No, Amanda and I aren’t pregnant.  Chris Mowbray (whom I went to high school with when her last name was Schoch), stopped by Amanda’s work today (she used to be Amanda’s boss before moving to Raleigh) as they were in town to pack up the house they finally sold here in town and they’re pregnant with not just their second child, but their third as well.  Congrats, Chris and Dave!  Little Dylan’s going to have her hands full.

I e-mailed Rob Peterson and Kristen Barriner about setting up a time with them to discuss the small group, as they’re the only ones who haven’t set a time yet.  In it I mentioned that we wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to quit the group, which they did.  Rob cited the fact that he didn’t feel the intimacy they once did, and they don’t feel it with the church either, with the big new building.  I hope he understands that you’re not going to feel an intimacy with a group of people if you see them once a month or less.  And as far as the church goes, I think it really helps to feel connected if you’re doing something to make you connect.

Anyway, I’m sad to see them go because they’ve been with us the longest- they were the last of the original small group, aside from me and Amanda, and I think they really need a Christian community to turn to.  I pray for them that they’ll find something that feeds them whatever it will take to fill in the void.

Still no word from the guy with the 7’2″ NSP surfboard.  Amanda e-mailed him from her work address and I e-mailed him again tonight.  I told him I wanted to have a board before this weekend and that he had exactly what I’m looking for and that I’m trying to give him some money, so please set up a time for me to look at it, or, if he’s changed his mind or already sold it, let me know that so I can look elsewhere.

I found a Ron Jon surfboard that looks really cool, but when I talked to Barry he sad he didn’t really know much about Ron Jons.  It’s got a pointed nose though, and I think I’m at the point where I still need a rounded nose.  I also saw that there’s a wetsuit for $60 available that just might fit me.  I plan to check that out soon.

The work onslaught continues, with Scott and I still having a number of things to do.  Even so, I got a call from an attorney who saw that we’d done some other local attorney websites, and had a meeting with him at 2:00 today.  It went well.

Before that I ate lunch with Elliot Clark at Sticky Fingers.  He asked yesterday if I wanted to get together because it had been a long time since we’d caught up.  He paid for it too, insisting upon it since he’d invited me out.  I felt bad about that afterwards because Melissa hasn’t gotten a full-time teaching job yet.

After my meeting I stopped by the bank to deposit the check and heard a familiar voice from behind the counter.  It turned out to be Todd Graham, whom I worked with at the Best Buy on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh.  he and his wife moved down here a little bit after Amanda and I did and we hung out with them a few times, but it’s probably been over a year since we’ve gotten together.  We talked for a few minutes and I gave him my updated contact info.  I’d actually though about him and Laura and Nicholas just a week or so ago.

I came home and didn’t finish working until about 6:00.  Amanda wanted to work on designing a logo for this year’s JDRF Walk so she did that while I watched Deadwood.  I missed a couple episodes because while we were recording the Olympics on the DVR it knocked a few other shows off for some reason, despite having plenty of hard drive space.  That’s a bit upsetting, but I’ll live.

This episode featured the word “cocksucker” (in both singular and plural form) quite a bit.  There was a Chinese guy who only knew that word in English, and he was upset, so he and Swearengen kept using that particular epithet when communicating with each other.  Amanda had never watched Deadwood and would comment on the extensive use of the word from time to time from back in the office.

After she finished up her designing we watched a new episode of Wipeout.  She then continued to watch the tellie while I played a little College Hoops 2K7.  Campbell is facing the Indiana Hoosiers in, I think, the preseason NIT.  I’ll admit I reset the game once or twice, but in the last instance of playing it I was about halfway through the first half with a six or eight point lead when I got a disk read error.  That’s so freakin’ annoying.

I also played two games of Catan with Michael and two computer players on hard and he won them both.  Dangit.

I’m looking forward to the Labor Day Topsail getaway this weekend.

Zach Dotsey