I'll be posting on GCM's blog mostly this week, and not much here.

See ya!

Evey says 'thanks!'

To Uncle Neuty and Aunt Trish for coming over and fixing her baby gate!

Another tooth?

Our little angel has been a little pain in the BEEP! these last two nights... sorry, Evey, but it's true, it's true. She's getting sick, or perhaps there's another tooth lurking in the back of her mouth that's coming in. Who knows.

More later, when there is LESS CRYING.

Fiesta, fiesta

Made two trips to the St. John's Mexican Fiesta. Pretty good time, but I'll admit, I had on my angry Neuteboom face on two different occasions. Once, when they ran out of burritos and the food line was moving too slow (I mean, c'mon... it's a fiesta. You run out of BURRITOS?) and two, when the guy that gets the coffee beans from Colombia (you know, he has the donkey) gave my mother-in-law an annoyed look because she walked in front of his camcorder... hey, there's 2,000 people here Pedro, people are going to walk in front of you!

But it was still a good time. Saw Adro's grandparents (first photo), saw Bernardo, Victor and Emily, saw David, Joc and Bella (Bella on the left in the second photo), saw Son Venezuela, even saw Bucky the bartender (second photo, with his 7-week-old baby... Martina?). A few photos are included.

Oh, these photos are from the new camera. I'm pumped, working with this camera is really easy. I've got a few videos on it as well, I'll see if I can figure out how to post them (they're MPG4s, I think... Copy J?).

And the last two photos are of more Justice Society amigos... cousins Jett and Marina, of course! Jett battles evil with his heavy metal guitar of justice, while 'Rina demonstrates the Vulcan neck-hold.

((WARNING: BATHROOM HUMOR ABOUT TO START. STOP READING NOW IF YOU'RE TOO HIGHBROW FOR FART JOKES.))

Ok, ok... in that last photo of EVEY, I know it LOOKS as if she may be using the dance floor as her very public toilet. But listen, we got that girl home, and there was no poop in those pants. As Johnnie Cochran said, if the glove does not fit, you must acquit. So while it may look like a private moment for Evey, trust me, it's OK to post it. She looks cute. She's not pooping.

Wait, what? Farting? What, you've never been in a photo when you're letting one go? They were out of burritos, people, not BEANS.

One morning with my daughter

I'm a little wiped-out (read: hungover) today. So, you get recycled material. This was originally published in Pulp Legacy # 38... So that means I wrote it about 6 months ago.

It's a Thursday morning, 6 a.m. Evelyn usually wakes up around 7:15 or so, and me and Adrianne have a system where I’m finishing getting ready right when she gets up. It’s a pretty solid system, considering we just kind of fell into it: Adrianne wakes up early, around 5:45, maybe 6 a.m., showers early so we both have hot water. Then she leaves around 7:15 to get to work by 7:30. I get Evey ready and drop her off at daycare around 8 a.m., since I don’t need to be to work until 8:30. And then Adro leaves work early, at 4:30, so she can pick her up in the evenings.

A pretty neat system, and I’ve really started to enjoy the banter with Evey every morning, it gets my day off right. She’s so cute, and will do random cute things, like dancing to Radiohead, that makes me smile.

Every morning we look out the window of her room for a while. Her room looks down the hill to an industrial area where there’s a series of train tracks – pretty eye-catching scenery, really. And just watching her look outside is a good deal of fun.

Anyway, it’s 6 a.m. Adrianne is in the shower. The night before, I played hoops with the guys from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30, so my legs and body are pretty tired. And then I hear, in a woman’s voice, the sing-song, “A-B-C-D-E-F-G! H… I… J… K…” And I’m totally confused. Who has broken into my house to sing me the ABC’s? Are criminals always this chipper? And where is my daughter?

Then, when I come to a little bit better, I realize what’s going on.

Last night, for the first time ever, we left a musical toy in the crib with Evey. I was the one who laid her in there last night, so I saw it in there, but I decided to leave it, because the damn thing is so sensitive, and I didn’t want it to go off when I picked it up. I thought, at the time, that this may be a bad idea.

So now it’s singing. I rush into Evey’s room. Sure enough, she’s awake, sitting there, playing with the toy dog that sings the ABCs in a woman’s voice. This probably isn’t going to go well.

“Evelyn,” I say, as I slowly take the dog away from her, “It’s only 6 a.m. It’s very early. We need to sleep longer, baby. So I want you to go back to bed for another hour or so, OK? Daddy is very tired."

She stares at me as I lay her back down and put a blanket over her. Surprisingly, she does not protest.

I walk back to our bedroom and lay down, waiting for her to begin crying at any moment. I put my big head on the pillow, not even remotely optimistic that I’m going to get back to sleep.

And then… I go back to sleep.

I get up at 7 a.m., take a shower, get dressed. I go back to my bedroom and turn on SportsCenter. I’m laying there for about five minutes when I hear her call out to me, quite simply: “Dad. Dad.”

I go in there, and she’s laying down, waiting for me to get her so we can start our day. I pick her up, give her my traditional toss in the air. And then I take her to the window so we can look at the industrial area.

