A gift 20 years in the making

Trust me, Boydee is PUMPED in this photo.

Allow me to explain.

When I was a kid, I collected comic books, beginning at age... 9, maybe. I still have my first comic book ever, and I'm pretty sure it was a Marvel Tales from 1984... I would have been age 7 at the time. I hung on to it, then one day I discovered West Coast Avengers and then, even more important, the G.I Joe comic, and I was hooked.

I started collecting toys at a much older age... probably 14, maybe 15. Weird, I know. I had money (I started working as a host at Tippin's in Wichita pretty young, then quickly started waiting tables) and I'd go to Walmart (back then it was spelled Wal-Mart) and I'd put a box of super hero toys on layaway. This is just what I did.

(Who knows how much money I spent on comics and toys while in high school. It's a mystery. But there's an easy answer as to how much I spent on dates: $0.)

So recently I went back to Mulvane and now I'm getting my toy collection re-assembled. A lot (but not all) is stashed away safely in Eudora. It includes some cool stuff, too, like the complete set of the original "Batman" toys from the Michael Keaton movie. (Here's an example from eBay -- not my auction.) 

It also includes some stuff that I think is cool, but it's not very valuable in the collector's market.

But guess what? I've got a little boy who thinks Spider-Man is pretty cool. And Venom? He's the best.

So why not wrap the two of them up and give them to my son? I'll finally get to play with them now, ha! That $4 spent at Wal-Mart in 1990 finally gets its pay-off. 

Somehow Boyd missed this box at first on Christmas day... then found it a little later. I was downstairs when he started opening it. Adrianne tells me he freaked out, he was so excited, but I have to admit I missed it. I managed to barely snap this pic before he opened Spidey. (Venom has already been ripped open and is lying next to Boyd there by his knee.)

I've been a collector for a long time. I've always thought there are three things that make collecting sane: 1. personal satisfaction of the hobby; 2. the potential investment; 3. the potential gift for the next generation.

The gift of Spidey and Venom to my 4-year-old? I might not have known it in 1996, but it was a pretty cool Christmas gift in 2015. 

Merry Christmas!

More game pics

Hhh

Boyd's first KU game

Took place this Saturday! And we did have fun... even though, after the pre-game introductions, Boyd said to me, "Dad... this was a bad idea."

He enjoyed the halftime dunkers... and the popcorn... and he did watch for a little bit...

But yeah, overall he probably wasn't ready for it yet. Just ask Rod and Ben, who were coincidentally sitting three seats down from us... or an old college friend, who was sitting right in front of us...

My college friend told me at halftime that he brought his boy (similarly aged) recently, and that they made it the whole game... but that it wasn't much fun.

Part of the reason I wanted to get going was because B.J. was rubbing his eyes... I could tell he was tired. No sense in fighting it, I figured. 

Adrianne rescued us, and picked us up midway between Allen and West Coast Saloon... where I left the truck.

(I think Boyd's favorite part of the game might have been the bus ride to the game... all good. One of these days, his favorite part of the game might be the Rock Chalk Chant... or taking his girlfriend to the game... or throwing a big dunk down in the face of some punk from Iowa State...)

For the record, we made it through the first half. We'll try again, someday.

North Coast Media holiday party

Left to right, Brian, Adro, Marty and Jeff at Hofbrauhaus.My designer,
the Indomitable Pete, is in the background in green.

We had a blast at the North Coast Media holiday party this last week. 

Yes, Adrianne made the trip with me to Cleveland. I was celebrating 5 years with the company, and she hadn't seen our headquarters yet... I convinced her it was a good time to come up and check it out, meet all my co-workers, and see what a REAL holiday party looked like.

Adro's new NCM BFF is Karey, who is a kindred spirit in that she's also an accountant,
and doesn't understand how I can be so bad at submitting expense reports.

I think Adro had a great time. I thought she would. And the most commonly asked question I heard that evening from my male co-workers, was something akin to, "How's a dumbass like you end up with a hottie like that?"

Kevin (CEO), Rick (retired sales guy) and me.

We also went out to a nice dinner on the first night, the CEO hosted me, my publisher (Pat), LM's publisher (Bill) and all our wives. It was a fun dinner, great steaks and too much red wine. Adro proclaimed it was the best meal she's ever had (and that's what I proclaim every time I eat at Red in Beachwood, Ohio — place is amazing.)

