The plan was to finish up revising the Blackbeard novel today (so I could move to the always-daunting task of organizing our tax info before I bring it in to H&R Block for the yearly ordeal), but I ran out of gas.

It's been a busy couple of days, but they've been busy in a really nice way. Work was a bit nuts last week, but I think I'm caught up there (knock wood). My buddy Cinque and I went out for all-you-can-eat sushi on Friday, so that helped me get through the day. Can't go wrong with lots of sushi (the secret is to not eat all the rice the fish is wrapped around, so you have room to eat MORE sushi!).

I let the Tar Heels get my hopes up on Friday with their last-second loss in the ACC tourney, but I was sort of relieved that they lost in a way -- it freed up my weekend! And damn if Dook didn't lose in the finals today, lifting my spirits immensely (sorry Matt and Mom and Lee!).

On Saturday Elizabeth and I ran a ton of errands, got the Esquart tuned up (almost at 200k miles!), and then rushed off to scenic Clayton, NC, for Jason and Janet's wedding. What a beautiful ceremony! The bride was lovely, the groom handsome (and suddenly bearded!), and the flowers were quite pretty according to my wife, who notices such things. There was even a costume change, but luckily no costume malfunction.

We had a great time at the reception, chatting with Jason and Janet briefly, and talking at length with Jamie and his wife Steffi (not sure if I spelled that right). Lots of great conversation, good food, wine, and brews. We even danced, but not too much.

Janet, by the way, is a wonderful artist, and she did the kick-ass illustration for the splash-page of this website.

And finally, today Elizabeth got busy on our lawn. Um, that is, we cut the grass, overseeded it, and fertilized it for the coming summer. It looks surprisingly awesome. We also did all those little niggling tasks that never get done during the winter, like pruning trees and cutting down wild vines and stuff. Our place looks presentable again!

Oh, and here's an amusing visual for you. While I was cutting the front lawn, I strapped on these crazy aerating shoes -- they're actually more like cleats -- that have about 20 2-inch spikes on the bottom. What I ended up doing was tromping all over the lawn, poking 20 holes into it with each step, so Elizabeth could follow me later with the seeder to throw seed in the holes and all over the place. Nearly broke my frickin' neck on our ditch area.

So... maybe this week I'll finish up this crazy Blackbeard novel. I'm down to about 80 pages and 6 chapters. Woo-hoo! Later.

Now Playing:
"Back Porch Music," WUNC

Now Reading:
Carter Beats the Devil, still