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after losing in the city semifinals for Alta : ( i headed up to drew’s cabin. obtw, in case anyone was unaware, i guess i could have mentioned that i was in a car wreck in early september, and we just getting back into being able to do anything athletic at this time. my car was totaled, but i like my new car a sconch better. it has nav and wood grain. i think that makes me a better person. that is a joke. i’m hoping my rehab will be done by january and i’ll be back up at full strength.

the importance of that pails next to what the kids that we were going to be hanging out with at drew’s cabin had persevered at age 5 and 6. drew and blake give tremendously of their time, and one of their organizations they volunteer with is lighthouse. they met a couple of wonderful kids and their mother (zack, zoey and marsha) at lighthouse this year and have stayed in touch with the family since. zack had leukemia from (and this will be close to right if not exact) age 2 to 5 and has been clear for 1 year. they are amazing kids, shy at first but just awesome little people who eventually decided that i was a suitable jungle gym.

charlotte (who last we heard from was showing us her belly at drew and blake’s wedding) and her parents were there as well. we were fully stocked with kids. anyway, here’s a picture of a little shed on the way into drew’s cabin.

when i got there the first order of business was a canoe ride and some fishing. here zack is ready to angle!

here are the girls back at the cabin.

here, poor camera work sorta captures charlotte given love to her baby brother.

that night we roasted marshmellows by the fire. i was not very good at this. i ate 2 marshmellows, set 3 on fire and dropped 2. charlotte, however, was a natural.

it was a good weekend and it was really nice to get away from my email and my phone, and it definitely helped me refocus a little on how lucky i have had it.

i guess there’s a big timeline gap here since the previous posts. that’s mostly because nothing too exciting happened to me during that stretch….a lot of time spent with work (crazy) and trying to understand and finalize the situation with Emily. so, we jump forward to halloween. i was working so hard that it sorta snuck up on me, but jessica was nice enough to pick up a sting ray for me at the aquarium. getting it was pretty funny, b/c i called the aquarium and asked if they had any “plush animals like, walruses or penguins or rays.” i then asked how big they had them, and then zeroed in on the rays. they had the necessary accent piece for my outfit. i called jess and asked her to pick it up. i can’t believe she consented to do it, b/c i’m pretty sure she didn’t approve of my costume idea. i don’t blame her.

halloween was pretty low-key this year, though. i went to a party at Rick and Rhonda’s with Drew and Blake. Drew was a karate-man (he bleeds on the inside) and Blake was a girl in a running outfit (or Blake). here we all are at the party.

afterwards i went out and met folse at a party. i was immediately accosted by a girl who proclaimed my costume the best costume of all time. it was good to be appreciated.

here are folse and i at that party. he was the phantom of the opera. you probably would have guessed that.

i had the opportunity to serve mr. brent nix in a non-custodial position at his wedding to one sara (spelled without an “h”) ruth (spelled with an “h”). i obviously leapt at the opportunity to participate. special note: sara’s name now has no “h”‘s whatsoever.

anyway, we showed up on friday and had the opportunity to see something i NEVER thought i would see. of course, i am referencing seeing stephen on an ATV

here brent catches a ride in to town in mark’s “uncle jesse” truck.

brent was not being rude, but instead uses his tongue like a snake to sense the environment about him. it is not, however, biforkated as is plainly obvious in the photo.

we had the rehearsal dinner that night and got to listen to some really intriguing conversations.

drew did his “upper hand” toast and managed to avoid using the phrase “on top,” a personal victory for mr. allvine.

i should mention that hendersonville was a lovely place and that after the rehearsal dinner we heard some pretty cool bluegrass at a cabin that brent and his dad had built. my only complaint with the bluegrass band is that nobody yelled out “man of constant sorrow!!!” which i would suspect is the bluegrass equivalent of yelling “freebird” at most other musical events; except, quite obviously, for a rap event. i don’t think rap has a signature concert song. if i had to vote for one, though, i would vote for “mo money, mo problems.”

the wedding was nice and the reception was at what i’m sure was a historic house. i really liked the mushroom caps and we all danced quite a bit. it was a good time. i didn’t really take many pictures, but i did get this one.

somebody yelled out “cool, lap dances!” but i don’t know who did, and i think that whoever did was crass.

i did, however, take some videos. here’s one that probably warrants a youtube post. stephen disects a young woman(whose name has been redacted)’s story about him blowing her off at a birthday dinner for our same sara nix (formerly ruth). while her description was wrought with emotion and her sense of injury was obviously heart-felt, i remain agnostic on the incident in question.

here are some other random videos from the pre and post wedding.

there is no video of anyone drinking anything out of a bottle hidden in there tux. if there were, courtesy would prevent me from posting it here anyway.

oh, if you don’t know brent and sara well, here they are.

i took this pre-wedding photo for them. they were excellent models.

brent and sara’s wedding. a good time was had by all, and i am very grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of the event.