Christmas has come and Christmas has gone and the memories endure like a warm cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter night. Jennifer made it home and we had a short, but fun-filled visit. As her military career has drawn out...she is now in her third year...she has appreciated the comforts of home so much more and she is quick to let us know how much she appreciates us. What a blessing it is to have a child show appreciation for the simple things in life.

Jennifer split her time between our house and her Mom's and we even let her two worlds collide on Christmas Day when Diane hosted us for a Christmas brunch. Jennifer was late arriving on Christmas Eve, her flight circling the airport for 45 minutes as the ground crew worked on a disabled plane in their arrival gate. Why they couldn't land at an alternate gate must have to do with some obscure FAA rule, but it was a bit irritating as the crowds in the arrival area waited for their loved ones on the last arriving flight of the night as it did wide loops of downtown Sacramento waiting for room to land and disembark. Finally fifty minutes after their scheduled arrival, the passengers began to arrive in small groups and then a steady stream. Darla, the boys and I waited and finally saw a tired and dishevelled Jennifer riding down the escalator, weighed down with packages and carryon items. It had been a long day for Jennifer. Not only was it 2:30 a.m. her time, but she had pulled a 21-hour shift on guard duty the night before at work. She was a trooper, though and had been able to catch some sleep on the drive to the airport in the morning (no worries, her roomate drove) as well as on two of her three flights.

She woke up bright-eyed and raring to go on Christmas morning, even breaking into her brother's rooms to wake them up from a sound sleep. We ate breakfast together and opened presents. My Dad called and talked to Jennifer and then we were off to Diane and Bill's house for fritatas, mimosas and sugar-free ketchup.

Darla and I took Jennifer, her ex-boyfriend, Jason, and Darla's sister, Alicia, out to dinner on Saturday night at the Zinfandel Grille, a new restaurant in Rocklin. We all enjoyed ourselves and had a lot of laughs. It was nice to have Alicia join us. She is a good role model for Jennifer, as she is an independent and successful woman. Jennifer told me how much she appreciated having Alicia join us for dinner. Jason is a great guy, who is getting his life together at age 24. He still holds a burning torch for Jennifer and is one of her greatest fans and greatest friends. We all retired back to the house and played pool and watched the movie, "The Pirates of the Carribean."

Jennifer slept through the second half of the movie, which was fine as she had to be up at four a.m. the next morning. We had her to the airport at shortly after five a.m. for her 6:35 a.m. flight to Salt Lake City. It was hard to see her go, knowing that she was back to Fort Gordon, only to prepare for her departure to Afghanistan on January 7th.

Jennifer was suffering from some after effects of all of the shots that she's been taking in preparation for her deployment. She had some flu-like symptoms, which were a result of her smallpox vaccine. She also had a nasty blister on her arm from the same shot. You may have heard that the military now has to allow their soldiers to opt not to take the Anthrax vaccine. True, but if they do opt to not take the vaccine, they will not be deployed and will basically end their advancement in the military. Some things never change.

We had a great Christmas, made even better by the gift of having Jennifer with us. For those of you who didn't get a chance to talk to Jen on her visit, you can still call her. Her cell phone number is 310-927-6311 and she is available this weekend or at night. Call her, she'd love it.

Lastly, please continue to pray for Jennifer's safety on her mission. She will be insulated at her military base, but will be living in tents with no electricity and little in the way of creature comforts. It is brutally hot and the sand is omnipresent. She saw pictures of the base and the tents are yellow because of the shifting sand. The soldiers all have respiratory problems because of the fine sand and Jennifer will have to wear a mask when she does tower work on the base. Happy New Year to all and God bless.

It is a wet, rainy and altogether December day here in Sacramento. The cars swish by my office window leaving a wet slick of rain behind them as they all head on to work on Christmas Eve eve. I had trouble sleeping last night for some reason and that last push of the snooze button actually caught the off button and I inadvertantly got an extra 20 minutes of sleep this morning. With the paucity of traffic I arrived at my office only about ten minutes later than normal and was the third person to arrive rather than the second.

Darla and I finished up the last of our Christmas shopping last night, making a nine p.m. call on the local WalMart. There was a surprising number of shoppers out at that hour, but we were able to make our selections of stocking stuffers and last minute gifts in about forty-five minutes and we were home by shortly after ten pm.

David continues excelling at his basketball. He actually scored 18 points in the opening game of last weekend's tournament and led his team to a 74-39 thumping of Mission of San Francisco. They went on to lose their next two games and finish fourth in the tourney. The team is now 5-5 in the preseason and struggling to find themselves.

Darla and I will work a concession stand tonight at Arco Arena for the Kings-Memphis Grizzlies game. We are part of a thirty-person volunteer group that will make $2,500 for the Woodcreek Varsity football team. The King's owners, the Maloof's, are very supportive of the local schools and allow one school per game to volunteer time and make money for their sports programs. We are up tonight.

