things of 2011!

Campbell's Journey Home

So, I have a kid now.  Like, a real life baby.  Another mouth in The Cabana that wants food, another person in this place that will have (or has already) his own personality and thoughts and opinions.  He is upstairs with his mommy, having a late night snack as babies are wont to do sometimes.

Its an amazing thing, really.  For the entire pregnancy, we had no clue of the gender of the baby... was it Lorelei?  Was it Campbell?  Thankfully, we found out early it wasn't both at the same time... but on Thursday, December 1st, at 437p, we found out it was Campbell Isaiah.  And now, I can't imagine a daughter--I can't imagine not having Campbell here in our lives.

But he didn't come home immediately... and neither did The Lovely Steph Leann.  So for your sake, because many of you have asked, and for my own sake, so a decade from now I can recall how it all happened, here's Campbell's journey from birth to The Cabana.

So, hundreds of you read the running diary on the day he was born.  Dr. Babysnatcher snatches him out and they plunk him down on the table to do all their doctory things.   As I said, childbirth was supposedly this beautiful and magical experience and such, but for me, it was just weird.  I wasn't queasy, or it didn't freak me out, it was just... well, weird.  And after the baby was yanked out, Dr. Babysnatcher... okay, you ever been to Panera Bread?  You know how you rake all the extra food and such off of the plate and into the garbage, and it goes into a big pile?  That was kind of what it looked like--the doc was just pulling out all the extra junk.  Weird.

Also, did you know that The Lovely Steph Leann had TWO epidurals?  So, she had decided to go unmedicated for delivery for a variety of reasons, but once admitted to the hospital the day before--turns out she had something called pre-eclempsia, which has high blood pressure and protein in the urine as symptoms--the odds of unmedicated delivery was very slim.

About halfway through the day, after the doc told her that going natural would be very hard and very bad for her because of blood pressure issues, she finally relented and allowed the epidurals.  Of course, I have to step out when the Epidurally Doc comes in, and I learn later that because of her being swollen practically all over, including her back, the epidural given only numbed half of her body.  She was still feeling contractions on the other half--so they had to stick her two more times to get it to work.

The Lovely Steph Leann is known as a sleeper.  Always has been.  So here is my impression of her during birth:

Push push push push ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ what?  I'm awake... push?  ok, push push push push push ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ huh?  push again?  ok, push push push push push pusZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Yup, she fell asleep in-between contractions while pushing.  The nurse looked at me and asked with surprise, "Is she snoring?" and I smiled and said, "Yup.  That would be The Lovely Steph Leann."

So, you know the rest--baby out, mommy in a daze, and daddy given a pair of scissors to cut the cord.

"So here I am, warm, fed, taking a nap... and I'm evicted from my womb
with a view.  Its cold, I'm stark naked, I got fluid and blood in my eyes,
I'm hungry and some dude in a Jedi sweatshirt is coming at my food
supply line with a pair of scissors.  What the fool, man?!"

Let me just say this about that cord thing... for me, it was kind of pointless.  I guess I can put on my Hurricane Rhett Dead Inside pants and say it.  Didn't see the point.  Campbell was already cut from mommy, and all I did was cut the excess from his tummy while he lay in the crib, screaming his fool head off.  I think I was supposed to bond with him, and in truth, I found it distracting because that cord was hard to cut and I was trying to not amputate his little leg off with the scissors.  It would have been different were I to cut him free from mommy, but it was more of a symbol than anything else.  Maybe its just me.

The next 24 hours were a blur.  The Lovely Steph Leann and I were both flat out exhausted, yet almost too exhilarated to rest.  We had already agreed to let Campbell go to the nursery overnight, being brought back to our room only to nurse.  We had a few visitors that night, including Hurricane Rhett and Amarylis By Mornin' (up from san antone), The Rays--both St'ray and C'ray--Bro-in-law Tyler and his Boo Brynn and a few other folks.  My buddy Tebershaw came up and helped me install the carseat base, and our friends The Stampers checked on us daily.

Remember, since Camp decided it would be a good idea to show up, oh, you know, 17 days early, we were still in the old women's center at the hospital, and as (mis)luck would have it, we were in the smallest room on the floor.  The room ended up being quite cramped for a little while.  The Brookwood New Women's Center opened on December 2nd.  The day after Campbell popped out... so on Friday, they wheeled us over to the new building... we were the final patients to be moved, and we were the first (and for a brief few hours, the only) patients on the 6th floor.

The 6th floor is considered the "High Risk" ward, and we could thank The Lovely Steph Leann's roller coaster blood pressure for that honor.  Not that any of the nurses will remember those little nuggets of trivia, or even us for that matter, by now, but its worth mentioning.

A proud Wookiee, proud of the new Ewok in
the tribe.

The second and third nights both brought in a more visitors, like my best mate Wookiee, who came in a sat a while with us, held Campbell, and joined me for dinner.  DeLisa and DeNick also stopped by with their own son, DeGeorge, plus some more family, and of course, Big Daddy Ron (the pops in law) and Mama Ruthless (the mom in law) were there alot.  The Lovely Steph Leann had a blood pressure cuff attached to her arm for the better part of three days or so, inflating and deflating every 10 to 15 minutes.  All day.  All night.  Sucks to be her.

I do have to tell you that the hospital cafeteria food wasn't that bad.  We had several coupons for food, which I happily used over and over--though it was titled "Complimentary Meal Voucher", and in fine print said, "Not  To Exceed $5", which would buy you a parfait and half a co-cola.   Their corn dogs were delish, though.

Now, the trick was actually getting to the cafeteria.  When in the old building, in Labor & Delivery, it wasn't a very long.  The cafe is on the ground floor, so it was a quick walk over.  In the new building, however?  Well, as I learned by leaving a trail of bread crumbs... you take the elevator to the 3rd Floor, which will let you out at the nurses station.  Take a right, go around the atrium and enter the hallway into the old building.  Follow that hall about 150 feet until you come to the nurses station (you'll pass an old lady in Room 3334, usually eating, usually lonely and also another door with four folders on it, labeled Shannon, Dawn, Pam and something else).  Take a right at that nurses station and walk probably another 250 feet down to Elevator A.  Go to the G floor, and the cafe will be right there.  Yep, that's a walk.

