Go climb a tree!

Front row for Flat Jonesys

In this weird COVID-19 year, I decided a few weeks ago it would be fun to buy cardboard cutouts of me and the kids for Allen Fieldhouse. I figured there was a 50/50 chance we ever see them on TV ... but we get them back at the end of the season, and they'll make awesome decorations for the HOJ! (Oh yeah and the money goes to charity.)

So we've seen two home games this season so far (I don't get ESPN+ so no telling about those games) but for the Creighton game and the Omaha game, the kids were rocking sweet seats!

No sign of me yet, but that's all good! My cut-out is probably at Rick's. 

 

Cooking class!

Evey nailed these pretzel bites for school work! A new weekend tradition Evey???

The weekend that was, Thanksgiving 2020

So I'm wrapping up five days off in a row. How was your break?

Wednesday the kids and I got after it and did laundry, cleaned the house, etc. Felt good. then it was easy street for a few days.

We cleaned the basement up and had a double feature. "My Spy" and "Gemini Man." I kinda liked My Spy. It took us 2.5 days to finish Gemini Man because of our slow internet.

Gemini Man started off strong, and ended with a dud.

***

Thanksgiving was chill. Judy cooked the bird and the pig, I made the easy stuff, the stuffing, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. It was a quiet day overall. We ate well and had some awkward zooms. One with my family, the other with Adrianne's. I watched the Jayhawks get ran by Gonzaga (felt like the scored easily on every possession) ... first half in the HOJ, second at the house.

The most notable thing was that Virginia came over, possibly because Boyd wrote her a note inviting her. It was great to have her here and I think she enjoyed herself just fine even though she wouldn't do a tequila shot with me (don't worry, I didn't offer her one.)

The food was great. We ate plenty. 

***

Friday felt good. We chilled. Leftovers. 

We watched KU win in the HOJ. Came back over. Everyone was tired and cashed it in early. 

Adrianne and I watched The Crow on free pay channels — I get the impression that was the first time she's seen it in 20 years — and it still holds up for me, stylistically. Then we did a double feature and watched Go which she had not seen. I think that's a great 90s movie (if it came out in the 90s?) and she liked it, I think... at least, she stayed awake for all of it.

***

Saturday the weather was amazing and we weren't going to miss it. I cleaned up and burned a bunch of yard waste. Then I trimmed a tree behind the house. Then I burned that yard waste.

I was exhausted by 1 p.m. on Saturday, but I kept burning stuff, the weather was so nice. The kids came out and helped pick up the yard. Adro was pulling weeds like crazy and it was going directly in the fire.

Then Cathy brought her family over and invited us over for a game of croquet. That was surprisingly enjoyable! The kids were nervous going over, not knowing the rules. But once we learned how to play, we had a nice time.

My bonfire was still smoldering after the match. I came over and started burning the last of the big tree behind the house. Almost burned the whole thing!

My moment of clarity came on Saturday as the sun went down. It was cold. I was alone. But the jukebox was rocking. There was a small bonfire burning. I had a productive day, where I could point to the results. My body was fatigued but happy. My evening pint tasted sweet, like a reward. I sat in my barber's chair and thought to myself, "thank you." 

Pretty lucky. Thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving 2020!

It was a smaller group than usual but the day was still memorable. The food was awesome. The company was smaller but still fantastic.

Sorry I cut you off on this pic Bub! Give me a little lean forward next time you Stink McGee!

Guest star weekend!

So two weekends ago (I'm slow) we had a few guest visits. I think we all sensed the current shut-down and wanted to say hello while we could...

The first visit was from one Sean Lipford, who I toasted a few drinks with Saturday afternoon, in honor of what appears to be the end of a political regime. Any change in political regime warrants beers among friends.

Then Ted and Heather and their kiddos came over! Pizzas, drinks, and a bunch of movies on the projector. It was such a nice change of pace. We watched movies, burned sparklers, played foos, climbed on rocks ... and me and Ted drank like we were in college.

The next day we got another unexpected guest star ... I invited the neighbor (Alex) over to watch the Chiefs in the HOJ, because that's what I do. But in these pandemic days, that guest star prevented the appearance of the fam ... and I watched the game with a stranger/new friend.

It was fun! It's all fun. Mostly.

 

Happy Halloween!

Boyd was Black Panther...

Evey was... A WINGS FAN!!!

Happy 9th birthday, Bub

We celebrated here at the house... he's growing up fast!

And yes, he asked for weights for his birthday.

A sorry Sunflower Showdown, a better bonfire

What a Saturday!

Started off with some chores, including taking Virginia's old TVs to recycling... a 90 minute project!

Then we got home and I fired up the bonfire... turned on that lousy KU / KSU game... made some s'mores.. and stayed outside until the last piece of wood was burned!

The sun went down but the fire still smoldered. Called my Uncle Vince and chatted about life in the pandemic (he's doing good!) I was so exhausted I barely made it to SNL.