Work is really rounding in to shape for me and, although my stress level is considerably higher than it was in my last two jobs, the sense of accomplishment and of "belonging" is strong here. I wrote a $30,000 account yesterday and it felt good to put that on the books.

I went out last week and was fitted for a new set of irons. I spent about two hours with the pro over at Haggin Oaks golf course and finally purchased a set of Wilson Deep Red irons. We had to order them through the factory as I have a very upright swing and we had to adjust the lie angle down about 4 degrees. I'll get my new clubs sometime in the early New Year. I also used up all of my money in the pro shop at Diamond Oaks and bought a new King Cobra 440Z driver. I've been slow to accept the new drivers with the gigantic heads and because of that, I'm losing 10-20 yards off the tee. I've tried hitting them and wasn't successful. The pro showed me that I have to tee the ball up higher and now I'm pounding the ball. I played on Saturday in a wet drizzle at Cherry Island golf course and shot an 88. Some of my drives were world class and some weren't. I am a work in progress right now, but my goal for 2004 is to get down into a single digit handicap.

Jennifer flies in tomorrow night and will spend the night with Darla and I and we will spend Christmas morning together. She will be at our house until about ten in the morning, so if you want to call and wish her good luck on her deployment to Afghanistan, call us Christmas morning. I'd like to also ask that you continue to put Jennifer in your prayers that God watches over her as she enters (literally) a war zone.

Merry Christ Mass to each of you and enjoy your loved ones this holiday. God Bless and Happy Holy Days.

It is with a sense of true confliction of emotions that I write today. Jennifer will be home for the holidays and it is an unplanned, but necessary and important trip. We have just been informed that on January 7th of the New Year Jennifer will board a plane and be deployed to Afghanistan. It is the sort of news that you don't want to hear when you have a son or daughter in the military. My conflict comes from the fact that Jennifer is a true soldier and she is anxious and excited to take up her new post and relieve some of the communications soldiers that are in harm's way now. As my dismay at the news lingers, I know that another Father is thrilled to hear that his son or daughter will be returning from Afghanistan.

Jennifer will spend Christmas with us. She flies home on December 24th and returns to Georgia on December 28th to prepare for her departure. It will be a quick turnaround, but (frankly) IF she wasn't coming home, Darla and I would have been on a plane in the new year to see her and spend time with her before she leaves.

As most of you know, Jennifer is a Specialist in the Signal unit of the Army and specializes in communications. She is a fibre optics specialist and can wire a complete telecommunications network from the ground up. In fact, in preparation for this mission, her unit spent a week in the field (which is the vacant land that makes up most of the several thousand acres that is Fort Jackson in Augusta, Georgia). She and her fellow soldiers from the Signal Unit had to wire a complete phone system between the various tents that were set up for the week and then take that communications system down and repack it. My understanding is that she will be working on a base in Afghanistan and completing a new communications center on the base. Her deployment is scheduled to last only three to six months and she will be surrounded by infantry at all times. A Dad can't help but worry though.

I'd like to ask that all of my family include Jennifer in their prayers and ask God to surround her with his loving embrace while she is in hostile territory and guide her on her journey.

Jennifer was very excited and upbeat when she passed the news on to me. I knew something was up because she had called home when I was at work and asked me to call her back and give her my status as a citizen...was I a Canadian citizen, a U.S. citizen or did I have dual citizenship? The US does not recognize dual citizenship, although Canada does, so my answer is different depending upon who is asking the question. I knew that the military was doing a clearance for Jennifer and I called her back and left a message that I had become an Iranian citizen since I'd talked to her last. I figured that would slow her down. In truth, a part of me is excited for her. She has reached the level of a Specialist by being the best at what she does in the military and she is itching to put her knowledge and skills to work. I'm damn proud of her and prepared to see her leave. That is NOT to say that I won't worry about her every day that she is gone, though.

Christmas approaches in it's inexorable way and I look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus with family and I'm especially happy to have Jennifer home this Christmas. I'm sure the hugs will be a little tighter and the conversations a little more focused while she is here.

Darla and I have found the boys a pool table and we have already donated our living room furniture to one of the group homes that Darla works with. The pool table which is a cherrywood standard table with carved legs and a polished wood exterior will fit well in the former living room and now game room. The boys are excited. Darla and I decided to get a new table from a furniture manufacturer, rather than a used table. The quality of this table far surpassed anything we saw on the used market and we will have this professionally delivered and set up, levelled and installed. We are all excited about the addition to the home and, hopefully, the boys will feel comfortable to invite friends over to play pool and hang out.