Up until this point, its routine.  Campbell has been spending a bit of his time in the blue lights of the nursery because he's got a touch of jaundice, but no big whoop, right?  The Lovely Steph Leann is doing better, and my fold out chair bed is brand spankin' new, and actually pretty comfy.  For whatever reason, the cable TV in the room had no CBS channel, so I didn't get to watch a single down of the SEC Championship game, but it was a blowout, so no big whoop, right?

Smashcut to about 4am Sunday morning.

Though I have slept decently well in the hospital, save for when I tried to move an inch in the old building's chair-bed, I still do that half-awake-can-hear-whats-happening-but-it-doesn't-register thing.  You know what I mean, like when you can understand a conversation or a situation, but the depth or gravity of said convo or situation doesn't really sink in because you are half asleep.

So, once, in college, I had stayed up all night for work, and gotten to bed around 7am the next morning, a Saturday.  I was zonked out completely, though not enough to sleep through the phone ringing.  I answered with a bleary, "heh... he... hello...?" and on the other end was buddy and frat brother Scotty Wilkes, who said, "Hey man, listen, my car won't start.  I have to be at work in like, an hour... I really need a lift, or maybe if I could borrow your car..."  Now, I'm someone who has had car trouble after car trouble all of my life, so my natural response should have been, "Dude, yeah, let me wake up, I'll be right over..." or at least "sure, take my car, just don't wreck."  Instead, I mumbled something about how tired I was, and I wasn't getting up and hung up.  When I woke up a few hours later, I immediately realized what I had done, and called Scotty back.  He ended up calling our friend Spivey, who took him.  Spivey also chastised me for not being willing to help. Deserved.

It was this type of vague recognition that I had when the nurses brought Campbell in around 4am, and then told the already awake The Lovely Steph Leann that he was being admitted to the NICU.  I heard the nurses describe Campbell's jaundice, and how it wasn't getting any better, but also that he had something called "retraction", which is a respiratory issue.  The Lovely Steph Leann got to hold him for a minute, and then they took him, placed him in a crib and wheeled him out.

I drifted back to sleep.

At 6am, she nudged me awake.  I turned over and saw her there, bloodshot and puffy eyes, and she whispered, "Campbell's in the NICU."  I shrugged and simply said, "I know.  I heard."  I sat up and excused myself to the restroom.  When I came out, The Lovely Steph Leann was laying back on her bed, snuffly and a little teary.  I sat on the edge of the bed and held her hand.  "The Lovely Steph Leann... its going to be okay.  I know it is."

She attempted a smile, failed, and then let it fall to a whimper, as she softly said, "I know its probably going to be fine... but all I could think of was Mason."  Mason was the child of Steph's cousin Seth and his wife Cherie, and was only a few months old when God called him home.  I smiled and said, "Well... maybe this is God's way of telling us to stop the complaining about not having time to get everything ready... He's giving us a few more days."

She replied, still softly, "I don't care.  I don't care about the house.  I don't care if anything is ready or never gets cleaned.  I want Campbell to be okay, and come home."  She had a few tears trickle down, and confided that she'd been awake for two hours and had been crying for much of it.  "Seriously?" I said, and I leaned on the reclined bed, put my arm around her and let her weep a little on my shoulder.  "The Lovely Steph Leann, you should never have to cry alone.  Never.  You should have woken me."

We rested there for a few minutes in silence, as the sun slowly rose and daylight began to lighten the room.  After a while, we got our showers, got ourselves gussied up and prepared for the day.  I sent out a few texts, first to my best friend/work wife Melanie, with the simple words, "Campbell in NICU".  She immediately texted back, "Can I come see y'all?"  And within 30 minutes, she met us in the 4th floor lobby, with cookies.  And Melanie, The Lovely Steph Leann and I scrubbed up in the big hand sink and made our way to see Campbell.

Poor kid. He was one cord in the back of the neck away from being a part of The Matrix.  Under the blue lights,in a crib, in the NICU.  Brookwood's new center has a new NICU, and instead of a row of cribs and incubators, each newborn has his or her own room, each with privacy curtains over the doorways that can be opened or pulled closed, each with a recliner for sitting and/or nursing, each with a couch for sitting and/or sleeping.  Its a great set up, and the digs are exemplary... only, the reason you'd need them is not a reason you'd want.  Only daddy (that's me) and mommy (that's The Lovely Steph Leann) are allowed to touch Campbell--we could open the little incubator door and put our hand on him, stroke his back or his hair, or touch his hands--but nobody else could do so.

So there we were.  My two favorite chicks, standing over a crib with my newly appointed favorite kid in the whole world.  It was hard.  Yes, he was in there for some cautionary respiratory issues, yes it was a common jaundice issue, yes he would be fine.  But it was still hard.   This was... is... my child.  Less than four days old, and he's already strapped up with wires and probes and IVs and junk.

Over the course of the day, we made several trips down to the NICU, talked a few times on the phone to friends like JustFish and Ryan Sherman and answered numerous texts from friends and family and such.  The support was absolutely overwhelming.

Dr. Babysnatcher came in that afternoon and checked up on The Lovely Steph Leann, determining that her blood pressure had been a roller coaster, and she was still too up and down to go home just yet.  With permission, I headed home that evening to get some rest, to return Monday morning... I did get a call from my Mama (no, not the dead one, the other one... okay, so my biological mom who... you see, its my "real" mother, not to say the mom who died wasn't my mother but... um... you know, we'll get to that later...)

