2018 Ice Storm

Took this shot on Sunday afternoon when Adrianne was showing Evey her family tree, after Aunt Jessica asked me if I still had my family tree.

***

Cool day today. Adrianne woke me up around 6 a.m. and said "no school today!" I asked why and she said, "Ice storm!"

Sure enough, the weatherman nailed it. At 7 a.m. there was freezing rain and even lightning. It was a good storm.

It was interesting because despite the fact that school was cancelled, both kids were up early hanging out and watching the weather.

***

As much as I brag about Boydee, let me say this: he's awful to eat dinner with.

Takes forever. Flip-flops around. Gets mashed potatoes on his elbow. Talks with his mouth full.

I told him today that me and Evey were going to test him and pretend like we were strangers, see how he does. Then he got up and walked away from the table. "Can I spank him?" I asked. Then he complained about tomatoes on dinner!

My dad woulda smacked my ass... be careful Boyd... your time might be coming soon...

Hello, this dish is Inigo Montoya. Prepare to dine!

So the poll is over, and "Inigo Montoya" won, with two votes.

That was Adrianne's name. The dish commonly known as goulash in other houses will now be known as Inigo Montoya in the Jones household.

Evey's name was "Smoky Mountains" (with one vote), mine was "Despacito" (with one vote) and Boyd's was "Dad's Delicious Dinner" (zero votes.)

And yes, Adrianne managed to vote for her name twice, Evey voted for her name once and I voted for my name once. Boyd did not vote because he's 6 and really doesn't care.

Evey was mad for a minute about Mom's two votes, but I reminded her that I told her to "vote early and often." If we do another vote, I expect Evey to utilize the school computers more...

***

Just watched the Jayhawks shellack the Sooners... by 30-some points.

We go to Tech on Saturday. Winner leads the Big 12 outright with only two games remaining. Pumped!!!

***

Cute moment tonight: when there is a movie that Boyd and I both like (like tonight, The Incredibles) Boydee doesn't hesitate to hop in my lap and watch the movie from that vantage point.

He's in kindergarten, and the watch-a-movie-from-Dad's-lap days are numbered. But it warms my heart. It's a cool age for a parent.

I was so enamored with the moment — my little guy on my lap, my big girl stretched out on the couch listening to music — that I grabbed my phone and tried to snap a quick photo. The first photo, that I had framed perfectly? Numbskull Koko-Kokonuts-Chupacabra Jones photo bombed it! Can't even see Evey Jones!

I snapped another one but Boyd is falling out of frame and Koko is still trying to figure out what I'm doing with my phone...

***

Koko is sleeping right next to me as I type. She's a good girl. Slept here next to me during the whole KU game.

And one point she spasmed in her sleep, or something, and it startled me because I forgot she was lying next to me.

She's doing it again right now. Her front paws are twitching back and forth as she sleeps. Must be dreaming. Maybe a nightmare? About chupacabras.

***

I was informed today by the accounting department that I may no longer buy bottles of water at the gas station. Bottled water! Seriously! 

Why?? Because it costs $1 at the gas station... and I can grab a bottle from the house for 7 cents!

But Seth, you say, how are you supposed to grab a water from your house when you're traveling for work? Oh, no, sorry... by accounting department I mean Adrianne. Adrianne informed me this evening that a bottle of water should either be grabbed from the house, or maybe I can fill a water bottle before I leave the house.

Then she told me I'm doing a good job with my expenses, and that she wasn't mad, just trying to figure out all the expenses on the credit card... to which I replied, "Well if feels like an inquisition!"

***

The kids had the day off school today, and so did I.

It was a good day. Overcast. Quiet. I made ham and cheese omelettes for breakfast, than got inspired to use the new wok Judy got for us for Christmas and I made beef fried rice for lunch. It turned out good, not as good as Judy's, but good.

Then I watched the end of the All-Star game while the kids played on their computers/tablets.

Judy came over in the afternoon and I went in and snuck in a few hours of work, trying to get ahead of the game for tomorrow...

