I'm blogging on Saturday night, tired. UPDATE: I'm pro-duct-ive

This is the Labor Day weekend of pro-duct-ivity so far... don't know why, exactly, but digging it.

Friday Adro got off work a little early. Despite my office closing at 3 p.m. EST, the Eudora office stayed open until 4:30 p.m. CST. Adrianne and Boyd arrived, Evey and I were unprepared. We quickly got ready and hit the door.

Dinner? Yeah, dinner. Somewhere fancy, right?

Well, I stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain all week. Walked out of there with a $1K+ folio. Felt like taking it a little easy. How about Wendy's? Yeah. At the Legends. Good food, friendly older couple sat beside us and chit-chatted with us (reminded me a little of my Dad... told me to take the kids to Omaha for their air museum, zoo, etc.), and all for the low, low price of $13.

Next stop, Nebraska Furniture Mart. Wife did all the research. Found the new KING SIZE bed we wanted. Bought it. Thank you, we're gone.

Did not get the poker table I want, but it's in the works.

As we're heading towards the door, we're questioning... are these windows tinted, or is something Biblical heading this way?

Then, a lightning strike. Uh-oh.

Hauled ass to the Tucson. Intermittent rain the whole way home. Loved the way the new tires handled on the Tucson. Drive was a breeze, really. Evey, a little freaked out.

I get home, still more energy in the tank. Not sure why. I start cleaning the kitchen. Suddenly, I hear Evey screaming, "Get it off, get it off!"

I run into the living room. My little angel has one of those commons house spiders -- I don't think they bite -- on her leg. Harmless, but big and hairy, to a 7-year old. (In reality, the spider was smaller than my pinky fingernail.) I grab it, squish it a little, lose it, it falls between her legs again. I rebound it, and then smash the mutha &*#$@&'in shit out of it right in front of her. Evey is FREAKED OUT. But good wins over evil. Adrianne is holding her at this point. Evey asks if the spider is dead. I laugh. Apparently she didn't watch me annihilate it.

Typically, I hate killing things. I toe'd a grasshopper 10 times to get it out of the garage the other day. We're all God's creatures, I figure.

Freak out my daughter? You're DEAD.

Everyone goes to bed. I stay up late and continue to watch The Godfather 2... my first viewing.

***

INTERMISSION: three hours have passed (in blog time)... a few more beers consumed.

*** 

Saturday...

Adro makes the kids pancakes because Boyd has been demanding pancakes lately. Usually I make breakfast (and usually it's breakfast burritos) but I refuse to make pancakes (I think they're an awful, awful breakfast food) so this throws off the usual routine of Saturday mornings a bit. But the Joneses... they persevere.

On a typical weekend, while waiting for Adro to finish getting ready, I sit there and watch SportsCenter. Not this weekend, no, my friend. This weekend? I took Boyd and Eve outside, and started cleaning the garage.

BJ and Evey played Shinobi while I cleaned the garage and Rain-X'ed the windows on both vehicles.

See what I'm saying about pro-duct-ivity? And it's only Saturday morning!

Head to Lawrence. Stop by the animal shelter, apparently they don't open until 11:30 a.m. on Saturday mornings. We are looking to obtain a dog, once we meet the right little guy.

On to the barber shop. Adro drops the kids and I off. The place is packed, so we go shopping instead. We went shopping for Adro's birthday presents. The kids both picked out their own gifts for their mom. I got Adro a C-note to take to the casino. Good times.

Finally, the barber shop, where Boyd and I got cuts. Mediocre ones, at best. C'est la vie.

Adro came to pick us up. Back to the shelter. We didn't meet Mr. Right. The hunt continues.

From there, late lunch at McDonald's. We're apparently visiting every major fast food place this weekend. It was OK.

Then, on to Lupe and Rod's, where we swam for a few hours. Swimming at their place has become a favorite weekend activity, because their pool is awesome, private, and not-too-far. I pound a few beers, Evey does a few cannonballs, Boyd does a few belly-flops. We get to see the Vignerys and their baby Sylvia, who is a favorite of Evey's.

Finally, the drive home. Saturday is winding down.

(This post has become a brutal blow-by-blow. But I can't stop now.)

I pull into the house at 7:30. Enough time to mow the front yard? WHY NOT???

So I get into it. It's the weekend of pro-duct-ivity, right? Then, inspiration strikes. I decide to run-mow the backyard. Got it all done. Sweating profusely.

Come inside. Kids go to bed fairly early. Thinking about doing the same thing. Tired.

Instead? Blog. Make jukebox note cards. Look through old comics, searching for Marvel Super Heroes # 18. Stay up until 2 a.m. (Don't find Marvel Super Heroes # 18. Pissed.)

It is the weekend of pro-duct-ivity.

Until tomorrow.

Welcome back, Evey

Here is another pic of Evey and Boyd on Evey's first day of 2nd grade.

I still have the photos we took on the back porch to post... we've taken that photo (Adro and I) with both kids the last three years in a row... a tradition I hope to continue. So we can compare how the kids (and my face and belly) grew over the last year.

Evey is enjoying 2nd grade. I introduced myself to Mr. Powers when I picked her up today, and he told me Evey was a real pleasure to have in class, and he was happy that she was "off the charts" (the best level on their daily behavior chart) today.

***

I've been issued the ice bucket challenge by Lervik. I'm going to go complete the task tomorrow at Lawrence CC, with my bud Bill Irving. I'm looking forward to it, it looks like fun.