Anyway, she called me late Sunday night and said, "Hey, I'm coming to see my grandson."  Now, I would love to see her, but I understand this is a long drive--she lives in Andalusia, about 3 hours away--so I tell her my concerns. She basically gives me the pshw and says she will be up in the morning around 7am.  That's good, gives me a little time to catch some sleep.

And of course, the phone rings the next morning with Jan saying, "Hey, I'm 15 miles outside of Birmingham, how do I get to your house?"  Drowsy, feeling like I just went to bed a mere few hours before, I mumble something about how to get to 459, then 280 and how I'll meet her in the Chick-fil-a parking lot in about 20 minutes.  I focus just enough to notice its still pretty dark outside, and as I begin to wonder why its so dark at 705 in the morning, I realize its actually 503am.

She visited for a mere three hours, just enough to see me, see The Lovely Steph Leann and visit with Campbell in the NICU, even though she couldn't hold him. By mid-morning she was leaving, having to work that night at her job... she said to me as she was leaving, "I am glad I came down.  I couldn't stay long, but every second was worth the drive."

Love you, Mama

I drove her back to The Cabana and back to her car, and she was one her way, and I zipped upstairs for a much needed sleep extension... finally, I got up and showered, and after a quick breakfast at Burger King, and a quick stop at Starbucks to see Melanie, the team and grab a hot chocolate, I raced back to the NICU... only to find not much of a change in Campbell's condition.

This was my view for about 45 minutes while I held
my son.

And so it stayed like that for Monday.  The Lovely Steph Leann and I made some frequent trips down to the NICU from our room, but also tried to get a little rest.  Dr. Babysnatcher gave her one more night in the hospital, with blood pressure issues, but let us know it was likely the final evening, saying, "At some point, we have to risk you going home with medication to control your BP issue."

Monday night I slept at home again, having to be at work Tuesday morning early... after work, I again went to the hospital to visit Campbell and The Lovely Steph Leann.  Around 5pm, they released her, though Camp still had a few more days.

Seems to be its customary to keep newborns in the NICU for 72 hours once admitted, which meant that a Sunday admittance would mean a stay through Tuesday night minimum.  Also, they told us that they wanted him to spend at least 48 hours out of the incubator and into a crib, which meant that every day in the incubator kept us at least 2 days from bringing him home.

The Lovely Steph Leann and I drove away from Brookwood Tuesday night, mostly in silence.  Our child was left behind.  We wanted to bring him home and we couldn't, and we couldn't do anything about it.  Quite a helpless feeling.

On Wednesday, I went to work while The Lovely Steph Leann slept in a little, getting some much needed rest.  I made the decision to not visit the hospital on this day, mostly because I just wanted a break.  I'm not someone who can just go and... well, sit.  And sit.  And sit.  Yes, I loved seeing Campbell, and yes I enjoyed being with him, whispering encouragement to him, but really, there's only so much I could even do.  Plus, Mama Ruthless and The Lovely Steph Leann were up there most of the day, so I just came home after work and relaxed.

The good news, however, was that Campbell was moved from the NICU to the nursery... he still remained under the bili-lights for his jaundice, but things were quickly improving.  Thursday he spent all day in the nursery, under the lights, but also out from the lights where The Lovely Steph Leann could nurse and where Mommy and Daddy (and GiGi--that being Ruth, the grandmother) could hold him some too.

Our last few minutes in the hospital.  Five minutes
after this pic was taken, Campbell was loaded
into a car seat, preparing to come home.

Finally, Friday, we got the word that yes, he was being discharged.  Brookwood requires all parents to (a) watch this video on infant CPR... (b) to watch this how-to video on putting your kid in a car seat.... and (c) to actually be shown on your own car seat how it works and how your kid goes in it.  During the first two tasks, I did a double duty of watching the video and nudging The Lovely Steph Leann awake as she drifted every few minutes.

And the moment was upon us.  The doc came in, talked with us for a few minutes about Campbell, how he was doing, a few minor things to watch for, he shook both of our hands, wished us well and he was off.  And Campbell Isaiah was ours for the taking.  And The Lovely Steph Leann and her mom being of the same ilk, they took approximately 4,378 pictures as we were leaving the hospital, another 811 pics as we went to her parents home for a quick bite and then another 1,980 pics as I was walking in the door with Campbell in the car seat.

He's home.

In the days since, its been a little different.  God has definitely given a gift of adaptation to The Lovely Steph Leann, as she's gone from her enjoyment of about 10 to 12 hours of sleep per day to, in the first few days, 4 to 6, and a few weeks later, maybe 6 to 8, but all broken up into 2 and 3 hour chunks, if she's lucky.

Aunt Melanie holding Campbell

We've had a few people drop off food--thanks to The Hitchcocks, The Fishers and The Shermans--and a big thanks to work wife/best friend Melanie and her family for providing a delicious Middle Eastern themed meal the Sunday after Campbell came home.  Melanie stopped by with the food and was the first non-family to hold Campbell outside of the hospital, and as far as our home goes, still the only non-family a few weeks later.  Oh, she's family, who am I kidding.

Another big thanks to The Rays, The Shaws, The Stampers, The Barnetts, The Wookiees, Amy Harris, my pal Mikey, Jeff McG, Tommy Mac, Lil' Sister Ashley and (now) Lil' Brother Brandon, DeNick & DeLisa (with DeGeorge) and anyone else I might be forgetting for their calls, texts, visits and so on.  Your help, love and support has meant the world to us.  (and if I am forgetting anyone, I do apologize.  I do have a 20 day old here...).  And of course, a huge thanks to The Lovely Steph Leann's mom, who has been hugely supportive and helpful not only to her, but also to me, as I've been able to sleep some before I go to work.

Anyway, I won't be one of those dads who do nothing but post pics of their kids online, unless its worth a look.  And I'll keep blogging about love, pride and deep fried chicken and the like, I'll just be a little busier now, that's all.

WAY TO BE RACHEL! (and other random thoughts of basketball, pictures and Bon Jovi)

Some random thoughts I thought I'd mention...