***

Saturday, for the West Virginia game, I went out early with Sean and we hit Louise's West, then Rick's. Then Ted came out, we lost at LRC and decided to head to Red Lyon, where we saw Ryno and Shane. It was like the old days.

I didn't close the bar down but I may have hit it a little too hard. Why do I say that? I woke up at 5:30 a.m. on the couch downstairs, fully clothed but freezing my ass off, with Mexican HBO on the TV.

Interesting that when I'm that intoxicated I can comprende Spanish HBO no problemo.

Bubster with Lucky Dog

 Here's a fun photo I got of Boyd with Jessica's dog Lucky. Boyd likes hanging with Lucky... she's a good dog!

***

You know where your tongue connects to the bottom of your mouth?

Is it possible to hurt that? I think I hurt that. I thought I bit the bottom of my tongue, just sitting here looking at the computer like an idiot... then I realized I have no teeth that can reach that specific area... so what the heck! How is that even possible?

***

The recent school shooting in Florida has been tough to observe. I clicked on to CNN twice today. I quietly cried in my office twice today.

The sick thought I had this afternoon as I took the dog for a walk and saw that the neighbor had his flag at half-mast: for 17 people, mostly under the age of 18, Wednesday's school lunch was their last meal.

School lunch should never, ever be someone's last meal. So sad.

***

We bought tickets to see The Head and the Heart with Grouplove, Starlight Theatre, May 29. You should join us!

***

I bought a comic on eBay recently... something I haven't done in a while.

I bought Green Lantern # 44. Got it for $21. Gil Kane cover, from 1966.

Looking forward to receiving it. Hopeful it's in good condition... the images on the auction were impressive.

I love old Gil Kane GLs. His brief stint on Spider-Man was great too. He did the covers around issue 100 on Amazing, including the Ka-Zar covers.

My favorite comic book artists, as of right now:

1. Steve Ditko
2. Jack Kirby
3. John Buscema
4. Mike Zeck
5. Gil Kane
6. Mike Mignola
7. Duncan Fegredo
8. Neal Adams
9. Jim Steranko
10. Ron Garney

My dear Valentine

Nice W by the Jayhawks tonight. The difference was Lagerald Vick. He looked like he had played basketball before, which was a big difference.

I know what he's going through. I never played to his level, but there were times when the basketball felt alien in your hands. Then, a week later, it's a big ol' bucket.

Confidence, maybe. I think it's deeper than that.

***

Had a dream about Dad last night. We were outside grilling, and the neighbor's son drove through his garage, busting through the house.

I was grilling corn (with lots of chili powder) and chicken breasts. I have a Spangles tray I use to hold the meat when I pull it off the grill. It's plastic. For some reason, I placed this tray on the grill, and it made me panic. I thought I burned the corn. I put the fire out.

Turns out the chicken was still raw in the middle. So I tried to get the fire going again.

Pretty sure Dad laughed at me at this point then told me to trade in the truck. But I told him I want to drive it a little longer. He told me to get a used truck. I shrugged him off.

He looked good in my dream, and I didn't know he was gone. We were in our old driveway in Mulvane. Jack Shields was the neighbor, but the car that was wrecked was in my current neighbor's house.

***

Boyd had a big stack of stuff in his backpack. Adrianne was in San Antonio. He told me it was time to review the contents of his backpack.

BJ dumped out his backpack. Instantly I was discouraged. Not because there was a lot, or because it was disorderly... but because I HATE paperwork. Ask Adrianne. It gives me the chills.

In short: I would rather talk to you about what you need and when you need it... then get a sheet of red copy paper rife with misspellings that meanders between AP style and modern English.

But I found some cool stuff in the stack, including the art you see here. Yes, there was also the notification of lice in the classroom (so happy to have a boy who keeps his hair short) and the book orders... but also these cool pieces of art.

If Evey had done this art, I would have done a 1,000-word post on how brilliant my daughter is.

Now that we're on child No. 2, you get, "Boyd doesn't have lice!"

***

You couldn't see me but I just did the RUN THE JEWELS hand sign and in my mind it was BADASS.

Man, I miss me. Where've I been?

Oh, yeah...

Lazy.

Back from San Antonio

Finally!