Back from Texas!

Hi everyone.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We had a great one down in McAllen, Texas, 8 miles from the Mexico border. We visted Adrianne's dad, Alan, and his wife Diane, and their son Alex. It was the first time Evey met her dear ol' grandpa Alan, or "Poppy," as Adro calls him.

Here we are at a bar on the Rio Grande called The Riverside.

More later... cheers!

Road trip to Garnett, Kan.

Since I'm getting ready for a road trip right now, might as well post about an old road trip before I go...

About three, maybe four weekends ago, I drove straight south to Garnett, Kan., to meet my boy Lervy. Lerv is in Chanute, and right smack in-between us is Garnett, Kan. It's an hour drive for both of us, and wouldn't you know it? They have a golf course.

Our friend Will Baxter -- who lives in Thailand -- actually suggested the trip. he said he ran cross country at the golf course, and it seemed like a nice course, and also it was right between the two of us. Lerv and I started talking about it, and we decided, "you know what? Willy has a good idea there!"

I'm glad WB suggested it, because it WAS a nice course, a nice town, with a nice little bar, and I had great company.

I got there about 45 minutes late -- the previous evening was the day we lost seven people at work, and I spent much of the evening helping Bart tie one on... plus, I got lost south of Lawrence, trying to take a shortcut. But once I got there, it was on. I played like ass, honestly, and Lerv played pretty well. (I'd play three times in less than a week, and that outing with Lervy was by far my worst.) The course was a nice little 9-hole, with some crazy undulating greens. But a solid course, for sure. After our nine holes, we headed to town to watch the now legendary KU/Nebraska game. We found this quaint little towny bar replete with a private room and pool table in the back, so we saddled up back there and let it be known that we were KU fans. As the game progressed, all the patrons came back to say hello and talk KU football with us.

Anyway, a nice way to spend a Saturday. the chicken fried steak was just OK, but that didn't matter -- this was one for the record books. And I'm not just talking KU scoring TDs, I'm talking a memorable day with one of my best friends in the world. Next time, I won't be so hungover, and I'll try to hang with him a little bit better on the golf course.

And since I'm here now, don't expect much action on Evey's blog these next few days... we're on vacation! But I'll try to post when possible.

In the meantime, have a great Thanksgiving! Cheers, everyone.

Get out your high school diploma

Because apparently, the reading level of this blog is at the high school level.

I thank words like "guru," "inundate" and "concoction."

What's funny is I got this from my friend Jason's blog, which is way, way, way more highbrow than my "hey, look, another cute photo of Evey!" And his rating? Junior high.

Heh!

I'm off to test the GCM blog now...

Halloween pic courtesy of the Heimans

Jeff, Kendall and Grey walked by as we were sitting in Jefferson's on Halloween. They were kind enough to snap a photo of all three of us together and email me the image... Evey probably won't share my excitement for this photo when she's older, though...

Happy Thanksgiving!

But, what? You say it's not Thanksgiving yet? Then why are there turkey leftovers in my fridge right now??

The Jones/Johnson family celebrated Thanksgiving Sunday afternoon, since me, Adro and Evey are going to be in Texas over the actual holiday. My Mom and sister made it happen and we had everything -- turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole... even 'orange concoction'!!! It was a true feast! And it was also Evey's first Thanksgiving!

We had a blast, as you'll see from the photos. Bring on the leftovers!!!

Thanks, Mom and Jess!!!

Evey has a purse. Seriously.

What does Evelyn keep in her purse? I don't know. I don't want to know. All I know is that it matches her diaper bag. Because that's important.

She's not even a YEAR OLD and she has a purse. A freakin' purse! I'm going to be so inundated with girly stuff for the next 18 or so years... I'm screwed.

A PURSE.

And a photo of Adro and Judy here, too, taken last weekend at Vermont Street BBQ. Yeah, it's a woman's world I'm living in. S'OK. Makes me feel macho.

Gotta go... Oprah's on.

Wedding photos

Our one-year anniversary passed without me putting any wedding photos up. I remedy that tonight. Look for more in the next few weeks.

Here we have me and Adro along with our friends the Sweeten's (Travis and Heather), who drove up from Enid, Okla. Trav is one of my comic book geek buddies.

Below is Dr. Clark Throssell, a good friend and co-worker. Doc is the turf research guru for GCSAA, a handy golfer, and an easy-going, mellow dude. He was in town from Billings, Mont., mostly for our wedding, and also for a little bit of work.