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Due to a computer malfunction, I wasn't able to post the Golden Globe running diary like I always do.  So, I posted it today, with some links and such... you can either scroll down to read it (or if you read this column several months from when it was written, 1/23/11, then just click here to read it...)

THE LOVELY STEPH LEANN'S BAD MEDICINE
The Lovely Steph Leann and I are having dinner at CiCi’s Pizza. It’s a local pizza buffet, and you can even order the pizza you want at the buffet counter. They’ll bring you several slices of it, and its pretty awesome for a $7 meal. I tend to eat more than my $7 would normally buy.

Sitting on the couch, she decided she didn’t want a burger, or tacos, or a sub sandwich, and I didn’t have have a hankerin’ for Chicken Fillet, so I piped up with “CiCi’s Pizza?” It’s a question that I ask and get not just a no, but sometimes a “Aw, haylz to tha’ no”, when The Lovely Steph Leann is feeling especially gangsta, but this night, I got a “Yeah, that’s fine.”



I will take a “that’s fine” any day. So we went to CiCi’s. We are sitting there, she with her cheesesticks and me with my black olives, pepperoni and mushrooms, and she perks up suddenly. She looks towards the ceiling, as do I, and we both hear the same thing… “…and as my broken heart lies bleeding… you say true love is suicide… you say you cried a thousand rivers… and now you’re headed for the shore…”

We then get onto a lengthy conversation about Bon Jovi lyrics, and in that conversation, The Lovely Steph Leann actually gets giddy.  She starts giggling while remembering old Bon Jovi songs, and Jon Bon Jovi himself.  It would be the same for me if the Debbie Gibson "Foolish Beat" video or Alyssa Milano circa 1992 "Who's The Boss" just appeared.

So, later that night, we are both laying in bed about to fall asleep, and I randomly start singing "I'll Be There For You", which results in another long conversation about the differences in that song and "Never Say Goodbye", how Bon Jovi songs tend to reference the bottle as a solution to the pain, how all of his videos are just the band in concert with no story line, and an iPhone interweb search for lyrics to "Blaze of Glory".

Jon Bon Jovi was the stuff back in the late 80s and early 90s, and let me tell ya, every girl I knew loved Bon Jovi.  The band escaped what plagued New Kids on the Block, that being the sissy-boy image that forced all dudes to denounce any sense of enjoyment, whether you liked them or not.  Truthfully, I kinda like a few New Kids songs, including "Tonight", "Step by Steph" and "Please Don't Go Girl", but there's no way I'd say that around the likes of Daniel Stephenson, Shane Gillis or even Greg Avant... but seriously, it was senseless being an open Michael Bolton fan and verbally denouncing Joey, Jordan, Jonathan, Danny and Donnie.

Anyway, it was cool to like Bon Jovi.  "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Bad Medicine", "Livin' on a Prayer" and of course, my favorite, "Blaze of Glory" were songs on the soundtrack to my high school life.  Somewhere around the mid-90s, Bon Jovi kinda feel out of favor overall, his songs no longer hitting the charts on a regular basis, but they are still going strong.  Jon has short hair now, though. 

And The Lovely Steph Leann still gets giddy thinking about it.

SEARCHING FOR BIG BIRD
Another night, we were eating at Mt. Fuji with DeNick and DeLisa, and they had brought Baby George with them.  The food was pretty good and reasonably priced--we had coupons, which is why we went.  The Lovely Steph Leann and I are hibachi fans, but we chose to sit at the regular table, instead of one or the four or five grills they have set up.  The plan was actually to get some sushi, but we all ended up with entree platters. so the hibachi would have been better--though we weren't sure how Baby George would have handled the fire and the rice rice baby and the woo woo choo choo.

We are sitting there, catching up, having a good time, and DeLisa shares that she didn't know what channel Sesame Street came on... until a friend of hers was visiting, and using the remote, went straight to it on the TV.

DeLisa:  I had no idea where it was, and she found it!
Me: You know another way you could have found out?  Just call the cable company.
DeLisa:  Call the cable company?
Me:  Yeah.  Just call them and say, "Hey, can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?"

Ba dum dum

OLD PHOTOS, NEW SOLUTIONS
When The Lovely Steph Leann and I went to Samson a few weeks ago, for Christmas Eve, I had already decided on a plan for something.  In my parents house were about nine photo albums, filled with pictures from the last, oh, I dunno, 30 years and more of my own life, plus the life of my cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, extended family, friends and the like.

Here's my mom and my late father, taken probably '81 or
'82... that shirt was my favorite shirt, and I wore it daily.

The problem?  Well, as its been documented on this here very site, I grew up in a smokers home, so all the albums are full of that stale cigarette smoke that they've been sitting in for two or three decades.  My master plan is to get all the albums, remove every single picture from those albums, air them out, scan them, burn all pictures onto a CD, then send that CD to all the cousins, so they will have all the photos. 

I started almost immediately when I got back.  I've probably scanned over a hundred pics so far, but there are several hundred more to go--each photograph is in an old photo album, where the plastic has to be peeled back, and the photo has to be carefully removed from the adhesive that has held it in place for all that time.   I'll tell you I've accidentally torn a few of them, but nothing disastrous. 

Another problem is in the scanning, as most of the pics were taken with 70s and 80s era cameras, which in my family meant nothing too expensive.  I have a dozen or more pics taken from a visit to the beach at Chesapeake Bay in Virginia taken with a disc camera.   Like, the the camera was a thin square, and the film was a disc that looked like a ViewMaster disc with the white cover removed.  And it had a little slot on the top where you bought and inserted a flash that could be used six times. 

Nowadays, we don't like the picture, one that we take and immediately look at to see its quality, we just delete and retake it.  Back then?  You used your flash only when needed, and wasting a photo was too expensive. 