I haven't been able to complete the task in 24 hours, but that's because I was in southern Pennsylvania on business most of this week. But I'm back now.

***

Speaking of business trips, looking at the calendar, I've been on 16 business trips this year, for a rate of two a month. But I only took one in both March and April, so that's why it feels like much more than that.

Upcoming trips include Tucson, Sheboygan, Louisville (again) and Orlando (again).

***

I spent the last few days at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsyvlania. Beautiful country, nice resort.

It was a North Coast Meeting, first all the editor-in-chiefs of the six different pubs owned by NCM, then a EIC/publisher meeting.

It was cool, and fun to hang out with my counterparts of the different magazines. Interestingly to me, I had this feeling that I belonged, but also a feeling of respect and admiration for the other editors in the room. Age-wise, I was right in the middle: three older than me, two younger than me.

But no one would argue that I possessed the best hair.

***

Jayhawks West Fantasy Football Draft is this Saturday. We've got nine of the 10 guys confirmed for the draft. Do me a favor and don't call early on Sunday morning... I'm anticipating a level-three hangover.

***

Not sure if you saw this video, but it's an interview I did for Golfdom at the recent PGA Championship. Actually, I don't expect you to care, but I'm posting it here just to have it in the blog. You can view more Golfdom TV videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/GolfdomVideo 

Back to school... Almost

Evey wasn't the only one excited for her first day of school... so was her brother Bubba!

He helped walk Evey to her class. Even packed his own lunch, just in case.

We thought he might get mad when it was time to leave Evey at school, but he was fine with it. He was ready to bounce.

But in just a few years, Boydee... you'll be heading to school too!

Jones Family

Love 'em.

WB in town

WB and I at Louise's West on Friday night.

Great to see my college roommate and my best man at my wedding, Will Baxter, back in Lawrence for a few days.

WB lives in Bangkok, so I'm lucky if I get to see him once a year.

I was flattered that this year, he booked two days in Eudora to hang out with me. Considering his other U.S. stops were to see his brother in Chicago and his mother and oldest brother in Austin, I thought that was pretty cool that he made time before flying back over to stop here for a bit, and just hang with me and see my family.

***

We started off the journey with a trip to Funky Monkey in Eudora. Sadly, FM is going out of business. How can I tell? Well, the first sign is pretty common: cash only. The other signs are more rare: all the booths had been sold off, leaving only tables and chairs... all the taps were empty, leaving only bottled beer... all the TVs were off, meaning cable has been cancelled... and 100% of the staff were either no-shows or new hires, meaning the regular staff had already seen the writing on the wall.

Too bad. We enjoyed the place, though it didn't last very long.

From FM to Rick's, where Willy and I only had a few beers, but managed to play all the bar sports. In a controversial ending, Will tried to declare overall victory, despite the last game of shuffleboard ending before all the pucks could be thrown. On to Red Lyon, where we played darts (WB beat me fair and square there.) On to home, where we played Texas Hold 'Em and drank tequila into the wee hours of the night. And yes, I did take all of WB's baht (Thai cash) that night. It's probably worth $5, total.

***

Friday morning we ventured on to the golf course (Eagle Bend), at 9:30 a.m., despite my inability to concentrate, speak or walk from all the tequila the night before. Ande Parks met us out for golf. We walked 18, walking a total of 6.5 miles, according to Ande's iPhone app.

Golf was awesome -- a great day, weather-wise, to be on the course. And a good cure for a hangover. Also, I hit some really nice shots. The game is coming together.

From there, lunch at 23rd Street, then a much-needed nap.

WB, Arnett, Jones... at Rick's.

On to Rick's, to meet Arnett. Then we went to Rick's actual house, to see how he was recovering from his brain surgery (progressing nicely, it seems.) Then Louise's West (pictured) for $2 schooners and for old time's sake.

From there, Johnny's, where both Copy Jesus (Eric B.) and Ted (Ted) stopped by to say hello. A few other friends were missing, apparently the victims of "the dog house," whatever that is. Beers and pizza there before heading BACK to West and Rick's, telling some old stories, the bullshit meter reaching peak bullshit, and then closing it down.

Left the bars in fine enough shape to get back to Eudora, Kan., where I then took WB down in another game of Hold 'Em, earning me another 2,000 baht (approximately $3). Then, sleepy time.

***

WB and I watched the kids in the morning so Adro could garden on what turned out to be a SPECTACULAR weather weekend. Then Boyd and I took WB back to el aeropuerto.

BJ fell asleep pretty fast into the car ride. He was a little dismayed that Will was gone when he awoke, especially after declaring that Will was his "best friend" that morning. (Boyd has many best friends, it seems. Or, maybe, his 2-year-old brain doesn't quite grasp the concept yet.)

All in all, a fun weekend with WB. I look forward to his next visit. And I thank Adro for

WB and I at Red Lyon. My T-shirt, btw, is a  LeBron James/CLE shirt.

understanding that the guy literally flew around the globe... might as well take him out for a few cold ones!

She has her Dad's swing

Even though this little boy is a stinker...

I miss him. And I wish I could tell him a story about Adam Strange tonight.

Now, my little girl? She's an angel... and I REALLY miss her!

(And yes, I'm fine with my son knowing when he gets older that he was a stinker at age 2 years, 10 months!)

Two superheroes

My mom got the kids super-hero capes, and as you can imagine, they're a big hit.

Kids are doing good. Evey starts school in a few weeks. Boyd is starting to care about getting out of diapers.