It was a good day.

Meet Pierce!

What a cutie! Jason & Jackie's son is 5 weeks old. He was charming the Joneses that's for sure.

From the barber chair

 This is the first blog post … from my new barber chair!

***

Last day of September. Can you believe it? It’s Fall all of a sudden. I got out the Halloween decorations today. Boyd’s birthday is on Monday. The air is crisp; the sky is bright blue and the leaves are flying through the air. No need to mow the lawn every five or six days.

Breathe DEEEEEEEP.

***

Last night we all watched the first presidential debate. Judy also stopped by and Lupe popped in too. 

It was awful. Trump being Trump and Biden trying to navigate the noise. 

I’ll be honest, I was disappointed in Biden’s performance. I felt like there were some openings he could have taken, some moments he could have had… but there will be no T-shirts or bumperstickers made using content from that mess.

I take that back, one bumpersticker could be, “Stand Down, Stand By.” That’s spooky. 

The whole spectacle made everyone just feel uncomfortable, bloated and old. (Maybe not the kids, I don’t know. OK, that just describes how the debate made me feel.) Evey (and I know she reads the blog now) is really rooting for Biden and that’s sweet. I can’t imagine what the home life must be like for a 13-year-old who watched that and embraced Trump. I would hope that spectacle would make a young teen either 1) disgusted 2) disinterested 3) dejected or 4) a hopeful Biden supporter. That’s just a random generalization. 

We’ll watch the next one. Evey is interested for sure, and so are Adro and I.

***

How about those CHIEFS!?! MNF was great! Nice 34-20 W against Baltimore.

Ted and his son Noah came over. As is tradition this season, I made chili dogs. Right before we started eating, Noah asked his dad, “have I ever eaten a chili dog?” To which Ted replied, “I don’t think so.”

I told him, no pressure. If you just want a hot dog that’s fine. Or a bowl of chili. But some combination; this is what I’ve got.

I was self-satisfied to see the kid slam down TWO chili dogs. Indeed, my chili dogs have become quite popular in just three weeks at the Casa de Jones. It’s a recipe I pulled off Google.

We watched some of the game on the projector, on the side of the HOJ, like we’ve been doing with movies. That was pretty awesome, but it got pretty cold that night. Eventually we had to move it inside the HOJ and watch it on the flatscreen in there (still a good TV though.) 

Noah is a mirror image of his dad. A little shy like any 12-year-old around adults he doesn’t know well. But he had the line of the night, in my book.

They did a segment of how good a year Mahomes is having — Super Bowl W and MVP; new contract; buys part of the Royals; gets engaged. (Later we’d find out they’re expecting.)

Evey goes, “Mahomes bought part of the Royals?!? Why???” I said, “Because he loves baseball and he has all that money! His dad was a professional baseball player. If I had that kind of money you know I’d buy something cool!”

And Noah, under a blanket, deadpans, “yeah… like a space heater.”

That was a good line, but that kid is good in my book mostly because Ted texted me this morning: Noah is still raving about how good your chili dogs were! He told me again before school today.

A space heater, some day. 

Royals first. 

***

I just remembered to record the COVID-19 South Park special tonight. 

I’ll be watching Game One of NBA Finals tonight. I’m taking Lakers in 6. LBJ/AD are too good together, and LBJ has been a monster. 

Mostly hopeful for a good finals, but also rooting a little for Jimmy Buckets to upset the Lake Show.

***

You know the only thing the barber chair needs? 

A cup holder.

But that’s probably not sanitary, is it?

***

Boyd turns 9 on Monday. He’s a character.

He’s a jokester and likes to mess with people. For example, his fake cobra? It somehow follows Adrianne all around all day. 

He does a Fortnite walk from time to time, because he likes the attention it brings. It is funny.

And he gets in trouble once in a while for giving one-word answers, not picking up after himself, getting upset when he can’t play on the xBox.

So yeah, he’s almost 9. Good kid. 

**

Evey played her last game of volleyball yesterday, as an 8^th grader on the jayvee team. She was co-captain and the fulltime setter.

I was really impressed to see her going from never making a set (none of the team tried this concept in 7^th grade) to setting everything passed to her, either off a true set or off a bump. Her running bump sets were especially impressive to me. (Too bad she never had a hitter to take advantage!)

She signed up for basketball and I’m excited for that. I was banned from her first volleyball scrimmage (by Evey, true story.) But I was a good (quiet, say nothing negative or positive, just sit there quietly) fan in volleyball, so I’m hoping good behavior(?) gets me good access to basketball.

We’ll see!

But seriously, going to Evey’s volleyball games and rooting for her was a great mental break from the drama that’s going on in the nation, and just being a sports dad. 

Evey is a great teammate … and an even better human. (Sorry I didn't get a photo of you for this post Evey!!!)

Beautiful Kansas sunsets

Maybe because of the wildfires, but the sunsets have been especially beautiful lately. Enjoying them in the front yard with the family, watching the sun set, listening to good music. Feels great!

