Yikes. It’s been a while since I updated this. And a whole lot’s happened.

First of all, Molly’s 28 weeks pregnant today. By the way, the website that I keep linking to each week is actually kind of strange, and I’m beginning to realize that now. In the “Her emotions” section, it says this:

Not only do you communicate with your baby, but now dad’s voice is enough to wake him up too. This is a time when the communication between all three of you is most beautiful, you will sometimes wonder how you ever lived without such times before.

But then, in the “His emotions” section, it says this:

Start reading up on the reality of childbirth. It’s been a long wait up to now and there is still 10 weeks to go. You need to know what to expect, don’t arrive at the delivery and be shocked by the fact that there’s a lot of blood around or that the doctor decides to mutilate your partner.

Yowzah.

Second, our return trip to Chapel Hill was a success. Molly and I found an apartment that we really, really like. Unfortunately, the apartments up there aren’t quite as cheap as I’d hoped (which also probably has a lot to do with the fact that I’m still thinking in “one-bedroom apartment” terms). The cheapest three-bedroom apartments we found we in the 900s, but they were really, really disgusting and dangerous-looking. The last apartment we looked at on Saturday was in a complex called Autumn Woods. It was in a decent location, near a dog park and a small lake; all of the people we saw walking around looked young (probably other grad students) and nice; and they were running a special on three-bedrooms — about $1100/month. So we went to dinner on Saturday pretty happy, thinking we’d found our next place.

Sunday, we woke up, had brunch at a local place called the Carolina Coffee Shop, and then walked around campus for a while. Then at about 12:30pm, we headed to one last apartment complex — Southern Village. This complex is actually just one part of a large, self-contained community called Southern Village. As you enter the community, you find yourself on the square (which is actually shaped like a big oval). Around the square are lots of little shops and restaurants — an espresso and gelato bar, an Italian place with pizza by the slice, a bookstore, etc. It’s got its own little movie theater (Monday nights are “baby nights,” whatever that means). It’s got its own childrens clinic. And its grocery store is this really cool, community-owned place called the Weaver Street Market. Once a week, a farmer’s market sets up in the square. And also during the week, they show movies out on the lawn.

In short, it’s about the coolest place I’ve ever seen. Here’s the website. See for yourself.

Our appointment was at 1pm, but I was already just about sold. This is where I want us to live. The rent’s higher than Autumn Woods, but you’re also paying for the community, which is worth it. So we took a quick tour, grabbed an application, and hit the road. Finally, we were headed back home to Georgia . . . or so we thought.

For the past few weeks, my back has kind of been bothering me. And as many of you are aware, I actually had issues with back spasms a couple months ago, so I take it all much more seriously now. Anyway, I was unable to do any of the driving to and from North Carolina this time around, since one of the things that seems to intensify my discomfort is sitting in the same position for about 6 hours. So I spent much of the ride laying in the back seat. Well, it didn’t get any better during the weekend in Chapel Hill, and so, as we were leaving Southern Village, ready to head back home, I found myself lying down on the sidewalk trying to do some stretches. Also, to add to my condition, I spent just about the whole meeting at Southern Village getting really light-headed and dizzy. So when we got back in the car, I layed down in the back and asked Molly to blast some cold air in my direction. A couple minutes later, I started to feel like I was about to pass out (or vomit, or maybe both). And as luck would have it, we were driving right past the UNC hospital. So I asked to be taken to the hospital (at least, I’m pretty sure I did; this part’s all kinda blurry), which, if you know me, is significant. I typically avoid doctors and dentists like the plague.

So there I was, in the UNC hospital emergency room. And to make a long story short, there were two things going on: (1) tension in my back and (2) a minor panic attack. That’s right: a panic attack. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, stress and anxiety have a much more profound effect upon me than I’d ever imagined. The doctor (an Asian guy that looked about 8-years-old) said that both (1) and (2), while occuring independently of each other, are both stress-related. So he gave me some super-Ibuprofen and some Valium (what’s up) and sent me on my way.

I’m back to about 100% now, doing stretches and exercises. But I’m not really sure what to do about stress. Beer seems to help, but that’s not the healthiest of cures. Maybe I should take up yoga or something. Can’t y’all just see me doing this out in some field?

Finally, Molly and I have moved out of our apartment and into the Campbell’s house for the summer. This’ll allow us to put just about all of Molly’s summer income into savings. And I’m hoping to score a few jobs doing some interior painting as well (so if you know somebody . . . ).

I guess that’s about everything so far. I’ll get a picture or two of Molly up here soon. Her belly’s gettin’ pretty big. Some lady the other day asked her how far along she is, and when Molly said “about 6 months,” the lady asked, “You havin’ twins?”