Happy 60th, Virginia and Ramon

I may have celebrated 30 years on this planet recently, but three weekends ago, Adrianne's maternal grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Sixty years! Wow! And both Ramon and Virginia are doing great. They treat me like family and I really appreciate that. I can't pretend to tell you I know everything about the rich history of their lives together... I'll just tell you that Ramon served our country bravely in WW II in the Pacific Theater, and Virginia has worked to support her family her whole life and is also an excellent cook. And Evey is their first great-grandchild, and they both love her something fierce.

Pictured here, front to back, left to right: Judy Romero (my mother-in-law), Ramon Romero, Virginia Romero, Lupe Romero-Kosa, Tony Romero, Mike Romero, Ramon "Rick" Romero.

Weekend at thirties

What a great birthday weekend!

It started early, on Thursday, my actual birthday, when all my co-workers brought me 30 of something. 30 Capri Suns, 30 fruit roll-ups, 30 donuts, 30 colored pencils, 30 army men, 30 comic books.

After work, Adro, Evey, Judy and me went out to my regular birthday dinner spot -- Don's Steakhouse. I had my usual chicken fried steak and it was excellent. I'm happy to report Don's is back on its game.

Following dinner, I went out to Rick's Place. Some last-minute plans were made, and I think at the evening's peak, we had 12 people helping me ring in 30. Brandon and Anne Bauer, Danny P., Ryno, Chesty and Stacey Rinnert, Holihan and Brent, Neuty and Trish, Stewart, Dave... it was a great group! And of course, I couldn't have left Rick's unscathed. Rick made sure plenty of Crown was waiting for my group, so we hit that pretty hard. Then Ryno, Brent and Holiahn all went in on stogies for my birthday, so we had to relocate to West so we could all spark up a stoge to celebrate.

Friday I was appropriately hungover, but the good news was I didn't have to be to work until 1 p.m. I managed to get there by 2.

Following work we drove to Mulvane to see my family. My Dad started off the weekend right by handing me a $100 bill and saying, "Let's go to the casino." My Mom stayed home with Evey, me, Adro and Dad went to the Oklahoma border to gamble in Newkirk, Okla. I came out of there having lost $40 of the $100, not too bad. I was able to watch the Dallas/Golden State game while playing video poker, too, an extra bonus. My Dad hit 600 quarters on 4 aces, so he walked out a winner.

Saturday we slept in. Then we went to the mall, where Evey got to get pushed around in the stroller and people watched, while the rest of us shopped. My folks got me a new gray suit, which I picked out, for my birthday. Then we went out to dinner with the Johnson family for my b-day dinner, a cool private club in Wichita called the Candle Light Club.

We returned home late Saturday night. As we drove back, Adro and I reflected at how nice my birthday weekend was. Check out this haul: Adro got me a Best Buy gift card, and she's going to pay for most of my trip to Chicago in August; my folks got me a new suit and some fun money for the casino; my mother-in-law got me some new KU shorts and dinner at Don's; my boy Lervy got me a nice humidor; the guys got me a bunch of cigars and plenty drunk; I got my favorite Jell-O cake from Teresa; comics from Angela; and from my sister and her family... wait for it... a 4-gig iPod!

Plus, I got to see just about everyone I wanted to. I watched plenty of NBA playoffs. The weather was gorgeous...

I just can't imagine a better 30th birthday. Thanks to everyone -- everyone that called, emailed, hung out with me in person -- that made the big three-oh so much fun.

I want to do it all again for forty, OK? Put it in your planner today.

Three-oh

I turn 30 tomorrow, April 26th. Sorry for the lack of a forewarning.

Actually, I can't confirm I'm 30 as of tomorrow. I very well could be 39 or 40, based on appearance. My earliest memories that can date me are of opening G.I. Joe toys on Christmas. Does that sound about 30 to you? I don't remember seeing a man walk on the moon or the day Kennedy was shot. I don't think.

Oh, and they were the small G.I. Joes, the 4-inch toys, not the 12-inch Joe "with Kung-Fu grip." Just to clarify.

I have two stories on turning 30:

1) My best friend Solo sent me a photo on my cell phone this Tuesday. The image was his hands holding out a "3" and a "0." I looked at this photo and thought, "what the?" Then, suddenly it dawned on me -- Tracy McGrady must be going off in the Rockets game. I better check out the score... But the score was 41-38 in the second quarter, or something. No way T-Mac already had 30. I sat there, dumbfounded. And then, finally, the meaning of "3-0" struck me...

