Urgent Help

When I was in Florida, I handled an emergency.

At 1am, Evan called down from his bedroom saying he needed my help. I go upstairs and he motions to his computer, indicating the problem. The time is still PST. It needs to be EST.

Ok Google

Evan discovered a love for the Google Home at my parents' this past Christmas. He would request music, but if it was a Disney show, then he'd add "for Parker" at the end.

Now that we have one, I check my Pandora app and find all of these new requested stations, like ABBA, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato.

Evan's 30th Birthday Soundtrack

For Evan's birthday party, we created a list of his favorite songs, burned a CD, and gave it as a prize for winning a Evan-themed jeopardy trivia game. These were the songs that he chose from the collection he has on iTunes:

• "Roar" by Katy Perry
• "Slow Down" by Selena Gomez
• "Mark My Words" by Justin Bieber
• "Sorry" by Justin Bieber
• "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber
• "Love You Like A Love Song" by Selena Gomez
• "Who Says" by Selena Gomez
• "Try Everything" by Shakira
• "Strangers Like Me" by Phil Collins
• "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from "Mary Poppins"
• "Circle of Life" from "The Lion King"
• "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" by Donny Osmond
• "Ways To Be Wicked" from "Descendants"
• "It Ain't Me" by Kygo and Selena Gomez
• "We Know The Way" by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Opetaia Foa'i
• "You're Welcome" by Dwayne Johnson
• "Seize The Day" from the "Newsies"
• "Gaston" from "Beautify and the Beast"
• "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys
• "Go The Distance" from "Hercules"

The Day of All Days

Today is Evan's birthday. Hallelujah!

He begins telling me plans for his birthday 13 months in advance. 

• Next year 2014 we go Applebees
• My birthday party next year only 16 people
• For my birthday turn 30 I have three parties: work, friends, family, cousins

Praying over our dinner Tuesday night, Evan prayed that his birthday would be good and fun.

We had a late night yesterday after seeing "The Greatest Showman." At midnight, I told him, "Evan! It's after midnight! It's your birthday!" "Better tell Selena Gomez about that," he responded.

Christmas Time

I got a tree and set it up at the end of November. "But it's not December yet! It's November!" 

What should we get mom for Christmas? "Car cleaning towels. Police uniform. Books"

Blocked

For a couple of weeks, my texts weren't getting through to Evan. I would receive error messages. Finally, I asked to look at his phone and found that he had blocked my number.

Not that bad

I'm wearing an old yellow sweatshirt that was Blair's, until handed down to me, until handed down to Parker, until left for my dad to use. My sister-in-law asked if goodwill refused to take it (like Maria in the Sound of Music). 

An hour later, Evan asks me if I am going to go painting. 

It's not that bad!

I am. Not sick.

Evan is sick with a cold. The sicker he is, the stronger he denies it. 

Sneezing, coughing, he adamantly demands he should go to work.

How are you feeling, I ask. 

I am! He replies.

Be a good decoy

Yu-Gi-Oh!, Power Rangers, Justice League, and Scooby Doo are Evan's Netflix shows of choice these days. Perhaps he's been watching a little too much of the latest. When saying goodbye to Parker on the phone he said, "You're a good decoy. You're courageous and brave and strong."

While a kind compliment, using what Daphne or Velma would say to Scooby and Shaggy to convince them to be bait for a monster was pretty funny.

Brigham's gone? Shopping time!

Whenever I go out of town, Evan goes on a shopping spree. Tired of me getting him books and movies from the library and suspicious that I'm not actually buying him things on Amazon that take months to arrive, he supports local bookstores, Best Buy, and Target. His selections are often those with the highest markup, non-seasonal items that sell for 50-60% less online. 

After one trip, I saw his pile of loot and said, You've bought everything. He said, Yes, almost.

A day before I was flying to Texas for a weekend trip, Evan called me. Are you already in Texas? No. I came home to find he splurged early.