WAY TO BE RACHEL
Melanie invited myself and The Lovely Steph Leann to watch her daughter, Special K, play some girls basketball.  The team are St. Rose Academy Knights, playing in a Catholic School League, and they were playing the St. Aloysius Somethingorothers...

The Lovely Steph Leann couldn't come, due to a Creative Memories event, but I was all about rooting on young Special K to victory.  The game was an away game for the Lady Knights, coached by Special K's father, Daddy Z himself, so we all rode out to Bessemer, Alabama, to the Catholic Church gym. 

One side of the gymnasium had two rows of chairs, where the teams were warming up, the other side had a small set of bleachers, about six rows, running down the side.  Melanie, Yours Truly, The Zach Attack and Jay-Z walked to the middle, where Knights fans bled into the other fans (and by fans I mean "parents" and random people like me who thought it would be fun to watch), and sat down.  Jay-Z, being of a young teen age, quickly split to go find friends much cooler than his mom and her friend. 

In a pic taken a few weeks before this particular game day, here's
Melanie smothering The Zack Attack and Special K with motherly
love and embarrassing affection.  Cause thats what cool moms do.

The girls who played are all 13 and under, so the game was a low scoring one.  The quarters are 7 minutes each, and by halftime, it was something like 8-0, with The Lady Knights burning it up.  Special K and her teammate, Chase Lake, were rock stars, running that ball through the crowds, getting the fast breaks, and making the plays. 

There was a girl named Rachel, however, on the other team that we all noticed.  Well, there were a couple that caught my attention, one of which I called Tank Girl, cause she was a beast.  Rachel was the other one.  The reason I noticed her?

WAY TO BE RACHEL!!!!!!

I looked at Melanie, she looked at me, we looked around, and there was a large father sitting up by the wall on the top row.  Clapping vigorously, he screamed, "WAY TO GO RACHEL!!"

We both looked back out at the girls teams, and Rachel was giving it her all. 

DON'T LET THEM COME INTO OUR HOUSE RACHEL!!!

Melanie looked at me then cracked up.  "Don't let them come into our house?" she mouthed to me.  "What does that even mean?"

What was even better was by 3rd quarter, The Lady Knights were up something like 10-2. In a game full of pre-teen offense and grade school defense, an 8 point deficit was a heckuva lot to overcome.  Melanie warned me that The Lady Knights always start fast, then have to hold off comebacks, but there wasn't to be much of a comeback today.

MAKE EM EARN IT RACHEL!!!

Which I found to be funny, because The Lady Knights were earning everything, and dominating.  I whispered to Melanie, "Don't eat the ball, Rachel", to which she almost lost it.

THROW IT TO RACHEL!!!!!

This was said several times when anyone other than Rachel had the ball.   Remember, we are in a small gym, so everything echoes in there.  His voice, while loud, was considerably amplified through the walls of the building.

WAY TO GO RACHEL!!!!!
YOU SHOW EM RACHEL!!!!!
EVERYONE ELSE ON THAT FLOOR SUCKS RACHEL, EXCEPT FOR YOU!!!  YOU RULE!!!

I made that last one up. 

Melanie had already warned me that were he to make a bad remark on Special K, she, Melanie, would in fact come unglued.  However, Melanie's glue stayed together, as Loud Father never did such a thing.  To his credit, he never disparaged any other player, he never mocked any other player or either team and he was never insulting to any girl on the floor, or their playing ability. 

I told her that Loud Father was the kind of guy who would be all up in the coaches face if dear Rachel, heading no doubt for the WNBA right out of 6th grade, was benched for any reason, even if it was for an injury.  When Rachel did in fact sit down, which wasn't long, I half expected Loud Father to still yell "THROW IT TO RACHEL!  SHE CAN DO MORE ON THE BENCH THAN YOU CAN ON THE FLOOR!!!" But he didn't, which was probably a good thing.

All in all, it was an enjoyable game, with The Lady Knights scoring the winning basket with less than a minute left, making it 12-4, and putting the game all but out of reach.  So, when the game was over, The Lady Knights victorious, Melanie and I met the others on the court, and I shouted, "WAY TO BE, SPECIAL K!" to which I got prodded by Melanie. 

"What?" I looked at her.  She smirked.  Then laughed.  Cause I'm awesome.

QUICK THOUGHTS
**Went to the Waffle House this morning for breakfast.  The one on 280 has a health rating score of something like, 85.  Normally, this would dissuade me from going to a particular restaurant, but Waffle House is in a class all its own.  Its my theory that at Waffle House, the higher the health score, the worse and more bland the food will be.  Waffle House health rating of 96?  Clean restaurant, sure, but its missing all the stuff that makes the food good.  Waffle House health rating of 85?  Now THAT is a restaurant with secret ingredients to make those hash browns perfect.  Sold.

**The Lovely Steph Leann and I enjoy watching television shows on DVD, mostly because we can knock out an entire season in a week or two... we just finished CSI: Crime Scene Investigation's tenth season--I think I've actually watched less than five episodes when they actually came on television.  Other shows we catch on DVD include Grey's Anatomy, and the last two seasons of LOST.  Now?  We are diving headfirst into Mad Men.  So far, its pretty awesome... especially the authenticity--like the pregnant woman smoking (everyone smokes on this show, probably like they did in real life) and the kids playing while wearing big plastic bags over their heads.

**Just finished Walt Disney's biography.  Going to try to work a review in soon... its a massive book that was massively entertaining.

**Yes, yes, I know its the middle to late part of January, and still not a 100 Coolest list.  I have it, but I just haven't written it out yet.  Its coming, I promise.  Soon.

**Speaking of Disney, I'm so flipping excited about going in February.  We leave for Walt Disney World on February 3rd, and don't return until February 13th... here is what we are doing while we are there:  The new Wild Africa Trek... Hoop-de-doo-Revue... La Nouba... the Epcot Segway Tour... eating at Kouzzina... eating at Rose & Crown... eating at Via Napoli... eating at Le Cellier... and, the reason we are going actually, an all day Disney World Trading Pin Event at Epcot on January 5th.  We've already got a lot of pins reserved for purchase, so we are pumped that we get exclusive merchandise. 