David has his Mustang back and $2000 later, the transmission is installed and it is running like a well oiled machine. Well, it IS a well oiled machine. He is in seventh heaven having his wheels back.

The holidays bring basketball tournaments aplenty and David's team took third place in an eight team tournament last weekend and will play in another eight team tourney in Rocklin this weekend. David continues to start at small forward for his Varsity team and is getting more into the flow of the game, even scoring the first four baskets of one of the games during last weekend.

That's it until Christmas weekend. I did play golf last weekend in our year-end tournament. Unfortunately, I was at my work Christmas party at my boss' home in Folsom on Friday night until about 1:00 a.m. and felt the effects of a few beers the next morning. I didn't overindulge at all, but Darla does not drink and I generally don't either. I was a bit cottonmouthed and foggy on Saturday and started my round with a skull shot into the water that culminated in a deathly 9 on the par 5 starting hole. I struggled back to a 44-43=87 or a net 75. Unfortunately with my handicap, I post that as an 85. Please do pray for my daughter and God bless each of you.

Good Monday morning from the golden state. It is a frosty, yet clear and cloudless day. The sun is working its magic on the frost that still clings to the trees and rooftops and the result is a steam that gently rises into the air. It is nice to view the surroundings from the warmth of my office with a mug of hot coffee within easy reach. A group of joggers in shorts and sweatshirts with hoods pulled over their heads jogs by, the steam from their breath obscuring their faces as they run to who knows where for who knows what reason. I admire their tenacity and take a long sip of my hot coffee.

This past weekend went by in a blur as we enjoyed two Christmas parties with two vastly different groups of people. Friday night was my annual golf Christmas banquet and Saturday night was a Christmas dinner with Darla's co-workers from the Auburn office. I still don't know how or why we were invited to that gathering as Darla works in the Roseville office, but it was a nice outing with excellent food from one of Folsom's better restaurant's, The Cliffhouse over looking the American River. We stayed on after dinner and did a bit of dancing in the bar.

The combination of two outings on the same weekend tended to crowd the weekend and it seemed that Sunday night was upon us shortly after I got off work on Friday. I was able to get the car washed and the lawn mowed over the weekend, but it was a rare golfless weekend.

I talked to Jennifer last night and she survived her week in the field. She endured rain and cold and spent Monday and Tuesday running phone lines between the groups of tents and then dismantled the communications network from 9-11 pm on Thursday night and they broke camp Friday morning. It is important training for the military, but grueling work and, as Jennifer said, it makes you appreciate the warmth and comfort of your own bed after sleeping in tents for a week.

David's Mustang will be back in his possession on Thursday after two weeks of inactivity. The transmission was shot and it was prohibitively expensive to rebuild his transmission. They ended up buying a rebuilt transmission from Ford and a local transmission shop is pulling the old transmission and installing the rebuilt. His father decided that the work was too much for he and David. I was actually glad to see that and David will now have a warranty and the work done right. He is tired of driving his Dad's old Ford F250 truck to school. He said he's embarrassed by the beat-up appearance of the rusty old tub. I think the Mustang has spoiled him a bit. I also told him that he could have his grandmother drive him to and from school. He said that the truck isn't THAT bad.

David is doing very well with his basketball team. It is still non-league season and they have so far played three games and won them all. The fun part is that they have played three Division 1 schools and dominated in all of the games. The only game that was close was against Folsom High School, Jennifers alma mater. We actually had a 13 point lead late in the game only to survive an onslaught of three pointers to win by two points on a missed final shot by Folsom. David is the starting small forward and he is enjoying himself. His team is the defending Nor-Cal champions from last year and they have a nice team this year. Two of their starters are juniors and one is a sophomore, so they should be good for the next two years. Tournament season starts next weekend and David will play in tournaments two of the next three weekends.

Darla and I have decided to get the boys a pool table for Christmas. I'm still a little conflicted about turning my living room into a game room, but frankly, like so many modern homes, our living room sits empty most of the time as we sit in the family room enjoying television or just reading on the big sofa or recliners. We will move out the sofa and coffee table and replace those with a pool table and perhaps another television and some barstools. Darla and I have decided that we want our home to be inviting to the boy's friends and a place that they can come and relax and play pool or listen to music.

I admit that infrequently I would steal away into the living room with a cup of coffee and the paper and sit and relax. I'll miss that, but it was not very often and the joy that the boy's and their friends will get from the game room will make up for my small sacrifice.

That's it for this week. I hope all of you are well. Darla and I have another Christmas party this weekend at my boss' home and then we will take some friends to our church's holiday play, It's a Wonderful Life on Saturday night.

