In Eckleburg's Eyes - 9/22/2008, Part 3

I had a very long, but great, Saturday, spent with friends and family.

My Saturday game began bright and early, eating with my parents at IHOP. Afterwards, we visited my mother’s first cousin CJN, who was recuperating from a Thursday hip replacement surgery at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. She is recovering well. I have never visited a patient who emphasized prayer more than her husband, LPN. I am proud to be related to them. (Note: This photo is of my mother calling to learn CJN's room number. Even in the hospital, DLNV managed to be on the phone.)

After visiting the hospital, I drove to Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, where EAH was to marry Dustin Rauhuff (DPLR). I arrived shortly before pictures were taken to give my best wishes. I would not being attending the wedding as its 3:30 pm start happened to be the exact time of kickoff of the Tennessee-Florida football game. The wedding photographer took numerous photos of me congratulating the bride. Wedding photographers rank high on my list of annoying professions.

I also went to eat lunch with JTH and PAT, who were there to film the wedding. We ate at a nearby Gatti’s Pizza and caught up with PAT, who lives in Kennesaw, Georgia. He is doing well. So well in fact that he seldom updates his blog. He predicts that the blog will disband entirely by December. I am happy for him.

He noted his meteoric rise from the proverbial valley to the mountain. JTH replied, “I enjoy the valley. Its always got shade.” Were I to sum up JTH in one statement, that might be it.

The duo had eaten with the MoFoS crew the previous night. Two noteworthy items: NHH’s family emergency from the previous weekend was that his brother, (Wes Hall, an actor who appeared in Phat Girlz), was mugged in Los Angeles and returning to Tennessee. So my speculation that the emergency involved the airport was partially correct.

Secondly, CTH bought in 1200 VHS tapes for the store. This has to be one of the worst purchases ever. To make matters worse, they are Spanish language VHS tapes. We cannot even move Spanish language DVDs. On the plus side, there is now plenty of fodder for the staff to destroy.

I later learned that the wedding went off well. There was little to no contact between PAT and WRK, the maid of honor and his former girlfriend of six years.

I arrived home in time to watch the aforementioned Tennessee football game with my father. We had fun being together despite our team being annihilated 30-6. We had little expectation of victory, so we were not even disappointed. While in Maryville earlier in the day I passed this vehicle: an orange and white hearse with a UT logo. It was appropriate on this day.

After the game, I drove to RAW’s home where we caught up while watching the LSU-Auburn football game.

KJW is growing so fast. She can now spell her name. She can also play chess. (See photo.) Okay, so she just likes arranging the chess pieces. Despite this progress, she still has no desire to be potty trained. She insists, “Keira need a diaper.”

KJW also has a new pet. It is a goldfish named Dwight. The tank is located in KJW’s room. Her mother, KLTW, won the fish at the Tennessee Valley Fair. It was a $4 fish as it took her two attempts to win it. KLTW and RAW were fairly certain the fish would not survive but it made a miraculous recovery. KJW named the fish herself. No, she is not a big fan of The Office. Despite being a goldfish, it is white and we are fairly certain she was saying “white”. Dwight made a better name so it has stuck.

Oh, lest I forget, LSU rallied to win a great game, 26-20.