2) My friend/boss Bryce walked into my office the same day. "Welcome to the decade," he told me. I looked at him, mystified. What was I doing that made me seem to be in the stone age? Isn't that what that meant? "Welcome to the decade." I must be doing something that would cause him to mock me just now coming into the 2000s, right? And then, "decade"... again, it dawned on me.

I guess I've never thought about how old I am. It's never really been in my mind. Even when people ask me how old I am, I have to think about it. And then I blurt out a number, and I silently ask myself, "Is that right?"

For the record: On my last day of my 20s, I'm sitting here next to my 4-month-old daughter, who is asleep, while my wife of 7 months is at study group with her college classmates. I'm watching the NBA playoffs. I'm typing on a blog. I'm on my second Boulevard Wheat. I feel healthy, for the most part (I've been in much better shape). I'm mostly gray-headed. My lower back hurts. And I'm still alive.

A good 30 revolutions. Thanks for helping make it memorable.

How am I handling 30?

I'm sorry, I can't hear you, my head is in the microwave.

Farewell, Ann

My brother-in-law, Mark, lost his Grandma Ann, who died Sunday. Ann was 78.

Our condolences go out to the Johnson family. Ann was a sweet woman, who could have easily just known me as "Jessica's brother," but instead she knew me as a person, always addressed both me and my wife by name, and was always so happy to see you she'd about break your hand when she squeezed it. A really kind, sweet woman. She'll be missed.

The weekend is over (sadness overwhelms me)

Since we got to come home from the hospital on Thursday, we essentially got a nice 4-day weekend here.

It still went by too fast.

Got a lot accomplished, though, including a little work on the next house. And we watched a lot of NBA playoffs. And we went for a walk on Mass Street.

And Evey got a lot of nice gifts over the weekend, a few get-well-soon trinkets. Including a package delivered from Grey Heiman, of balloons and a neat talking flower toy (pictured). Evey used the word "boyfriend" when she received it, making me shudder a bit. But hey, apparently the kid has money...

HOME!

I'm typing this from home! Yaaaayyy!!!

The surgeon said Evey was doing so well that there was no reason to keep her overnight, so they let us go home. He said she was right on the bubble, her weight and her birthdate, where it was just a decision to stay or go based on how she was doing. This came as a surprise, because the last time we saw him, he did some math problem on the wax paper and said it was a rule that she had to stay the night.

And you know Evey, she doesn't like to break any rules.

Evey is doing great, thank you. Thanks for all the emails/calls/positive thoughts today.

As soon as we got home, me and Evey crashed out, we were exhausted. She's been sleeping hard since we got home. We're giving her a dose of children's Tylenol every four hours.

And then Grandma Judy came over and brought her a present! It's a swing/rainforest. Evey's in it right now, loving every minute of it. She's getting the full treatment. I think she's ready for another trip to Children's Mercy, if they're all like this.

What else? Oh, when we got to the recovery room, there was a nurse holding her. As soon as we walked in, the nurse said, "Oh no! She's so good, I don't ever want to let her go!" You can see in the photos here how happy both Adro and I were to get her back.

And see the cute little hospital gown she was wearing? Tell me you didn't say, "Awwwww!"

I told Adro this morning at 5 a.m. as we were getting everything packed and ready, "I really feel like a parent now." And then to get her home safe and sound and happy... a parenting highlight, for sure.

Checked-in

Evey was all smiles this morning, despite the 3:45 a.m. wake-up call for a feeding and the 5:45 departure for Kansas City...

Mom and Dad, meanwhile, will be plenty tired.

Waiting for Evey

We're at Children's Mercy hospital right now. We handed Evey over to the nurse twenty minutes ago. She'll be in surgery for 1.5 hours, recovery for 1 hour. We wait in the surgery waiting room. We should be reunited with Evey around noon, hopefully.

We've been told over and over again how nice Children's Mercy Hospital is. For once, the hype is true. This place is totally class... like a resort where you can get a surgery performed. The waiting room (pictured above) has a projection screen TV on for the kids, CNN and ESPN News on other TVs... couches, chairs, tables... wireless internet... baked goods, apple juice.

OH! And WE'RE DONE... stop the presses, Evey is DONE and DID GREAT! An e-mail is going out now...

Our recent appointment

Me and Evey went to visit Dr. McKeon last week.

(This formatting was brought to you by Miss Evey. who just hit the spacebar 42 times with her heel.)

Dr. McKeon was very happy with the way our baby looked. Said she looked very happy, and was impressed with how mellow she was at the doctor's office. And then Evey started laying on the charm, smiling and cooing at Dr. McKeon.

