Looks like Mobile, Alabama will be the first American city to experience Hurricane Ivan. All those people who will lose their homes. All thouse beautiful oak trees that will be ripped to shreds.

I think this country would do well to call it quits for hurricanes for the next five years or so. This stuff gets old.

Summer ends in one week with the fall equinox on September 22nd. How will you spend your last week of summer?

On the other hand, next week is the beginning of fall, which is my favorite season. Cool nights, fun holidays, football games, brilliant leaves, and stunning starry night skies. Yeah, I’m ready for it.

Today’s another picture day for The Boy. Maybe I can see the 3D ones in person.

Then its off to Chapel Hill for more consulting work before more desk work here. All in the name of Taking Care of Business.

Yesterday morning I took a little time off from work to mow the lawn. Its scheduled to be reseeded this week and needs to be cut to the absolute mininum height for greatest success (and for great justice). I mowed for close to three hours and bagged eighteen huge 39-gallon lawn bags of clippings (a total of 702 gallons).

That’s a lot of lawn.

Not a lot being said tonight on the neighborhood blogs. I will be no different. Going to get an early bedtime tonight after staying up too late, too often.

I was going through my old bank statements last night when I realized a check from the State of North Carolina which I deposited three months ago never made it to my account. The check was a refund of payments I had made, and it was a significant sum.
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It was a busy but fun weekend. Saturday was Kelly’s and my wedding anniversary. My brother and sister-in-law played uncle and aunt for the night while Kelly and I went out for dinner and a movie. We ate at Caffe Luna, drove to The Third Place for dessert, and then went to the Rialto to see Vanity Fair. The flick started at 9:45 PM and lasted 2:30. Been a while since we’d been out past 1 AM. Wooo!

I spent most of Saturday and Sunday afternoon painting those great shelves we had installed. The first coat I put on the shelves didn’t dry enough before I stacked them which led to them needing repainting. I’m mostly finished with that task now, but it’s been a lot of work. Shelves have a deceptive amount of surface area. It took a lot more painting than I anticipated (or could tolerate). I’m thrilled that the end is near.

After taking a walk yesterday around lunch, we smelled someone’s grill and became captivated with the idea of grilling out for dinner. I cooked up some fantastic burgers, possibly the best I’ve made.

Hallie provided entertainment as I cooked. I put Bob Marley’s Legend CD on and she danced (spun around until she got dizzy) the whole time. We were all laughing by the time dinner was served.

I made a loaf of fresh bread, which sent us running down to the kitchen when it was finally ready near bedtime. Nothing like freshly-baked bread!

Oh, and I finally painted the mailbox post. That ugly unstained, unpainted post was annoyingly ugly, especially as it matched our freshly-dead lawn. Now the mailbox shines! It provides some jazz to what will soon be a lush front yard.

I’m spending time this week getting my business better organized. I’ve got a few jobs lined up, but most of this week will be spent strategerizing ways to expand.

A fun song to belt out whilst working overtime painting.

XTC
Senses Working Overtime
—
Hey, hey,
The clouds are whey.
There’s straw for the donkeys,
And the innocents can all sleep safely,
All sleep safely.

My, my,
Sun is pie.
There’s fodder for the cannons,
And the guilty ones can all sleep safely,
All sleep safely.
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I love this day. It’s our five year wedding anniversary. And what a beautiful day it is. Sunny and breezy, and if we’re lucky, the temperature might get up to 80 degrees.

Kelly, Hallie, and our pre-son will be taking a stroll down the greenway soon. Tonight, Hallie will be spending the night at her cousin’s house while Kelly and I enjoy a romantic dinner.