Happy Early Father's Day To Me!

I've received a couple Father's Day presents early this year. I'm very excited about both of them. Let me start with a little background about the first present. I've wanted a "Daddy Chair" since I became a Father over 8 years ago. When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time at my Grandparents house. For as long as I can remember, Grandpa had a special chair. It was his throne. More often than not, if you wanted to find him, he'd be in that chair (if he wasn't in the kitchen or garage). Now, I don't want to be a Dad that's glued to a chair...but bare with me. I have many special memories of Grandpa and that chair. When he'd get up to sneak some oreos and a Pepsi, I'd bum rush the chair and sit in it...just so I could hear Grandpa say "Now what do you think you're doing?" when he returned to reclaim his throne. Even if he was gone, that chair would smell like Grandpa and I'd feel like he was really there (it's funny to be nostalgic about cigarette smoke, farts, and automotive oil scents...isn't it?). I would sit on Grandpa's lap on that chair when I was small enough to do that and he'd brush his whiskers across my face and make me laugh. I can't tell you the amount of times I gave Grandpa the arm-wrestling hand-shake from that chair as I was saying goodbye. Just a few days before he died, I gave him that same handshake...he was in the same spot in the living room but his chair was replaced with a hospital bed. I've wanted a Daddy chair so that my kids can have special memories of me and that chair, too. I wanted to snuggle with my kids while we watched TV or a special movie. I want to play silly games with them when they steal my chair when I get up to get some ice cream. I want a place where my boys can sit when I am at work and smell me (hopefully they will smell my cologne Obsession and not flatulence and cigarettes)....and feel like I am nearby. I want a place where my wife can sit comfortably for her bible times and reading. Well, Joi made my dreams come true this weekend. She was looking at yard-sales when she found a nice chair. She sent me to look at it and it was beautiful, in good condition, and matched our living room. Also, it was only $40 and not the several hundred dollars that new chairs like this can be. I was stoked. I bought it and the nice man at the yard sale loaded it up in his truck and delivered it to me. Here's a pic of my new Daddy chair. It even reclines. I love it. It's so comfortable.

The other present that I got from my wife and kids early for Fathers Day was this. I have been wanting a regular bass for a while. I have a stand-up fretless bass that I inherited from my Step-Father, but I need more experience with a regular bass before I will be ready to tackle a fretless. Anyway...Joi said that she'd get me a bass if I could find one for less than $150. I started scanning Craigslist and didn't really find anything to my liking. A friend recommended pawn-shops, but I feel nervous buying something with electronics in it that I can't try out before I buy it. Then I heard about a music store in town called "Music Go Round". It's a music store that specializes in used instruments. They have an in-house guitar shop that fixes them up and they sell them for cheap. I went to the store on Sunday and found a few basses that I liked, but there was on bass in particular that stood out. It was a Fender Squire Affinity P-Bass. It was a deep red color with a white pick guard and silver knobs. It was beautiful. There were no scratches, dings, or dents. It was like whoever owned it before bought it, kept it in it's case, and never played it. It was pristine. In addition, it was only $139.99. These basses usually go for about $300.00. I wasn't sure about the color, but when my wife said she thought red guitars were sexy, I knew it had to be mine. I put it on hold and they said they would fix it up for me. They lowered the action, cleaned the pots, oiled the finger board, and made it look and sound pretty. I picked it up last night. Here's my new baby.

It plays like a dream and it's got a warm and beautiful sound. I just love it. I am already so blessed and it's not even Father's Day yet. Thank you wife and boys for making my yet-to-be Father's day already the greatest one ever. I love you!