**Oh, and lest I forget, we are meeting some very dear friends while we are there, and going together to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventures. 

In 12 days!

Birthday Paintings (and other thoughts)

Everyone had their favorite cereals growing up.  I loved several, though, including Cookie Crisp, Count Chocula and Frankenberry, Pebbles of all types, be it Fruity or Cocoa, and Lucky Charms.  When I ate Lucky Charms, I always at all the pieces that were not marshmallows, then at the end, had like, one or two huge scoopfuls of nothing but 'mallow.  It was awesome.

My cereal tastes really haven't gotten all that refined as an adult, though I steer more towards the less sugary, less cartoony kind.  Don't get me wrong, I still like a bowl full of Fruity Pebbles, but I do enjoy Corn Chex (or Kellogg's Crispex, which is essentially the same thing) or some Rice Krispies.

But two I usually have, or at least rotate through are Frosted Mini Wheats and Kellogg's Raisin Bran.  I have the latter in my house at this moment, though I do dig on the former a little more.  Problem is, its so cotton' pickin' expensive.  A good box of Frosted Mini-Wheats will cost you upwards of 4, maybe even 5 dollars. 

Sure, I could go to Wal-Mart, where many times items are a bit cheaper... however, Wal-Mart doesn't carry the Mini-Wheats I want.  I want the Mini-Wheats in the red box.  I want the Mini-Wheats that are frosted, they are about two inches long per... well, the box says "biscuit", but I'd just call it a "mini-wheat"... anyway, I want the regular Frosted Mini-Wheats.

Worked at Starbucks tonight, and after work, I stopped by Wal-Mart to get some milk...

...is there anything worse than having like, a half-inch of milk when you really want some cereal?  Like, just enough milk to wet whatever you pour in a bowl, but if you pour more than a half-inch of cereal, you have dry cereal... its dreadful... where was I?

...and some cereal.  Checked out the cereal aisle, and studied the mini-wheat selection.  I'd been here in this very aisle before, with the same results.  There are Frosted Mini-Wheat Little Bites, Chocolate Mini-Wheat Little Bites, Cinnamon Streusel Bite Size, Cinnamon Streusel Regular, Blueberry Muffin Bite Size, Strawberry Delight Bite Size, Maple and Brown Sugar Bite Size and Maple and Brown Sugar Regular Mini-Wheats.

But no Regular Sized Frosted Mini-Wheats.  Can't a guy get some Frosted, regular size Mini-Wheats?  I don't ask for much, really.  I did end up buying some Eggo Waffle Cereal, because it was only $2.00 and it looked like it might be good and not good for me.  Always a plus. 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

This past Saturday was The Lovely Steph Leann's birthday celebration.  Her birthday is actually next Saturday, but she'll be out of town, so we celebrated a little early.  I had to work Saturday morning, but still had our friend Cah-Lah Rah pick her up at 11a, take her to lunch to meet her (our) friends DeLisa, The Dainty Steph Halpert and Emmy Turnbow, then off to Painted By U, owned and operated by Amarylis By Morning (up from san antone) to meet up Mama Ruthless and The Lovely Steph Leann's sister and kids for a big pottery paintin' party.




Here's Cahlah Rah, The Lovely Steph Leann, DeLisa and The Dainty Steph Halpert

 Had to do a bit of rushing around after I got off work, though.  Had to pick up dessert (chocolate covered strawberries), had to run into Wal-Mart (somehow I always do), and I had to go into The Dollar Tree for a couple of gift bags.

While I was in Wal-Mart, I picked up a few things needed for The Lovely Steph Leann's big day, and also a bottle of water, because I was thirsty as all get out.  So, when I walked into The Dollar Tree, I didn't think anything about taking my water with me, sipping/gulping as I did my quick shopping.  I ended up with two gift bags and, did you know they do Mylar Balloons there?  I got two of those.

I bought these at Edible Arrangements.  They are very
pricey, but extremely tasty.

The girl ringing me up just did not enjoy her job.  Don't know if it was that she was in her mid-30s, maybe 40s, and was working retail at The Dollar Tree, don't know if she had a personal issue in her life that was just keeping her from enjoying her day, but she didn't want to be there.  I was bothering her with my gift bag and my balloons and my smile and my "how are you today?" and my easy-to-please purchases. 

"That's $4.38" she says.
"Alrighty," I replied cheerfully, running my card through the swiper.  She put my bags into a plastic bag, then glanced down at my half-full bottle of water.

"Did you get that here?" she said suspiciously.
"Nope, bought it at Wal-Mart a few minutes ago.  Didn't even know you sold Dasani water."
"We do," she said, smirking at me, glancing at my water, and back up at me again.

"I got it at Wal-Mart," I said again.  I paused, and then added, "I have the receipt in my car.  I'll be happy to get it for you."

She smirked again, not believing anything  a word I said.

The rest of the day was just smashing, however.

You can contact Amarylis by Morning (up from san antone) at Painted By U by calling 205-988-8933, visiting their website at www.paintedbyu.com, or find them on Twitter and Facebook by looking for "Painted By U"

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

So, as I said before, I worked Starbucks tonight, which means after the visit to Wal-Mart, I got home around 11p.  And I fired up the DVR and watched this week's episode of WWE: Raw, and when it was over, I scrolled to Hawaii Five-O.  Watching it now, and it's awesome.

Though it is a little weird to have Jin from LOST speak English.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Two restaurants I've visited recently... one is Flip Burger.  Located at The Summit, its the "burger boutique", two words that may or may not ever belong together.  The atmosphere is modern, a little quirky and kind of fun.  The booth I sat in, as are all the booths, have backs that go all the way to the ceiling, almost like you are sitting in this little alcove in the wall, with a window.