Another day begins.

MVP!

Rock chalk Jayhawk!

More tomorrow....

E-E

Today's title is for two reasons: to say hello to Emma and Emery, two members of Evey's JUSTICE SOCIETY of FRIENDS... and to mention that "E-E" is what Evey is calling herself now. E-E. I guess it's her super-hero name.

Anyway, Emma and Emery are Travis and Heather's kids. Today, Travis gets a huge shout-out, because as of today he is a graduate of cosmetology school. If you're ever in the Enid, Okla. Wal-Mart, stop in the SmartStyles and ask for Travis. 'Cause he's already got a job there!

(Wait a minute... didn't Trav yell at me for taking Evey to a ProCuts a few months ago? And now he's working at a Wal-Mart hair place? You're going to have to help me out on the difference there, Trav.) ((Now watch the guy convince me there's a difference. He's pretty good at convincing you he's right.))

In other news:

The sand volleyball team kicked off its season tonight. We went 2-1. I played a little worse than mediocre. Ugh.

I got a spiffy new camera for father's day. This thing is NICE. Please, don't allow me to drop it if you see me with it. This camera needs to last me. Thanks to the girls for this wonderful gift! I'll let you know when I start posting photos -- or videos -- from this new camera. It's a Fujifilm Finepix Z. Blue. The size of a credit card. (In Borat voice) Very nice!

Judy got me the KU/Memphis DVD. That game just doesn't get old. I had Resurrection Sunday (the Sunday morning 80s-alternative rock program on 96.5 the Buzz) playing while the game was on the TV. That's happiness, right there.

Evey is saying a lot of words. She says "purple," "yellow" and "blue." She thinks she can say Jayhawk. It sounds sorta like, "cake-hawk." Whenever she sees one, she smiles, points it out, and let's me know it's there.

Looks like I'll have my first-ever magazine cover in July. My photo of Lorena Ochoa along with LPGA agronomist John Miller will be on the cover. Take that, Will Baxter and Newsweek!

OK, I'm just wasting time now. More tomorrow. Don't forget, this weekend is the St. John's Fiesta. Some good Mexican food awaits us......

Happy Father's Day!

We interrupt our regular programming to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the dads out there!

What a wonderful day. You may think we like the gifts, the food, the golf... but really, we just like being able to sit on our asses all day and not feel guilty about it!

(OK, we really like the gifts too! Especially what I got! More on that later!)

We'll be back with our super-hero themes tomorrow... we've got the beginning of the JUSTICE SOCIETY tomorrow, followed by... INFINITY INC.! the following week. Stay tuned!!!!

Two more Super Friends

Here we have Amelia and Racheal. Amelia is the daughter of John and Jess, while Rache is the daughter of my friend Marlan.

Both of these kids have amazing super powers... Amelia can produce plastic, uh... grenades, from her mouth! Always handy. Racheal can tell you the first appearance and origin of any Spider-Man villain, as well as known vulnerabilities. Again, VERY HANDY.

Travis hit the nail on the head in the comments section a few posts back when he mentioned that all these "Super Friends" are YOUNGER than Evey. Evey wanted to go for youth on this team. (Did I miss any younger kids? Email me if I left out your young'un.) Next week we'll start focusing on the more experienced JUSTICE SOCIETY, comprised of kiddos older than Evey! Should be a good time.

TGIF, have a great weekend. We're planning on seeing the new Hulk movie this weekend.

Cheers!

Baby Sadie!

Happy birthday to Baby Sadie!

Her power? The ability to smash a pinata in one mighty blow!!!

Interlude: Grandpa Simpson knows

A line from last night's episode of the Simpsons about knocked me out of my chair.

It was an episode I've never seen before. Homer is accused of sexual harassment by the babysitter when he drops her off. The babysitter sits on a gummy bear, which Homer grabs as she gets out of the car. The co-ed turns around just in time to see Homer touching her butt and drooling, replete with his "ohhh-ohhh-ohhh" sound.

Anyway, everyone hates Homer because he's a creep now. He decides to take the offensive, and go to the local PBS affiliate to plead his case. Homer, Marge and Grandpa are trying to dress-up the low-budget PBS set with some items from home. Along with the podium, Grandpa hangs an American flag on the wall.

"Grandpa, your flag only has 49 stars!" Marge says.

"I'll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missou-rah!" Grandpa shouts.

Ahh, as if I needed more reasons to LOVE the Simpsons.

Super-Noah

Another day, another... SUPER FRIEND.

This one is Noah, son of Ted and Heather. Noah is just a little guy, all of 4-weeks old. We met him this weekend. Evey was impressed, she thought he had good potential for the super team she is assembling. Although, he was similarly immobile like the rest of her team so far. Maybe Evey just likes to be the star, and if she's the only Friend who can walk, that makes her pretty important.

Anyway, congrats to Ted and Heather on the birth of their new baby boy!