It is Saturday night and I've already enjoyed the magic and solitude of church. Darla is off to a Craft show at Cal Expo that spans the weekend and, in fact, she won't be home until eight-thirty tonight and back at her booth by nine tomorrow morning. I decided to go to church tonight and enjoy sleeping in tomorrow morning. It is getting harder and harder to get up as the temperature dips and that goose down comforter is just so warm and comfortable. I suppose it's name is appropriate.

Anyhoo, Pastor Wayne Bigelow, our seventy-something servant leader of the Senior community at church was the speaker. He announced himself in honor of our new governor, as the Sermonator. He told a story of the last time that he preached, he showed up with two bandages on his jaw. Pastor Rick asked him why he was bandaged up and Wayne said that he was so involved in preparing his sermon that he cut himself. Rick said that all of the sermons have been too long lately and that Wayne should concentrate on shaving and cut his sermon, not his face.

Wayne is a genuinely funny speaker and just an old farm boy. He spoke of the two seniors in his group that both having been widowed, met and fell in love and decided to marry. They went to the local drug store and enquired about several items. They wanted to know if the store stocked plenty of Ace Bandages and linaments. The store manager answered, Yes, that they had those available. They then wanted to know if he had plenty of Aspirin and various antisceptics and cold medications. Again, the druggist said Yes. They then enquired about laxatives, bran cereals and prunes. Again, the druggist said that he had all of those items and could he help them round them up and ring them up. The old couple said, no, that they were merely getting ready to register for their wedding gifts.

Finally, Wayne told the story of the blonde woman who went to her doctor complaining of pain all over her body. The doctor asked her to be more specific. She pointed at her wrist and said it hurt when she touched there. She pointed at her head, her knee, her shoulder and her stomach and said that it hurt everywhere she touched. The doctor did a quick examination and told her that she had a dislocated finger.

Wayne's sermon was on gratefulness and that God wants us to be thankful of the blessings that he has bestowed on us. Wayne said that prayer is nothing more than us thanking God for his goodness and his grace. It was a great sermon and left me with a lump in my throat and a bounce in my step. There is something about sitting in your home church not surrounded by people that you know. We don't attend Saturday nights and it is a different group of people. It allowed me to concentrate on worship and to develop a sense of intimacy with the Lord that is often missing. I thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight.

David and Daniel both tried out for their respective basketball teams. It was no surprise that David not only made his team, but will be starting at Small Forward. The surprise was that Daniel did not make the team. The coach was looking more for speed and ball handling. Daniel at 6'1" and 205 pounds is more of a bruiser and certainly more football player than basketball player. Daniel almost didn't try out for the team and was conflicted about even going through the motions. He doesn't care for several of the guys on the team and felt like he needed a break after football. The coach ended up making his decision for him and Daniel is now deciding whether to go out for the wrestling team. The wrestling coach wants him, but Daniel is thinking it over. I'll keep you informed.

David already had his first game and he played all four quarters with just short breaks on the bench for a breather. David is a tenacious defender with a hand always in your face. He is developing a nice shot, especially when facing the basket, but he is a pass first, shoot seciond kind of player (his teammates love him for that). I sit in the stand and have Darla yelling, "Shoot the ball!" in my ear all season. It is a rite of Winter.

Jennifer was the chef at her Thanksgiving dinner with friends this week. All of the group is single and decided to get together. Jennifer offered to cook the turkey and stuffing. She called Darla and got her recipe and made a 14 pound turkey. She said it turned out great and she is enjoying all of the leftovers. They now have a microwave as I shipped hers to her a couple of months ago, so leftovers are a big deal to Jennifer and her roomate. She enjoyed cooking and was justifiably proud of herself. She is off on to the field this week, where she will be sleeping in tents and sleeping bags the whole week. Think of her out freezing when you tuck yourself into your warm beds this week. I certainly will.

I picked Alicia up at the Dodge dealer this morning where she was in for her 36,000 mile rip off of single women checkup with a price tag of $400. They did a tuneup and changed the oil and did a complete checkup which Firestone would do for $79. Oh well. We went from there over to Cal Expo to lend our support to Darla and her jewelry booth. She had a slow start yesterday with sales, but we were all hoping that it picks up today and tomorrow. We wandered the long lines of exhibitors and counted 29 jewelry booths out of the 300 plus exhibitors. It is pretty competitive in there with prices really low. Darla has quality handmade jewelry and was finding it hard to compete with the sheer number of shops.

I dropped Alicia off this afternoon and took a drive past David's Dad's house to see how the Mustang was coming. They were to be installing a new tranny this weekend. The Mustang was sitting forlornly at the front of the house with no sign of activity. David will be pretty sore if the work isn't done this weekend. He had done the research on rebuilt transmissions and was waiting for his Dad to decide which one to buy. Hopefully it gets done.