Play 7810

 Pretty good weekend here. I’m feeling mostly normal now, two weeks removed from my surgery. Tested my limits a few times (picked up a package of bottled waters; did some yard work) and felt good!

Saturday was a cool day. I’ll tell you why.

I woke up at a decent hour and went and did the recycling, took the dog with me. We then went and got some tortillas for breakfast. Came home and I fired out an epic Country Breakfast on the flat-top. Scrambled eggs, sausage, breakfast potatoes, bacon… so good! 

After breakfast I mowed half the yard, then I watched KSU lose their home opener (I love it when KSU loses football games… and it was also an exciting game.) The girls had hair appointments, so Bub and I would be on our own for a bit. What to do?

We took it easy and just went for a cruise in the Impala, to Sonic. Got lunch, drove around a little bit. I could tell Boyd was getting a little sleepy. By the time I pulled in to the house, he was OUT. I left the windows down, snuck out, and let him sleep right there while I got comfortable at the HOJ.

Girls are doing good at the hair appointment? Boyd is doing good, taking a nap in the Impala? The weather was perfect, there was this layer of clouds that move in, and it was cool, overcast… 

I did what any man would do at that moment. I took off my T-shirt, cracked open a beer and played 7810 on the jukebox. Then I heard the thump-thump-thump of a Chinook helicopter. I walked outside the HOJ in time to see two Chinooks following each other, low, flying right at me. Soundgarden’s “Day I tried to live” started playing on the jukebox. I threw my hands in the air, impressed by the moment. 

And then suddenly I was soaked in sunlight. There was one little hole in the clouds… and it was beaming on me.

I’m not the most spiritual person in the world, but at that moment I waved at my parents, I thanked God, I threw a first in the air to Allah, you name it. AWESOME. I felt so… alive.

I sat down with an Iron Man comic from 1975. Cold beer, good music, perfect weather, son sleeping peacefully in the Impala 10 feet from me… all was right in my world. I got to page two… looked up… saw my neighbor the Cowboy on his horse in the field across the road. Gave him a wave. He waved back, and rode over…

We chatted for about 20 minutes or so. Nice guy. We don’t have a lot in common (interests, politics, etc.) but I like him and I know he’d give me the shirt off his back if I needed it. We wrapped it up and he rode off.

I got a new beer (keep in mind I’m on beer # 2 at this point, so the sunbeam wasn’t me just hammered or something) and sit back down. Start back up on Iron Man. Weird comic. Make it about three more pages. And a white Mustang pulls into my drive. 

It’s another neighbor, Matthew, I think? Bill’s son. He paints cars. Wanted to show me his new project. It looked nice! We walked around this Mustang three, four times and agreed how nice it looked. At one point I saw Boyd pop his head up; he saw me, closed his eyes and fell back asleep…

Matthew and I wrapped up. Grabbed beer # 3. Went back to the lawn chair. Sat down. Read the most bizarre nonsensical Iron Man comic to the next-to-last page. And then Boyd woke up.

It was a memorable Saturday afternoon. And I didn’t even mention the Mittens story, or the new pigs the neighbors have…

First day of school!

8th and 3rd grade!

No belly moshing this weekend!

Adro and I in Omaha, last summer.

 Hello from the Hall of Justice, 9 a.m. on a beautiful Sunday morning. Me and the dog are out here enjoying the weather. I’m catching up on unread emails (I just discovered the ‘schedule send’ button here in 2020) and listening to Pearl Jam live at Benaroya Hall Disc 1.

***

It was an interesting few days for sure, memorable because on Friday morning I went in and had hernia surgery on my belly button. 

The doctors and staff at LMH (Dr. Park did my surgery) were all fantastic… professional yet compassionate. Thumb’s up review all around on how they took care of me.

My recovery at home has been good. Day one was a little rough. It was hard to move around. And the painkillers made me paranoid. I felt like Cheech driving around in L.A. traffic at 10 mph. Sleepless first night for sure.

As of Sunday morning I feel pretty good. I can get up out of the chair relatively quickly, using my arm strength, avoiding stomach muscles. No painkillers for almost 24 hours now, just a little sore. I went to Aleve/Aspirin for a little bit and that was much better than the prescription stuff they gave me.

***

All the family pitched in to help me out. For Boyd, it was not being a wild man around me. For Adro, it was keeping everyone fed, to bed on time, etc. Grandma came over and hung out to make sure we were all doing good. 

Evey was the one who was so worried about me and willing to just stay close to me. She said to me Saturday night, “I don’t care what we do, but I want to do something with you.” We played an easy game of foosball, and then played Battleship (she destroyed me in both). Boyd came out later and we played Uno until the sun went down. Such sweet kids! Especially Evey.

She also told me later on that when she grows up, she thinks she’ll come over to check on me and mom often and make sure we’re doing good. I hope she’s right!