On an unrelated note... what the hell are the Lakers doing? They're killing me. It's like they're the Eastern team and Boston is the Western team. Oh well, if Boston wins it, at least Paul gets a ring, and I'm fine with that.

Was it emasculating to watch Van Gundy have to disavow his comments regarding fouls on Yao Ming? In case you didn't see it, Stuart Scott read a "news story" about former NBA referee Tim Donaghy and how he was implicating other referees and the league in a larger scandal. Then commissioner David Stern gave his usual smug comment about these allegations being baseless. then they turned it over to Mike Breen (why is he the play-by-play for this series, anyway?) who "interviews" color man Jeff Van Gundy about his comments a few years ago about being told by an "NBA official" -- which, he clarifies, does NOT mean a ref -- that they were gonna start calling Yao for more fouls.

It was a little bit WWF for my taste. The league should have just ignored the whole thing and given us more stats or another personality profile. I'll look elsewhere for real "news" on this case -- it certainly won't be to the NBA.

I mean, did you see it when Dwyane Wade got all those foul calls in 2006? Sheesh.

Wonder Twins

Day two of Super Friends... and yes, we've got the Wonder Twins!

Pictured are Henry and Liam Nunn.

We got to see the Wonder Twins in action two weekends ago, and by "in action" I mean "sitting around being amazingly cute and sweet." I mean, these are Greg's boys here. I fully expected one to head butt the other while they're both getting kicked out of Burrito King. Didn't happen.

But once again, we have a photo of a concerned Evey checking in on her little friend. It's the WWII nurse again. "Liam, I asked Henry, and he said you made that up about him wanting you to have his Jell-O."

(These jokes aren't even funny, yet I feel compelled to keep making them!)

Super Friends week... starting with Gabe!

It's Super Friends week here at especiallyevey, and we're starting off with Baby Gabe! Gabe is the son of John and Stacey. He's 9-weeks-old now, and will be ready to work security at his first country music concert in about 9 more weeks!

Seriously, Gabe is super-cute! Check out Evey watching her new little friend! In that dress she looks like a WWII nurse or something. "Gabe, listen to me... you're going to walk... you hear me?!?"

Gabe is doing great, and so are John and Stace. We're so happy that Evey has a new friend!

Come back tomorrow for another Super Friend!

Nothing good happens at 4:15 a.m.

Some jerk busted out the driver side window on Adrianne's car last night. $&%#! I don't get it. I don't get messing with someone's stuff. Even as a kid I didn't think it was cool or rebellious or anything. All this guy did was cost a young family $200+ they really could have used elsewhere.

On a lighter note, I believe that the best Van Halen song ever is "Finish What Ya Started." I will not argue this. BUT... David Lee Roth was the better frontman for Van Halen. Also, please note, the SECOND greatest Van Halen song ever was "Hot For Teacher."

I'm really no authority on Van Halen, and only mildly a fan. But the above needed to be stated somewhere.

Jimmy Dredg and me

Here's that photo Lervik was referencing in the Solo post... this is a shot Lerv took of me and the lead singer of Dredg, whose name is... (checks Wikipedia)... Gavin Hayes.

Lervik NAILED this photo! On the first try, Gavin looked stoned, and I looked even more giddy. So I asked him for another quick photo. This is photo two.

Man, that was a fun night. We were in Las Vegas for Neuteboom's bachelor party. As fate would have it, one of my favorite bands was playing the local Dave and Buster's. It was us and about 80 other Dredg fans. Both Lervik and Joe proclaimed that Dredg kicked ass. Lervik even bought a couple of their CDs.

RAAARRRR!!!!

Took Evey to music in the park tonight. She ran all over the place. Hopefully she'll sleep tonight.

Yesterday Adrianne gave her two pieces of cheese, and said, "Evelyn -- one, two!" And Evey looked down and looked back up and shouted, "TWO!!!"

Game one of the NBA playoffs tomorrow. I'll take L.A. in seven.

For a great 22-minute segment with Nada Surf filmed in Lawrence, Kan., click here: http://www.lawrence.com/turnpike/archive/2006-03-23/ (You can also find old shows with Spoon, Arcade Fire, the Stills and Against Me! here. Great local show.)

Solo is how old?!?!

Happy birthday SOLO!!! Solo is the Kid of all my friends, so I refuse to imagine that he's... older. Are you 21 yet, Solo? Sheesh! (Evey is 9-months-old in that photo.)

Meanwhile, enjoy another Jonesy band... Dredg, on Jimmy Kimmel!

Grandma is how old?!?!

Happy birthday Judy!!!

Sunday afternoon

We've had a great weekend -- even though I chose "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" from the McDonald's Redbox on Friday...

For some great photos of Evey, along with her little pal Gabe, whom we're visiting here in a few hours, click here: http://www.chestysite.com/gabe/?p=35 (Thanks to Chesty for posting the photos!)

And because YouTube is great, check out this live performance, by one of my favorite bands, MARCY PLAYGROUND... a band that never really caught on, but was great nonetheless. This one is a little bit kid-ish, but we've got to start slow here if I'm ging to start exposing you to some of my music...