Darla and I are busy for the next few weekends with holiday parties. This coming weekend will be the Roseville Golf Club dinner banquet, followed by Darla's work's dinner the following weekend and my work's dinner the same weekend. So far, we haven't had a conflict on nights. We still have the tree to put up. I think we'll have a live tree this year as my fake tree left over from my bachelor days is a bit shop worn and old. Hopefully after the holidays we will replace the fake tree and be ready for the next few years. I am NOT a fan of live trees in the house. My pest control guy told me that the largest cause of winter pest infestations is the live Christmas tree. I will likely put up the lights on the house next weekend when I have those two six footers available to help me.

Well, that is it for this installment. Remember during the upcoming holiday season to keep the Lord in the middle of our festivities, after all, Christmas is named after our Savior. God Bless.

Monday again. It is actually a glorious Northern California day with a bright blue sky and sun streaming through the windows. I had to adjust the blinds to keep the sun off of my video screen as I sit here and postulate on the world around me. The only problem with the bright blue sky and sunshine is that we've had frost the last three mornings and it delayed my golf game yesterday by an hour.

Darla had me fill in for her volleyball team last Tuesday night and I felt a pop in my right elbow. I think I might have strained a tendon or something ( I guess this is the dreaded tendonitus), but it is so sore. I suffered through the malady yesterday and struggled to a 44-43=87, which won me nothing. Well, actually I got a turkey certificate, but then everyone that played did. I had them put the money on the books in the pro shop. I'll be buying some new irons this Christmas. I've had my Tommy Armour Silver Scot 845's for about five years and I'm ready for some new sticks. I'll probably end up with the Calloway irons, but I'll be shopping next month for some irons that feel right to me.

Well, David's car ended up with major problems with the transmission and he and his father will be spending the Thanksgiving Holiday together installing a rebuilt transmission into the Mustang. David was pretty bummed, but warmed to the idea of working with his Dad to install the rebuilt transmission. He became less down about things when his Dad offered to pay for the rebuilt tranny and help him install it as a Christmas gift. I told David that I had $4000 invested in his car and that I pay his insurance, so repairs, maintenance and gasoline are on him. Hopefully, they get the car back up and running by the weekend and David can smile again.

We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday with Darla's parents, her sister, and her brother and his family at Darla's parents ranch in Linden, California. Unfotunately, our star athlete, David, couldn't join us. His basketball team had a team meeting at the coaches' house on Saturday night. Darla was a bit non-plussed that he had to miss our celebration, but as David said, the coach didn't expect us to be celebrating Thanksgiving on the Saturday before the actual holiday. David has missed vacations and other family events due to his sports, so this is simply another chapter in that book.

I had to miss church yesterday because of my golf tournament and I was bummed until Darla told me that they had a children's program yesterday as the service. I've said for years that
they should have those children's services well marked and announced and allow those of us that would prefer to avoid the pain of sitting through one of those yawners, to plan around them.

Darla and I will host her parents and sister on Thanksgiving for a small get together and we will roast another turkey. We both love turkey and enjoy the leftovers.

I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and much love and laughter throughout the holidays. God Bless.

It is Monday once again. I come into the office at 7 a.m. mostly to avoid the traffic mess on the freeway. It's been almost eight years since I've worked in an office environment, having worked out of my house since January of 1996. The traffic outside my office window rattles along with each car on it's way to work or school. My office is located close to my alma mater, California State University, Sacramento. Darla and I came in to the office this weekend and decorated. I put up a picture of the third hole at the Makai course in Kauai that I bought and we had framed. I also put up a print of Thomas Kinkade, "The Forest Chapel", that my employees bought for me one Christmas at Republic Western. Finally, I put up the Golf Ball collection and clock combo that Dad gave me as a gift for being in his wedding. I have a large collection of balls of California courses at home, but this collection is of courses in Canada, Texas, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii.

This weekend saw the end of the football season for the boy's. Daniel's team finished the year at 6-4 and just missed tying for first place in their league. David's team went 2-6-2 and lost the final game 28-0. There was a collection of excellent junior quarterbacks in the division this year. Unfortunately none of them played for Woodcreek. The junior q.b. for Del Oro, the team that they played on Friday, threw four touchdowns in the game and threw for 357 yards passing. Our quarterback fumbled twice, threw an interception and managed a paltry 57 yards passing. There is a good sophomore quarterback coming up from JV next year and we hope that the team is improved on offense next year. Both David and Daniel played well this year and we hope that David is given some consideration for All League at Free Safety. It's time to start getting some attention from college recruiters.

The boy's both start basketball practice this week and David's first pre-season game is Wednesday. The basketball program has been practicing for two weeks and they will be approaching the final cuts this Friday now that the football players are on board. Both Daniel and David should make the teams. The Varsity squad is the league defending champion and played in the California championship game last year at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

David's car is on the fritz. He has been having trouble with the automatic transmission and Darla and he are taking the car into the shop today to have it looked at. We are hoping that the transmission simply needs to be adjusted and the belts tightened. He had trouble shifting into reverse last week and the car is clunking from first to second when he accelerates. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it isn't something more ominous than that.