The food is a bit pricey.  I ordered the burger combo with the fries and a milkshake ($12), and they delivered it fairly soon.  The burger reminded me of the overpriced sized burger you'd find at Hamburger Heaven or The Varsity in Atlanta, but was pretty good.  The fries were tasty, but the real treat was the milkshake. 

They serve some of the milkshakes with nitrogen on the top, so they are still smoking when they bring it to you, cold as they can possibly get without freezing.  I had the famous "Krispy Kreme Milkshake" and while it was good, and MZ, who I had met for lunch (I love Starbucks meetings on my day off... at least I got lunch) had the "Creme Brulee Milkshake", and that one was exceptional.  As always, I want the thing I didn't order.

Overall, it was a good dining experience, but my bill, with tip, came out to be about $16.  Considering I can get a huge meal at Milo's for about $6, and if I'm really wanting a milkshake bad enough, I can go over to Zaxbys and get a fantastic shake for $3, I'd probably do that.  Meaning I probably won't go to Flip again unless I'm with a group I want to be with and they all go, or someone else is buying, though I'd take The Lovely Steph Leann if she wanted to go.

Also recently, on a whim because I was hungry, I visited Chuy's (pronounced "Chewie's), again at The Summit.  The atmosphere was cool, with Mexican license plates all over the walls, a south of the border motif, and even stuff hanging from the ceiling everywhere.

I went around 11am, and a good thing too, because by 1130, people were starting to line up in the front to get in.  The menu is quite extensive, as you'd expect.  I ended up with the Baja Tacos, with no jalapeno sauce and light cilantro (its funny, because I asked for light cilantro and they put one small, single leaf on each of the two tacos I got.)

The plates were huge, and my tacos were essentially two pieces of fried shrimp wrapped in a tortilla... and surprisingly, it was great.  What wasn't all that great was the cheese dip.  Its slightly spicy, and for anyone who knows me, you know I'm not digging on spice, but even then, it was a little too thin and not nearly as good as you'd get from Pablo's around the corner.

The chips were excellent, though.  When the basket was emptied, the waitress came around with a huge scoop, and poured new chips into the basket--and they were warm, almost like she dipped them straight out of the fryer, shook off the grease and came to my table.

I feel like I paid about the same for my lunch as I did at Flip Burger, but Chuy's was a better value for the amount of food I recieved.    I'd go to Chuy's again, but like Flip, I'd probably go with people or if someone else was buying (hello business lunch!)... or, of course, if The Lovely Steph Leann wanted to go.

Make sure you visit Chuy's at off-hours though, like before or an hour or two after lunch, or before and after the dinner time hours.  Friday and Saturday evenings are probably impossible.  I've heard horror stories about the wait time there.

The 100 Coolest Things of 2009... #10 thru 6

We inch closer to telling you the things of all of 2009...

The 10th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Bombs Over Baghdad" by OutKast
Sometimes I come a little late to the party when it comes to pop culture--especially music... in fact, I heard my first Lady GaGa song the other night.  "Alejandro"... it was so-so.  I think I fast forwarded through the last half of it.

So, since 2009 was the end of the decade, we had loads of "End of..." and "Best of the 2000s" lists, much of which included music.  I'm goofing around on Google, and I ran across Pitchfork Media online, which had a list of the Top 100 Songs of the Decade.  #2 was "Hey Ya" by OutKast... and #1 was "B.O.B. (bombs over baghdad)" by OutKast, as featured on the 2000 album "Stankonia".  I was like, "What the hey is B.O.B.?", so I went onto YouTube and found the video and watched it.  And was hooked instantly.


This is a PG-13 rated video... there are wiggly booties and an N-word in here somewhere, just so you know.  Beware.

You know those songs that, no matter how loud the radio or your iPod is turned up, you need to edge up the volume just a little more when they come on?  "La Grange" by ZZ Top, "Loungin" by LL Cool J, "Crazy on You" by Heart and "Everything Zen" by Bush are songs like that.   And just with one single "don't need to bang less you plan to hit something..." this song was added to the rotation.

Here's what Pitchfork Media had to say about it:  I'm not even covering all of its turf when I list that it contains: the reverbed drums of first-wave hip-hop (played at the tempo of booty hip-hop), organs suggesting "The House of the Rising Sun", futro blips, George Clinton freakouts, choral gospel, rave-up drum-n-bass, Prince funk-metal, speed-scratching, and an extended roller-rink outro. I tell curious people who have never heard it to imagine that Public Enemy handed Side 2 of Fear of a Black Planet over to Southerners.

And yes, Andre 3000 and Big Boi... I do believe a pimp can rock a microphone.

The 9th Coolest Thing of 2009... "Up"
From July 9th, 2009... If there is any issue with Pixar movies, it is this… one day, they are going to make a bad movie. One day, they are going to release flick that is just… well, not good at all. So far, we’ve been entertained by the 9th Coolest Thing of 2008, a friendship between a cowboy and a Space Ranger, a bunch of ants with four legs, some monsters in the closet, talking cars, cooking rats, a lost fish and ranking 20th on TheDave 100, a family of superheroes. So, could this be it? A movie about an old man and a Wilderness Scout who fly in a house to South America? Could this be the inevitable misstep?


No.

“Up” is magnificent in every way possible. The story is fun and sweet, and somehow, the theater gets a little dusty after the first fifteen minutes. The music is fantastic, especially in that first fifteen minutes. The characters are likable, even lovable, from a dorky Scout who is deeper than a dork, to a goofy talking dog, who doesn’t talk by normal Disney standards, but through an inventive collar. Perhaps the least likable character is the actual bad guy, who is really only unlikable because you don’t see much of who he is, other than a jerkface. The main character though, is Carl, who seems cantankerous and miserly, but you’ll discover has his reasons.
 

How can an animated film make you feel so emotional?  That's the power of this early scene right here.
 
