From the barber chair

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

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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!!!)