My golf game got rained out this past weekend and the game has been postponed until next Sunday. It is our annual Turkey Shoot tournament and Tournment of Champions. I was lucky enough to win three tournaments this year and will play for the trophy. Darla and I went out to dinner on Saturday night after stopping by my office. We ate at Scott's Seafood of San Francisco, although at the Sacramento branch of the restaurant chain. We both had a delectable filet mignon and prawns dish that was to die for. I said to Darla that I couldn't remember the last time I'd enjoyed a meal out so much. She pointed out several meals that we'd had the week before in Hawaii. I just smiled.

Church was a nice refuge on Sunday. The sermon was on Christmas and how to claim Christmas back from society. Americans spend over $15 billion dollars on Christmas gifts and over 60% of that is bought on credit. Darla and I have never gone overboard on Christmas and the message was How to have a GOOD christmas. GOOD = Get Out Of Debt. The pastor was presenting his sermon early to try to prevent his flock from overspending this Christmas. A message that was both timely and well received by us.

Jennifer just returned from a mission where she spent five days in South Carolina setting up a new Communications network for an Army National Guard unit that is training for a tour to Iraq. They caravanned from Augusta with about twenty Army vehicles including three Hum Vees from Fort Gordon. Jennifer drove one of the Hum Vees and said that she got some nice "thumbs up" from the civilians on her trip. She enjoyed the assignment and just got back yesterday. She was tired and hoped to have next Thursday and Friday off to make up for her weekend duty this weekend.

Have a great week. Ciao.

We are back from paradise and mired in the minutia of day to day life once again. Hawaii was an awesome and awe inspiring site. Kauai, the garden island, is by necessity the rainiest of the islands and, although this Sun God prefers heat and sun, the misting rain was a nice respite from the sun and heat. It rained every day off and on, but the rain is more of a mist and never seemed to last more than five minutes or so and then the sun was back in all it's glory. We spent three straight days in Princeville, which is on the jungle side of the island and I played golf two of the three days. It was nice to have the misting rain on and off as we played. The temperature remains at near 80 degrees when it rains and it moves on so quickly that it is nothing more than a chance to cool off from the heat. The temperature in Kauai at this time of year is an overnight low of 75 degrees and daytime highs ranging from 83-85 degrees. I realized the cooling effects of the rain when we played Poipu Bay Golf Resort (the site of next month's PGA Grand Slam of Golf). Poipu is on the sunny side of the island and it was brutally hot when we played. I found myself missing the rain, strange as that may sound to those of you who know me well.

Darla, true to her word, matched me dollar for dollar on her purchases in relation to my golf expenditures. She bought some jewelry, clothes, candy and gifts for the boys and for others. She and Marilyn had a good time shopping, especially in Hanalei Bay, which is about ten minutes from Princeville. She also made some good buys (according to her) in and around Poipu Bay and Lihue while Dave and I were playing the Poipu Bay course.

Golf is great, but expensive in Hawaii. It cost me $234 for two days at the Princeville courses, which included the Makai course and the Prince course. The Prince course is the more difficult of the two, but the Makai course is more picturesque as the front nine plays along the ocean and has some spectacular views. In fact, the third hole (a par three) plays over water to a small green with the ocean as a backdrop and the Princeville Hotel off to the right. A local artist has a painting of that hole that was put into print form, numbered and signed and I bought a print for my new office and had it shipped home. I'll have it framed and mounted and hang it in the new office when we move in January. I shot 40-46=86 at the Makai course and 44-47=91 at the Prince course.

Dave was able to sign us up for a tournament (The Big One) at the Poipu Bay course and we got in for $100. The normal green fee is $185, but it was cheaper for the tournament and he decided to save some of my hard earned money for me. I shot 39-49=88 at the Poipu Bay course and was fortunate enough to put the ball about four feet from the pin on the par three seventh hole. I won a free round of golf at Poipu ($185 value) for closest to the pin. The problem is that I have to use it by next November. I'll probably sell the round on E-Bay as we likely won't be back to Hawaii that soon. I was tired after three straight rounds of golf.

