Thanksgiving Eve

So it's Thanksgiving Eve and all is good in the Walker household. Yesterday, I gave myself an early Christmas present and bought the CharBroil Big Easy infrared turkey fryer. Tomorrow, I will give this puppy a shot. I'm frying a turkey with cajun/creole seasoning, so it should be interesting if nothing else.

As we all know, Troup is Ashleigh's favorite "child". He gets special treatment (gets to come in, take naps, and spend time with his Momma). Turns out, that when he is away from Brinkley, he is a very calm little pup. Even more interesting is that he likes to wear T-shirts. I guess I know what Santa will be bringing him...

I'm giving up coffee

That's right, I'm kicking the habit. I'm off the wagon (or on it). I absolutely love coffee. It is one of the few things that get me thru each day. That was until Friday. Friday started perfectly, the first day of my 10 day holiday. I got up early for an off day (6:00 or so) and went upstairs to play Xbox while Ashleigh got her sleep. Around 9:00 I smelled coffee brewing downstairs and figured that enough digital fictional henchmen had died that morning, so I headed down. Ash isn't really a coffee drinker, but she makes it sometimes and I am entirely appreciative. As I was going through the motions of pouring my cup of endulgence, something caught, and I froze. What happenned next is really a blur. I was in so much pain, I didn't know what to think.
I spent the next 2 hours trying to get comfortable and absolutely could not do it. Even after a hot shower and a muscle relaxer, nothing helped. Finally, I broke down and allowed Ashleigh to call a friend who is a "carpracter". He was nice enough to see me at his earliest time. After some Xrays and treatment, it turns out my C2-5 vertabrae are curved enough to callapse the nerves in one area. That caused a massive spasm in my neck, to which I can still feel the pain. Apparently, the angle I was standing and pouring the coffee was just right for a spasm. He assured me that with a few visits, we could fix the curve, but the pain will be here for another 2 weeks. Yay, I guess I don't really have to worry about what I'll do for the next 10 days!
Anyway, today is day 3, and I am much better, but still dealing with moderate soreness/stiffness. And I couldn't stay mad at Coffee, so I'm back off the wagon (or on it, I don't know which is right).

Holiday....Celebrate

OK, so I can't tell you how pumped I am right now. I am off from work for the next 10 days! On the "In/Out" board at work, I put down that I will return on December 1 with the note: Blackberry Broken. Although I doubt it will deter anyone from disturbing my holiday, it was worth a shot. Anyway, I hope you have a great weekend and that you can enjoy being with the ones you love too.

Bad boys, bad boys. Whatchya gonna do?

We love them, but sometimes....mmmm...I just want to do things that have PETA on my doorstep in a hurry. Brinkley, our 3 year old golden retriever, is a great dog. He's loving, easy going, and protective of our property. Troup, our 1 year old English springer spaniel, is also loving and unbelievably adorable. Also, he lets us know that sirens are going off in the distance as he does his best howling imitation (I hope to get video of this). However, in his one year of living in our backyard, Troup has totally ridded us of the lattice underneath our screened in porch and created foxholes that General Patton would be proud of. Given the rainy weather lately, Troup has also found ways to dig those holes next to the fence, where he can get out and explore. The good thing is that he doesn't go far. The bad thing is that he always finds trash and brings it back in to our yard for his own personal experiments on just how many pieces can a newspaper be torn in to. On top of all this, he gets muddy (exhibits below). Thank goodness that our neighbors are unbelievably nice. Mr. Slifka chased Troup back into the yard today and put rocks up to block the holes. Stealing a line from Tommy Boy, Troup better pray to the god of adorable dogs that he is so cute.

Another first

So I was playing with the dogs in the back yard this afternoon when I thought, hmm, I think I'll post a video. While this doesn't show just how fast Troup is, it does kind of show you how fetch goes. I throw something, Troup runs after it, and Brinkley waits. It hasn't always been this way. When Troup was younger, Brinkley was faster and would get to the ball first. Now, he doesn't even bother. He just sits at my feet and lets me rub him while Troup does all the hard work. Who says dogs aren't smart?

Without the Internet...

I was doing some research yesterday on my Grandfather. I did the normal thing and Googled his name. I came up with exactly one matching hit. Sadly, that hit was a link to the Antioch Cemetery. Antioch is the community that I grew up in. Luckily, I happened to grow up within 100 yards of my Grandmother (my Grandfather died when I was 4). Back to him.... I know very little about him, and from what I know he was a great man. Not one for the history books, but a great man anyway. He served his country in World War II. He worked at the Ford plant in the Shoals, and he worked tirelessly on his farm. A God-fearing man, he raised two daughters (one of course is my mom) and was a spiritual leader in his home and community. He lost his battle with cancer at a relatively young age of 65. Nothing extraordinary, but at the same time there was nothing ordinary about him. The result of his labor is fruited in his family: strong work ethics, committed family love, and every one of his decendents are followers of Christ. How amazing is that? If people like my grandfather were "the norm", how great a place would this be? That being said, I want to make it right. Albert Leo Peck now has a respectable Google hit.

Ok, I'm on board

I figured it was about time to give in to this who blogging thing. All the cool kids are doing it, right? First it was Myspace, then Facebook, now Blogging. Maybe, I only managed a seat in the caboose, but I'm on.

Last night started out great. We had a great LifeGroup discussion and good fellowship afterwards. It all started around 11:30... Our two dogs, Brinkley and Troup are beloved by many people. Excluded from that list are our neighbors, at least they are now. Last night, Ashleigh and I got up no less than 7 times total to shut the dogs up. We can't actually confirm the number as I had to move to a different bed, but that's for another blog at another time. Anyway, if you're our neighbor, I am sorry, and it's not my fault...I am a cat person.