Great Easter Sunday

We woke up to a big snow storm, then that afternoon went for a walk and played tetherball at the park.

Judy was kind enough to have a 12-pack of Boulevard Wheat on-hand at the farm to ease the pain of the Jayhawks loss.

The kids did score... The Easter Bunny brought them cool baskets, avoided the snow by getting them in the house... And included these cool bubble wands!

End of spring break

Evey's post                  

Friday my best friend Ava came over and we had a blast!! We got out my karaoke  machine and listened to Taylor Swift while singing her song Shake It Off.  After that we watched the movie Max. It was OK but there was a lot of sad parts and right  when it got happy BOOM!  Super sad part goes on the screen. Not cool.   We also got out my Snap Circuits Extreme box and built like 100 different projects. It was a good day to end my Spring Break. While I was playing with Ava dad had his friends over and watched March Madness. It was a pretty great day to have both are friends over.

Our First Bike Ride... Together

   A week ago me and my dad rode the double decker bike. I was a little nervous at first because I had never been on one. I was mostly nervous because If we had accidentally went on grass we would  tip over and we would have a lot of bruises. We finally got on the bike.  When we started going it was becoming fun with the wind just blowing in your face while finishing a conversation with dad. When we were riding we stopped at a park to play frisbee. After that we rode back home.

***

Here is a great tip about what store and restaurant  NOT  to go to. The store not to go to is Menards. When you first walk in theres this thing that you have to go to get through. The restaurant not to go to is Piclemens. It smells bad when you walk in and they serve grilled cheese WITHOUT ANY CHEESE!!!!!!!    Who would do that? 

*** 

Thursday when me and dad were playing frisbee dad broke the fence. It was awesome!! I threw him the frisbee high at him and he ran and caught it but right at that moment dad crushed the fence. It was awesome!

***

 Back to the bike. After we rode it we went to DQ and had lunch. It was a pretty busy week.

Day at Oakmont

I've been in Pittsburgh for approximately 28 hours... Flying home here in an hour. Home soon.

Boydee is sick at home (bummer), Evey is on spring break (awesome), Adro is slammed at work (bummer X 2). Me? I'm just pumped for the first round of the NCAA tournament tomorrow, combined with St Patty's Day. Too much fun!

I visited Oakmont CC today, site of the 2016 US Open. Real gentleman working there, people I'm happy to get to work with, nice guys.

The US Open at Oakmont in 2007 was my first US Open... Hard to believe! I'm getting old.

(I even drank hot tea at breakfast this morning! That's how %>£+#¥# old I'm getting!)

At the beginning of the year, the USGA sends all its members that year's US Open hat.

But unlike most USGA members, I don't like to wear my US Open hat until I arrive at the course.

That's not like wearing a band's T-shirt to their concert, is it?

Naaaaaaah!

Big 12 Tourney time; my lone R.E.M. story

Who's ready for the Big 12 Tournament?

THIS GUY!

***

Saw Deadpool this afternoon.

I went to Legends 14 and caught the 4:25 show. I was literally the only person in the theater. Adrianne asked me, "Did that make you feel like a champion, or a loser?"

If you know me, you know it made me feel like a CHAMPION. In my mind, I had rented out the entire theater for a private showing.

Sometimes you just gotta wear your undies on your head.

My review? It was good, not great. Too many people built it up for me, I think.

I'm kinda glad that I didn't take Adrianne along, like I had planned, because I don't think she would have enjoyed it much.

But then again, maybe I'm just getting old and curmudgeonly. It's possible.

***

Watched a documentary on R.E.M. tonight. Interesting band. I think, had I been born just a few years earlier, I'd have been a huge R.E.M. fan. As it is, I'm a mild fan, interested, like some of their music, but felt like I maybe missed the boat on their peak years.

(Monster is my favorite R.E.M. album.)

I have one R.E.M. story.

When I was a kid, my sister scored us R.E.M. tickets. This was probably 1995 or 1996, I was still in high school at the time. I drove up for the show, and was pumped... it must have been the first time I ever traveled to see a show. I'm sure Mom was terrified. But when Sis and Mark moved to KC, I'd drive up from time to time to hang out with them and crash at their place, it was fun. (Remind me to write about the time I took them to the comic convention...)