Evey weighed 12 pounds 10 ounces at her 4-month check-up, and was 23 3/4 inches long. We wanted the 2-foot mark, but Evey couldn't quite stretch it out that far.

We go in for surgery on Thursday. We're not excited, In fact, we had a rare fussy afternoon and early evening today. Guess we better stop using the s-u-r-g-e-r-y word around her...

Dinner with the Heimans and Rockholds

Jeff and Kendall invited us over for dinner Saturday night, along with John and Jess Rockhold.

And Grey Heiman was of course there. Evey's first Valentine. Grey used a slew of old tricks to try to impress his old flame, from the "hey, I can walk!" to the "it's too hot for pants!" All tricks I watched his dad employ years ago during his courtship of Kendall.

But what really impressed Evey was when Grey offered her his "Eugene" safety blanket. As Jess said, the only bigger offering he could have made was of his mom.

Anyway, a great dinner, great company, and yes, Grey, Evey said she had a great time.

The world needs a Lervik blog

You need to know what this man is thinking.

Now you can.

http://thelerveswerve.blogspot.com/

Someday, you'll say, "I knew him when..."

Busy week recap

Wow, this week just kicked my ass.

It was a great week, though. A quick recap:

Monday: Adro wanted to show off Evey to her classmates at Baker, so myself, Judy and Evey joined her for the trip to Topeka. Small world moment -- it turns out that Jefe, father of Gray (Evey's arranged boyfriend), is the cousin of Adro's instructor. Weird, eh? Anyway, we showed off Evey, then me and Judy and Evey went to the mall. I bought a few used CDs (Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Lucious Jackson, the Refreshments). Looked at some stereo equipment I'll never be able to afford. Then I ate a churro and had my nails done and my hair braided. Afterwards, dinner at Olive Garden.

Tuesday: Took the day off the stay home with Evey and then take her to her 4-month doc appointment. Evey did great at the doctor's. That night, I made dinner for the family (chicken quesadillas).

Wednesday: Me and Adro cleaned the house, played with the baby. Adro cooked dinner. OK, Wednesday was pretty chill.

Thursday: Went out after work. Grabbed beer with Neuty, Ryno and Danny P. Home by 8 p.m., and then I met Adro's Uncle Tony. A few drinks with Uncle Tony. From beer to rum to wine. Bad combo. At some point, I probably did "The Robot." It was one of those nights.

Friday night: Relaxed, watched the Prestige. Pretty darn good, actually. Worth your time.

There you have it... the week that was. What a whirlwind!

Photos with the nice camera

A photo from two weekends ago, when my Grandma Joyce came to town. I really liked this shot. I got a lot of good shots actually... I'll sit here and post a few, while Adro and Judy watch "10," some Dudley Moore flick from 1978...

These photos were taken with the fancy GCM camera... may be why they look better, in general.

My cheap-o camera is about dead... I dropped it when it was a week old, breaking the screen on it. But you could still see 2/3 of the screen. Now, we're down to 1/3, so I'll have to go shopping soon.

No. 15

At Augusta National.

I'm baaaack

Sorry for the down time. Just got back from five days in Augusta at the Masters. You understand, don't you?

Took today off to stay home with the kid. She has her 4-month (4-month!) check-up today, and we earlier thought we had a daycare conflict (that went away)... plus, I had some vacation I need to burn, so I'm home with Evey today. We're having a good time.

Five days is a long time to be away from your four-month-old. When I got back, the first thing I noticed about her was that she seemed longer and bigger in general. The second thing I noticed that her steely blue eyes were now a soft green. But that may have been based on the clothes she was wearing at the time, I don't know. I'm going to post two similar photos here, one of her eyesa few weeks ago (March 20, to be exact), the other from a shot I took five minutes ago. Is there a difference? The top photo is from five minutes ago, the bottom photo is March 20.

Anyway, like I said, I'm back. Hope we didn't lose all our readers in the 8-day break. I'll be back to regular posting now...

Great Grandma, Great Grandma and Evey

My Grandma Joyce came up to Lawrence with my parents on Sunday... what a great surprise! Grandma hasn't been to Lawrence since I graduated from college, so this was a really, really big deal.

My grandma is seated with Evey, Adrianne's grandma Virginia is standing.

Things will slow down here this week

As I'll be at this little golf tournament called The Masters...

But meanwhile, my professional blog -- gcm.typepad.com -- will see regular updates from my 5-day road trip. If you could, do me a favor and stop in over there regularly this week to see what I'm up to. We could use the hits, you know?

Also, we're doing a Masters pick 'em contest, with a cool prize to first place. Please participate! The more the merrier.

See you over at the GCM blog...