The color is marvelous. The scene when the roof comes off and the balloons fill the sky is incredible, a feast of color and animation brilliance. My recommendation is see this movie in 2-D, not 3-D. The 3-D glasses tend to dim the color slightly, and you don’t want that diminished in any way.


Enjoy the splendor, enjoy the color, enjoy the story, grab a hanky for the first few minutes of exposition between Carl & Ellie, and start worrying that maybe the next Pixar movie—Toy Story 3 in 3-D—will be the misstep.  (ps... I heard that last week, Toy Story 3 is completely finished and in the can.  And the early buzz on it is fantastic)

The 8th Coolest Thing of 2009... The Lovely Steph Leann's Class Reunion
Excerpts from September 1st, 2009...  One of the best (or worst, depending on who you are) parts about a class reunion, be it five, ten, fifteen or beyond, is seeing people that you hadn't seen in a long, long time. Friends you had, chicks you crushed on, people you didn't care for (but can't remember quite why), people you just knew and were used to seeing every day for years and years and suddenly, strangely, they are completely out of your life in every way possible.

When it comes to my own reunion back in 2002, for my 10th year anniversary of the Class of 1993, I saw some faces I welcomed like Chris McCall, Tonya Windham, Greg Avant, Stephanie Phillips, Tammy Thomas... now, I can keep up with them via Facebook. Some people, like my 4th grade crush Misty Kimble, I haven't actually seen since we walked off the football field around 8:30pm graduation night.

I think anyone who had been to a high school reunion will relate to some of this... just like The Lovely Steph Leann and DeLisa, who were attending their 15th anniversary of the Baker High School (Mobile, AL) Class of 1994.

The reunion was held at The Blue Gill Restaurant over in nearby Spanish Fort, out on the patio. While DeLisa had scrounged around for her 1994 Senior Yearbook, "The Novis", The Lovely Steph Leann had dug in the archives to find a ton of pictures, spirit ribbons, buttons and all sorts of nostalgic memorabilia. We walked through the restaurant to find a girl named Lynn Sprouse (now Kilgore), who quickly became one of my favorites of the night. It seemed that DeLisa and Lynn were part of a larger committee to help plan this shindig, but over time, it became ONLY DeLisa and Lynn planning this shindig, so while friendly enough, Lynn was quick to point out the failings of some other people. And it made me laugh.

The full story of the weekend can be found here... first, a post where DeNick and I went treasure hunting, and a photo essay on all the great finds we came upon... and secondly, the reunion overall, including my photography impersonation of Lesley Foley of Foley Photography, serving the Florida Panhandle and Southern Alabama, contact 850-543-7407, the porn star next door and these things being spoken:

"Those aren't real."

"I checked her photo. She's pretty hot now, especially since she got her eyebrows under control."

"Time has not been good to him."

"Time has not been good to her."

"Wow... time has been that guy's friend, I think."

"Dude, time has been very, very good to her."

And my favorite exchange of the night:

DeNick: That chick's top... not many people can do a top like that, but she managed to pull it off.
Me: I'm sure a few more beers and that's exactly what she'll do
DeNick (leaning over, trying not to choke on his $3 brew)

The 7th Coolest Thing of 2009... Disney with The Rays
The 6th Coolest Thing of 2009... Steven & Calah Ray
These two can be combined into one spot... we were setting up our trip to Disney World for June 2009 early in the year, and actually had a couple that had discussed going with us.  That fell through, and The Lovely Steph Leann and I discussed the idea of inviting these two people we'd just met, that being Steven Ray and his wife Calah.

They were fairly new in our Sunday School Life Connection class at Valleydale Baptist Church (an sbc fellowship), and our brief interactions had been... well, pleasant, but brief.  We knew he was close to 30, maybe 30ish, she was around 24 or 25... 23?  Who knows.  Anyway, we had enjoyed chatting with them...

So on a Sunday morning, I sat next to Calah and said, "Hey, you wanna go to Disney World with me and The Lovely Steph Leann?   In June.  It will be on the cheap..." and her eyes lit up and she said, "Uh... yeah... definitely.  Let me talk to Steven, but I think we can do this." 

And so we met up a few times, and each time we did we learned more and more about the Rays--and liked them more and more as well--as we planned our trip.  We stayed at All Star Music, and the Rays did the right thing... they trusted us and followed our lead in an effort to do as much as possible over the few days we were there.  It was go go go for three solid days, much of the time spent with Steven and Calah, and we had a few times apart from them so we could do our own thing.   I tell ya, if you want to get to know someone well, spend 10 hours in a Trailblazer, spend a weekend at The Most Magical Place on Earth, and spend another 10 hours in that same Trailblazer...

We got to know them well, and loved them greatly.  Steven is a former music minister, so The Lovely Steph Leann relates to him easy because she is a child of music as well... I relate to him because he's a guy my age.  Calah is a bit younger, an optometry student, but sometimes more mature that both of us guys... and since our friendship has lasted over a year now, with frequent lunches, frequent dinners and frequent game nights...

...and you know what else we love about Steven and Calah Ray?  They call us. 

See, The Lovely Steph Leann and I love socializing... we love being around people, we love dinners and having people over and such... but in our busy lives, we don't have time to call people alot.  Its nice when people call us every now and then, and to the Rays credit, they've done just that... randomly, I'll get a text that says, "BUFFALO WINGS DINNER?" or "YOU GUYS BUSY?  CARDS?" and we'll say "YEAH!" or "YEAH!"

Their marriage is sweet, you can tell just being around them that he adores her and dotes on her constantly, and you can tell that she not only loves him, but admires and respects him as well.  I hope that people see that between The Lovely Steph Leann and I when we are together.

Anyway, we loved our weekend vacation with The Rays and we love our friendship with them as well.  We think both are extremely cool.

Coming up... what IS the coolest thing of 2009?  Is it Disney again?  Is it another piece of technology?  Is it an unlikely starlet with a catchy tune?  Its all Up in the Air... this week, the Top Five Coolest Things of 2009.