We will be back to Hawaii and we assured ourselves of that by buying a time share rental at the Makai Villages at Princeville. The Makai Villages have just been taken over by the Pahio Resorts and the condos have fallen into some maintenance problems. The prior owners were not maintaining them to Gold Crown standards and they lost the Gold Crown designation. In taking over the units, Pahio kicked out about twenty owners that were in arears on their maintenance fees and that was one of the units that Darla and I bought. The complex is twenty-three years old and is showing it's age. Pahio will completely gut the units next year and put in all new flooring, cabinets, furniture and appliances as well as new fixtures in the bathroom. They will remodel the exteriors and add skylights to each unit. They will also remodel the pool and spa and make the facilities at the other three resorts at Princeville that they operate open to the Makai owners. All of the seven properties operated by Pahio are Gold Crown resorts and it is their intention to have Makai upgraded and returned to that designation as well. We jumped on the opportunity for two reasons. One, we wanted to own a timeshare in Hawaii and we wanted to shift our RCI membership from the "weeks" concept to the "points" program. The upgrade has a one time charge of $2,690, but it was included in the cost of the timeshare. We got a very good deal.

Included in our purchase were several two-for-one dinner coupons and a two-for-one helicopter tour of the island. Kauai has over 1400 waterfalls and most are not accessible by car. We took a 45-minute helicopter tour of the island on Friday and saw the desert, the jungle, the volcano, the Wailea canyon, the waterfalls and the beautiful coastline, all in one. A helicopter tour is the ultimate way to see Hawaii and Darla and I had a ball on the trip.

I have begun my new job at Burns and Wilcox and it is living up to my expectations already. The staff is very professional and helpful. I am taking over an office from someone who is out on disability and I had to spend most of yesterday just clearing out the office and getting myself situated. The former office occupant was a packrat and had reams of paperwork jammed in every corner of the office. I am just beginning to get my feet under me and will spend the next several weeks in training. The move to our new office has been delayed by corporate until January as Tampa Bay had a greater need to move than we did. We are disappointed, but it gives me that much more time to get educated in the Burns and Wilcox way before the move.

Well, this was long and winded. I enjoyed the vacation immensely, but really missed church while we were gone and look forward to getting back to the Word this week. It is truly the sustenance of life. Be well.

This will be my last blog for a few weeks as Darla and I will be relaxing in Kauai, Hawaii at the Princeville Resort next week. I will enjoy the trip tremendously with sun and golf and sightseeing, but especially because when I get back I will begin my new job with Burns and Wilcox. Burns and Wilcox made me a very good offer last week and I accepted the position. It is SALARY and bonus and I can sleep again at night. The current office is on Howe Avenue in Sacramento, but we will be moving into a new 3500 square foot office space in Rancho Cordova in December. We will all get new desks and furniture and I will have my own window office in the second story space overlooking the main road. This move will be a good one for me. The Richter Robb job was a shot in the dark and although I was trying to fly without a net, BW was there to catch me when my wings failed. The Branch Manager, Bill Sousa, wanted to hire me back in May and it didn't work out. He's thrilled. I'm thrilled and it looks like one of those rare "win-win" situations. I give ALL of the glory to God, who has helped direct me to this place where I am. Sometimes it takes awhile to find your footing after you lose a job and, as usual, in my life God was faithful and the reverence and love that I feel for my Saviour is all the more because of my struggles. Praise God. My last day with Richter Robb will be on Thursday of this week, although this week is one of cleaning up and tearing down. I will go play golf with a good friend at his home Country Club in Oakdale on Wednesday and then return the computer and other office equipment to Nancy on Thursday.

This time next week, Darla and I will likely be just getting up and carrying a cup of coffee out to the beach for our daily walk. That's not to imply that I walk with her daily now (she has a more consistent walking partner), but it is a ritual for Darla and I on our beach vacations to get up and walk the beach in the early morning and talk and plan our day. It's something that we both look forward to and it starts our day off on a positive. It also forces us to get up and get on with our day, rather than sleeping away our vacation.

Dad and Shirley were supposed to be stopping by today on their way home to Canada from Las Vegas, but Dad called yesterday from Reno and said that they would drive straight on through as Shirley fell and hurt herself in Vegas. Apparently they were watching a bride and groom exit the Harley Davidson casino and get on a Harley and as they turned to leave, Shirley tripped and took a nasty fall on the sidewalk. She is sore and pulled some ligaments in her leg and just wants to get home. I'll miss them, but certainly understand after seeing Darla so sore after her fall down the stairs a few months ago at her Mom's house.

I talked to Jennifer last night and she is likely leaving for about ten days on a mission at her former boot camp stomping grounds of Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. She told me that nothing was official, that it was just scuttlebut, but I've come to realize that the grapevine in the military is pretty accurate, as she also heard the rumor about her trip to North Carolina to dismantle the communications tower. That trip DID happen. On that particular mission, they had to disconnect and dismantle a ninety-foot communications tower. Jennifer spent most of two days dangling about half way up the tower and helping to lower parts and panels as they were dropped from the top. She loves her job.

