Speaking of Facebook, it has become one of Julie’s hobbies this year. Not to be outdone, I retained my status as the head geek in the house my starting a legal blog2 and a Twitter account.
Julie took a much needed break this year and traveled to New Yawk to see her sister.3 Kristin (aka KK) is getting married reportable sometime before the end of the decade so dresses and such absolutely HAD to be CHOSEN right NOW! OHMYGODILOVETHATONE-NOICHANGEDMYMINDILOOKFAT! She saw an Off Broadway show while she was there, but don’t expect “South Pacific” folks. The show was Fuerzabruta and the video I saw looked like Circus Ole filming a Duran Duran video under a giant pool in Fire Island.
My scheduled outings fared not so well. I was set to fly to San Antonio for the 2008 Final Four but my flight was delayed and then canceled because of avian interference.4 The rest of Texas was sold out so I had to watch the games on TV. The only bright side was my “media blackout” after Carolina lost was easier in Wilmington than San Antonio. Luckily I was able, after only 4-5 hours on hold, to get credit for the ticket. I used that credit to get plane tickets to Charleston, South Carolina for a white-water rafting trip. Didn’t know there was white-water rafting in the Low County? Well, you are right. This was the 2nd year in a row that the travel agency didn’t understand that Charleston WV meant exactly that. So, after a few hours of that and some other mishaps, I got the tickets straightened out.5 Fast forward a few weeks to the weekend of the white-water rafting trip and Hurricane Hannah decides the time is right to visit Wrightsville Beach. So instead of a sunny Saturday playing in beautiful weather with clear water and crisp skies, I was cleaning hurricane debris out of my backyard. With another round of phone conferences with USAir, I now have another credit. Stay tuned to see how this works out.
The REALLY big family trip was a move from Myrtle Grove6 across town to Forest Hills. Julie decided to “just look” and eleven minutes later we were making an offer. Which is fine, but the next time I move it will be Ella into a dorm somewhere. We moved in May and it has been fun exploring our new house and new neighborhood. The hardwood trees we loved in the spring and summer we grew slightly less enamored of in the fall when the leaves began to fall…and fall…and fall…and they are still falling. When I reminded Julie that “our deal” at the time of marriage was I would only rake one day a year, she said “I have altered the deal…pray I do not alter it further.”7
Ella had a lot of non-raking activities to do. She started children’s choir, did cheerleading again8 and took a swim camp at UNCW.9 She won some kind of sweepstakes at school and got to be Principal (Asst.) for the Day where she rode in a limo with the other winners to Chick-Fil-A. Pretty fancy school where the Principal gets to tool around in a limo. I think she forgot the “For a Day” part as we got reports that she kept showing up in the office to help. Julie helped her put together a neighborhood food drive for the Good Shepard Center where she accepted canned goods for free lemonade.
Gavin went to a few camps in the summer and otherwise played the sidekick role to Ella. He also has decided, after watching the high school track team run through the neighborhood, that he likes to “jog.” His big event this year was a car ride up to Greensboro to see Playhouse Disney Live. Gavin so excited to see the “real” Mickey Mouse, I think he peed in his pants.10 Gavin and I also went to the Railroad Museum for a reading of the “Polar Express.” Everybody came in their pajamas and drank hot chocolate.11
My favorite event of the year was my 40th birthday party weekend where I had a bunch of old friends from places so far away they don’t have Chick-Fil-As or pork chop biscuits at Hardees. We played some cards and had a great time. I am so much funnier when I get to talk to people who haven’t heard all my jokes (lately).
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Not e our new address, phone number and email. Come visit us anytime.12
Bradley, Julie, Ella, Gavin and Hobbes.
402 Forest Hills Dr.
Wilmington NC 28403
(910) 763-7109
bcoxe@ec.rr.com; jcoxe@ec.rr.com; ekcoxe@ec.rr.com; gcoxe@ec.rr.com.
1Copyright 2008 “John McCain for President”
2www.nclawyer.typepad.com
3technically a half-sister but she’s always looked whole to me
4My plane hit a bird
5That was actually not the last screw up but I don’t want to take up the whole letter. Suffice to say, if I got frequent flyer miles for all the trips they booked me on that were wrong, I’d own a plane by now.
6The appraisal value of my house in Sentry Oaks goes up 25% if I call the neighborhood “Myrtle Grove” instead of “Monkey Junction.”
7Well she didn’t really say that, but that quote from the 2nd best Star Wars movie ever summed up her feelings pretty adequately.
8She’s got the first half of a cartwheel down pat
9Where she learned that the ladder on the high dive is one way. Only way to get down is off the end in the pool.
10Not that that was much of a difference. He always peed in his pants. Read any book on potty training. We do it exactly the wrong way.
11Everybody under the age of eight…except one adult…who cares what they say, I was cozy…
12But bring a rake.
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