In other news: UNC almost dropped their season opener to Davidson tonight. My Dad got a couple phone calls on this one. Roy was sweating plenty. The season is off to a good start...

Baby Jayhawk

Stop prank calling me, Roy Williams. Haven't you caused me enough pain?

Evey and Dad, on stage, Neuteboom wedding

Setting: Neuteboom wedding. Situation: I've had a few (several) Free State beers, and now Judy is going to take Evey home, while Adro and I continue to celebrate Eric and Trish's nuptials.
Makes sense in my mind: The band is on break, so I take Evey up on stage at Liberty Hall. I mean, come on -- it's Liberty Hall! I've paid for many a show there, now it's finally my turn to stand up there and look out at the crowd. And I take Evey with me. I told her to "say bye-bye." She makes a noise, and hears it broadcast over the sound system. So now she has a new toy, and she gaaas and goos for the crowd. As you can see here, she enjoyed her time up on stage... she wanted to grab the mic herself.
Later that same night: I would play the maracas with the band. But this moment right here still trumps my debut as a maraca player.

New Evey video

Late July 2007

Something from my broken camera...

Evey and baby Sadie

Baby Sadie came over to visit Evey a few weekends ago... Evey looked at Sadie and was like, 'Mom, Dad! You brought over a REAL baby for me to play with!'

Learning 'bout EVERYTHING

Check her out... she has a look of wonder with just about everything. I'll take her over to look out her bedroom window (a nice view of industrial Lawrence), and before she can even look out the window, she has to check out the window locks, touch those, try to figure out what their importance to the world is. So sweet...

I've got lots of photos -- LOTS! That I wanna get up in the next few days. May not be too much writing, but plenty of pics, I hope.

In music news... I learned today that John Wake owes me $20! Why? Because the Hives will have a new album out next Tuesday! See, when Vendi, Vidi, Viscious came out (a 2002 re-release), he told me they were one and done. I said no way, they're here for a while. We bet a $20 that they wouldn't make it three albums... that third album, Black and White, comes out next week. If you'd like to hear/download the first six tracks (for free, from their Web site), click here. ALSO! Big Head Todd and the Monsters (remember them?) has a new album out. They're giving it away free to members of their email list, and friends of members of that email list. So, if you're interested in that album (for free!) shoot me an email and I'll forward you the information. This isn't a download, they're literally mailing copies of their CDs out. And before you say, "Wow, Radiohead really changed the music industry with 'In Rainbows' as a free download...', remember: Harvey Danger (of 'Flagpole Sitta' fame) released their latest CD in a 'pay whatever you want' format back in 2005. So there! (Click here to download their latest, 2005s 'Little by Little). ALSO! Did you know the Plain White T's sang that song that goes, "Hate is a strong word, but I really really reall don't like you!"? That wasn't a half-bad song... but then they go and release that "Hey There Delilah," and every radio station on the dial plays it ad nauseum. Ugh! You know it's a bad song when the alt rock stations can play it, the top 40 stations can play it, and even the country stations can play it (Hello, Hootie and the Blowfish). But my point: That first release was pretty good...! Maybe I should stop -- hate is a strong word, but... really really really not liking that band? Perhaps. And another point... remember when the Lazer (when it was cool) did two-fer Tuesday? That was brilliant, because it made you learn about new, up-and-coming bands. "Hey, I like this song... oh, and they play this song too? Wow, I should check out that album..."

OK, there's your Jonesy music update, the first of it's kind on especiallyevey.com... and look, it includes 2.5 free albums for you! Not a bad debut, I must say...

Happy Guy Fawkes day!

Not V for Vendetta, but close!

Kaiden Abasolo rocks out his Halloween costume.

Remember, remember, the 5th of november!

Cheers!

OK, here we go...

Looking at the blog, I'm like, "hey, I don't remember making THOSE posts..."

Glad I didn't write anything incriminating. I had just gotten back from the bar when I decided to... post on the blog! A great idea! Along with the cheese tortilla I made myself...

Ugh... rough Friday, having to say goodbye to so many co-workers, so suddenly. I went out with Bart to celebrate his new beginning. He'll land on his feet, that's for sure.

It's late, I need to go to bed. Here's a photo I snapped of Evey. Nothing beats natural light, eh?

More later. Rock Chalk!

Hangin' around

WOW!

OK, let's evaluate... me and Adro both still have our jobs? OK, good.

(7 of our colleagues were 'let go' today. =Whew=.)

We love you!

Hangin