Before we left we took a quick spin around the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, then a flight back home. Adrianne enjoyed Cleveland and I loved having her there with me. We agreed that the next time we bring the kids, and check out some of the outdoor fun, like East 4th Street and an Indians game (preferably against the Royals) at the Jake.

Suspicious turkey

 

Boyd may have unintentionally named my fantasy football team next year: Suspicious Turkey.

It was a weekday morning, 7:15 in the morning, Boydee munching on some lousy breakfast cereal at the island in the kitchen. He suddenly started staring through me like I wasn't there. I thought maybe he was half-asleep... turns out, he was staring at the artwork hanging on the refrigerator door (pictured). 

"Dad, my turkey is suspicious," Boyd says to me. I'm a little shocked that there's a suspicious turkey in the house... and by Boyd's use of the word.

"Why is that, Boydee," I ask, looking at his turkey on the fridge.

"It has too many feathers," he says. "And there's no mouth... a turkey needs a mouth."

"And maybe because it has three eyes?" I ask.

"NO, DAD," Boyd says. "It's supposed to have three eyes...!"

Not to burst your bubble

Boyd has been a good boy lately. Well, he did punch a 9-year-old boy in the face recently... But that's a story for another day.But, uh... This weather isn't going to last...? (Sorry, headline that doesn't make sense.)

Evey Jones, spelling bee champ!

Congrats to Evey for winning her class spelling bee today! She is on to represent Mrs. Golay's 3rd grade class on Jan. 13th!

From an email I received from her teacher:

Evey is our class spelling bee winner. The school spelling bee is on January 13th. 3rd, 4th, and 5th will travel to the Eudora Middle School for our school spelling bee. Parents are encouraged to attend. I will send home a packet for her to practice and she will have practice time each day at 2:30.   We will leave around 9:30 and return around 11:15.

I am so proud of her!!


Ashley Golay
3rd grade
Eudora Elementary School

Happy 9th birthday Evey!

Today was Evey's 9th birthday, so we took her wherever she wanted to go for dinner to celebrate. Like Boydee, she chose our favorite place, Tres Mexicanos.

We left Eudora a little early because I needed to return all of the WOW! Cable boxes (we switched to DirecTV today, the first day of a two-year commitment.) My hands were full, so I asked Evey to carry my keys and lock the door behind us. I showed which key was the house key abd how to hold it (teeth up).

She started walking in front of me. Wearing black boots, a cool blue coat my mom got her, a fun color-it-yourself book bag Grandma Judy got her, and with the sound effect of the jangling car keys... she looked like a teenager heading to her own car. Oh wow!

But then she struggled locking the door with me holding that pile of stuff, bringing me back to reality a little. Good!

Evey's epic 9th birthday party

We have wrapped up Evey's birthday weekend, and WHEW! Was it a big one!

Special thanks to Adro, who made the whole thing happen, and along with Evey... the two were amazing party planners!

We started off at Laugh Out Loud, with somewhere between 7 and 700 kids we were responsible for (OK, it was 8 kids, I think, that were on our watch.) LOL was good, but also stressful at times... I snapped at two kids, but I also made a few friends when I bounced my 206 pounds up and down on the air bubble, possibly breaking it (sorry LOL).

After we left LOL it was girls-only for a sleepover party at our house. We had 19 girls sleepover... it was Evey, Ava, Adira, Bella, Regan, Ryleigh... Abby. OK, maybe it was 7 girls. It's a blur.

I learned a lot about how some kids consume candy, their sleeping peccadilloes, their manners, etc. And I was at times impressed by little girls who said please and thank you.

And I also stepped in chewed bubble gum within 5 minutes of being back in the basement after everyone left. (Evey, who turns 9, still doesn't chew bubblegum, by her own choice. Jeez, we're spoiled.)
 

OK, I'm being dramatic. It was clearly a group of good girls — how else to explain everyone getting along, and then asleep by midnight? Adrianne reported that a few of the girls even volunteered to help her make the beds, and that many brushed their teeth without being asked. (I quit popping in on the girls after a while because I'm pretty sure at least one of them was a little afraid of me.) 

So, will we ever do that again?

(Shakes Evey's new Magic 8-Ball) 

All signs point to "NO."