Me and my pal David Hay. I joke with David that he's my golf course
superintendent dad. I've known him for almost 20 years, and he
calls me "son." 

So we've got lawn seats at Sandstone. I got into town early, and Jess is driving me around KC, showing me some of the sights. We've got the Lazer, 105.9 on the radio (RIP LAZER). The DJ comes on and says, "Hey, the R.E.M. show was sold out, but I'm told they just released some tickets..."

I don't remember if we drove to the box office, or stopped at the local grocery store that served as a Ticketmaster outlet... but we upgraded our tickets, and went from the lawn to having seats in row EE.

We got to Sandstone early, hoping to sell our lawn seats. We sold them in a heartbeat, might have even made a little money on the deal. Then we walked into Sandstone.

This was when there were seats all the way to the front of Sandstone. I figured EE was probably the 30th row or so, pretty good stuff. Then we walk in, and the back was row 86, or whatever. We keep walking down closer, and we come up on row Z. So we keep walking closer, and we come upon row ZZ. Turns out row AA was the front row — we had 5th row seats for R.E.M.!

I remember when Michael Stipe walked out, he was wearing a suit that looked like it was made out of a disco ball. The spotlight was shining on him, and he was reflecting light everywhere. A pretty cool entrance. (Maybe the only more memorable entrance I can think of is Brian Setzer at the Hurricane. OH! And the Beastie Boys at Kemper. Best exit? Either Scott from Local H at the Granada, or Doughty from Soul Coughing at the Bottleneck.)

That's me with Rex Walters, one of my favorite Jayhawks ever.
I'm hammered in this photo, taken at the Oakland airport.
Rex has a much bigger noggin than I do. ROCK CHALK!!!

The show is rocking, we're only two songs in, and Stipe is looking down towards us. The girl seated right in front of us waves at him, and he waves back. She falls over in her seat, stunned that Stipe acknowledged her.

The song ends, and Stipe looks down at her and asks her how she's doing. Then he starts joking with her. "Were you surprised I waved back at you? Do you think I can't see you? You're in the fourth row! Now, the people back there I can't see... but I can see you!"

It was cool, because even though he wasn't talking to us directly, he was talking about where we were sitting... and even threw a dig in at the seats we originally had.

I always thought Jess and Mark were the coolest, but that concert really cemented that idea! (Jess also bought me Pearl Jam tix at Century II in Wichita, for the Vs. tour... I was 16.)

***

Boydee finished swimming lessons today, and got glowing reviews. He's ready for Rod and Lupe's pool.

***

Happy to report that Evey was back to her normal self today... not grumpy. Sweet. Melosa.

***

I've been hitting the gym lately (well, the last three days in a row.) I start off my workout by shooting hoops, seeing how many 3-pointers I can hit in 20 minutes. It works up a good sweat. The first day I had 42, then 30 and 31. After hoops, I go lift for a little bit.

Today I was just getting started, when the parks and rec director, whom I know, walked in with the fire marshall to inspect the fire exits, alarms, etc.

When the ball bounced over their direction, I popped out my earbuds and took advantage of the situation.

"Did someone call the fire marshall? Because I'm on FIRE!"

Gary said, "No, you're fine, we're just looking at the fire exits."

The fire marshall, meanwhile, laughed out loud.

Tuesday night whatever

Kinda bummed, in general, about tonight.

Boydee and Bella Boom, playing games.

Evey wasn't herself (not excited about going out to dinner?), Boyd was a bad boy at the end of dinner (there were some drunks nearby, I wanted to leave... but Boydee wanted to show his ass instead); and the going-away party I went to wasn't exactly what I expected (missed Adro; my friend I invited was 90 minutes late, kinda leaving me in an awkward position.)

But it's cool, I'm home now... Tuesday nights aren't usually awesome.

***

So last night I stayed up late, worked on the jukebox, blogged, had a few pints.

I was in bed a little after 1 a.m. The kids went to bed with Adro. I put them both in their respective beds and went to sleep as well.

Boydee blasting bubbles with his bubble blaster. (FYI, my new computer autocorrects "Boydee" to "Body." So apologies for any typos. No, really.

Come to find out, Boydee got up at 3 a.m. or so, and watched TV!

I'm usually a light sleeper, and the smallest thing wakes me up. But Boyd's little late-night TV excursion escaped me last night. Adrianne had to fill me in this morning.

Adrianne is a hard sleeper, so she usually misses something like this altogether. But she sensed something was amiss when BJ asked her for water at 3 a.m., he was wide awake... and the living room TV was on!

I'm back on the case... Boydee acts like the most entitled little 4-year-old... but now I'm ready. That kid turns on the TV and 3 a.m.? Oh man... no one gave him permission for that!!!

***

We published a Golfdom Insider today.... you can read much of the content here.

I sense a poll coming up!

I was excited to write about my trip to Boise and Billings. Here is the full skinny. I don't expect people to fall over themselves for something like this... but I'm a writer, I need to write...

***

Was invited to speak in Florida today. I typically try to accept speaking invitations.

But this one, I think I'll turn down. Adrianne and Evey agree. Boydee? He thinks Super Smash would do it.

***

This week is going to get crazy. Picking up Uncle Rick from the airport tomorrow night... KU hoops Thursday afternoon... then the craziness of the Big 12 tourney ensues.

And I'm hopeful to see Wolfmother on Friday night...

And take the kids fishing on Saturday morning...

We'll see. I'm looking forward to it!

Evey and Judy. And Jesus.

***

Prediction: Kansas wins the national championship. Against Cal.

88-79.

You heard it here first.

***

Adrianne liked my blog posts over the past two days. That makes my heart swoon.

The only people I write this blog for are 1) Adrianne 2) Evey and Boydee, in 40 years. (But don't worry, the three other people who still visit here, you're more than welcome.)

So I'm a little inspired that Adrianne likes what she is reading now. Heck, I said no to one more pitcher at Rick's so I could get home safely and maybe post on the blog....

***

We should do a music festival this year. Lolla? Outlands? Something closer to home?

Whatever we decide, the most important factor is YOU.

(Me and Adro already have tix for both days of Buzz Beach Ball, btw.)

***

I love nachos.

Monday night... swimming lessons

Hello, people of Earth.

***

Evey and I watched an episode of Supergirl tonight. In the episode, Kara is trapped by a extraterestrial parasite, and the effect it has is it takes the victim to their dream world.

(There was another subplot where Kara was fighting with her aunt.)

The whole episode was well done, maybe too much pathos for a show like this... but I thought the writers did a nice job.

In the episode, Kara is trapped, basically, in a dream. So she goes back to her childhood... interestingly, she meets a young Kal-El (Clark Kent/Superman) who was a figment of her imagination (Superman was jettisoned to earth as a baby... the idea of a young boy Kal-El on Krypton, I thought, was a nice touch.)

Evey enjoyed the episode (she's seen it several times, I was the one who was catching up) but it put a lump in my throat... because it reminded me of dreams I had (less frequently by the day) where I see my dad again. In the episode, Kara sees her deceased mom and dad again, and she is obviously effected.

But the thing she doesn't do, is go for a hug.

Having lost my dad almost seven (seven!) years ago now, the thing that haunts me in these dreams is the urge to hug, or at least touch, my dad... and I was clutching the couch, hoping Kara could pull off her own hug. The TV show emphasized the relationship with her mom more... so they backed off the sentiment with her dad. Which was clearly a good thing for me, since I was relating more as the superhuman (yes, I have superpowers) who lost his dad.

But it was all good, and a decent episode all together, but like I told Evey... maybe a little too sad overall (spoiler: Kara's mostly evil aunt gets killed in the episode.)

***

I've been in the process of updating my jukebox. Look for the series of jukebox close-ups photos, for each page, soon.

I wiped out 98 CDs and put in 98 new CDs. (Soundgarden's Superunkown survives, and is now the only CD to remain in the jukebox — at slot 78 — since the day I bought it six years ago. Harvey Danger's Where Have all the Merrymakers Gone? also survived this cut.)

So I took some time to put album artwork in the juke tonight. That caused me to celebrate and play some tunes. So now I'm listening and blogging.

***

8412 — Mr. Mastodon Farm.

***

Evey is walking home from school regularly now.

It makes good sense. It's a shorter walk than it is a drive, really (apply the rule of "as the crow flies.")

But it's a little sad that another way I can impact Evey's day is falling by the wayside...

I remember when she was a kindergartener, and she'd come out of the Eudora Elementary School doors and leap into my arms.

Then she became a first grader, and I got a big hug.

Then she became a second grader, and I got a casual, "Hey, I know you — we're family..." half-hug.

Now Evey is a third grader. I make a point of getting the half-hug when she leaves school. It's nice. It's a far cry from the leaping-into-my-arms hug I got back when she was in kindergarten, but... Evey is almost 5 feet tall now.

I think it's a good thing Evey is walking home from school with a friend.

Really.

***

Dentist appointments for Adrianne, Boyd and me today.

Evey? She's the winner-winner, chicken dinner.

***

Back in the day when blankets were a cool gift. December 2014.

***

There are reports that Boyd has a photo of himself with the baby cow/calf.

We'll see. People say there's a photo of me and John Elway together, too.

***

Evey does a nice job singing that Marian Hill song.

***

Boyd had swimming lessons tonight.

He also announced that he has a new name: "Super Smash."

***

Hey, what'd I do to my hip?

It was't the result of a big running/jumping Evey hug...

Virginia, Evey and Baby Vale

Picture is of Jason and Jackie's little girl, Vale, pictured a few weekends ago at Jason's birthday get-together at the farm. I appreciate Baby Vale looking right at the camera when I said, "say cheeseburger!"

***

Evey, Judy and Virginia went up to Omaha on Saturday for Sylvia's 2nd birthday. It sounds like everyone had fun, although Evey did report there was a "mean girl" at the party. It wasn't Rosalina, Virginia or Judy, she says...

***

Boydee had a really good morning this a.m., and did everything Adrianne asked of him -- get dressed, get your shoes on, eat breakfast, give me the remote, it's my turn to watch TV, etc. 

Oftentimes he's stubborn, and sometimes he'll have a meltdown when he's watching his shows and Adrianne says, "my turn, Bub." We tell him it's not a big deal, and he usually moves on within a few minutes... but it's better when he's just a good boy and doesn't make a big fuss.

It seems like he might be getting closer to that age where he understands actions/consequences, sharing, etc.

Like any four-year-old, he has his good moments and bad moments.

***

I had a list of chores to do today, and I feel like I got a good amount of them done. The best one is I cleaned/organized the garage. (When it's cold out, I let the garage get a little out of hand.)

After I got done cleaning the garage, Adro and the kids were still out and about, so I assembled a new  bike for Boydee. It's a bike with training wheels (he previously just had trikes.) We took it to the park this afternoon, and he took to it pretty quickly. 

***

Today I went downstairs and opened the hallway closet to put the batteries away. I caught a whiff of something awful. I told Adrianne to be on alert... either there's something dead inside the closet, or I farted and didn't realize it.

Evey and Adro both later did a smell check on the closet. Turns out I farted.

***

Guess what I had for breakfast today? Enchiladas and eggs! (Or Magas, as Adrianne calls it — no one knows why.)

***

Bought new CDs and Love Garden: Zero 7, Alt J, Portishead and Ratatat. 

***

Boydee was quite excited that one of his classmates brought a baby cow (some might call it a calf, I suppose) to school.

That kid did just do a microphone drop for the next few months' worth of show and shares, huh?

***

Evey's is doing state assessment tests at school. This has her a little stressed out. She takes it very seriously.

She even missed most of a recess recently, to finish her math test up.

***

Went and watched the KU/ISU game at Johnny's with Ted on Saturday. That was fun. Great season for the Jayhawks, I remember at the beginning of the season, guys at Sunday pick-up were complaining about this team, saying they weren't even likable.

Well, I like this team, a lot. I started to like them better and better as the season went on.

Hopeful for a great March Madness... and hopeful to see the 'Hawks play into April... 

I'm Batman