Yesterday's church service left the usual mark on my heart. The pastor said that Christians are often conflicted this time of year, as Halloween approaches. The holiday is all about the celebration of spirits and darkness, the whole All Hallow's Eve celebration. Rick said that it is okay for Christians to display a pumpkin, in fact pumpkins are very much like Christians. When Christ first enters our life, he has to scoop out all of the ugliness in our souls, much like we empty the seeds and goop from a pumpkin. Christ then carves us into the people that he wants us to be and then places a light inside of us to shine unto others, just as a jack-o-lantern is created. Hokey? Maybe, but accurate.

The pastor also shared a golf story, which is right up my alley (or fairway, as the case may be). A golfer was out shanking his way around the course. He had some good holes and some pretty bleak holes. He came upon a par three over water and he was unsure whether to hit the New Pro V-1 ball he had been playing or switch to a scuffed up old water ball. He looked to the heavens and prayed for guidance. Suddenly the clouds parted, the sun was momentarily dimmed and the Lord spoke: "Play the new ball!" A grin broke out on the golfer's face and he thanked the Lord for guidance and for the faith that he showed in the golfer. He addressed the ball and the Lord spoke again: "Take a practice swing!" The guy stepped away and took a mighty practice swing and then approached the ball again. The Lord spoke a final time: "Hit the old ball!" Do we really want the Lord to speak directly to us?

The weekend just passed was a good one. The boys both lost their homecoming football games, but all was forgotten at the Homecoming Dance on Saturday night. I did a fall cleaning and trimmed all of the trees in my backyard, reshaping the umbrella tree over the koi pond and reshaping all of the trees to stand alone rather than all grow together. I also pruned back all of the bushes and cleaned out the shed. I took everything out of the shed and hosed it down and then put everything back in a neater fashion. Dad did a wonderful job on the shed and it has been a Godsend with just a two-car garage. All of my tools, mowers, edgers and bikes are stored in the shed as well as paint and other odds and ends that accumulate over a lifetime. I had the boys busy raking up the mess that I left behind and cutting it all up to fit in the garbage can.

Yesterday I played golf, shooting a 41-42=83, or net 71 to tie for third place in my flight. Better than that, I won 11 skins in my foursome and took the overall bets. I played with Mark Konrad, our webmaster and he likes to bet. He usually pays for his enthusiasm, which he did again yesterday. I could have shot a really low score, but I couldn't make a four foot putt to save my life. I had only one birdie, but at least five putts of 3-8 feet for birdie that I missed. Some days, eh?

Well, that's it for two weeks. Think of me golfing and sunning and swimming in Hawaii next week. I'll think about all of you when I get back. Ciao.

It is late Monday and the shadows are growing longer as Autumn begins to take hold. We change the clocks on Saturday night to Fall back for daylight losing time. It's already getting dark around 6:45 pm. In fact it gets dark so early that I have to reset the timer on my backyard landscaping lights. The lights have already switched off by the time we go out to use the spa at eleven pm. The timer has the lights come on at dusk and stay on for five hours. The backyard is so shaded that the lights are coming on at 5:30 and going off at 10:30.

Darla had a speaking engagement last week at the Kiwanis Club. One of the parents of her clients is a member of Kiwanis and asked if Darla could come to a meeting and share what she does and the services that she provides disabled people. I know that I married Darla because of her humor and her vivaciousness and the plain fact that she is so much like my Mom. Darla enjoyed a nice meal and then was introduced to speak. As she was getting out of her chair, she got her foot stuck in her purse and almost lost her balance. As the applause droned on, she quickly was able to extract her foot and get on to her speech. Now does that sound like something Mom would have done? The only difference is that only Darla was aware of her faux paus. Mom would have shared her ordeal with the whole room and had a good laugh at herself.

Jennifer sent me a newspaper article that was done on her in the local Augusta paper. I passed it on to most of you, but it was nice to see Jennifer getting some accodaldes for the work that she is doing. I'm proud of her more than I can put into words. She is truly a soldier for the United States of America.

I played no golf this weekend, although I think the guys were missing each other so we had a get together at the local Joe's Crab Shack over at the water's edge in Old Sacramento. We had a great evening and there were about 24 of us in attendance, mostly board members and their spouses, but a few others. We had the waiter recognize two bogus birthdays (we only wanted to embarass the two guys) They had one dress up in a plastic chest armor and carry a sword and the other dress up with wings and a wand. I guess that would be a fairy, although that is a bit politically incorrect to say so in this state.

I was elected Vice President of the RGC golf club. I'm going from a paid volunteer position to an unpaid volunteer position. I received a yearly stipend of $300 as the handicap chairman and this was in recognition of all of the scores that I input after each tournament and the resolution of any handicapping problems that come up during the year. As VP, I get to do the dirty work of the President at no pay. The President receives free green fees at home tournaments, which is better than a stick in the eye and is worth more than $300, as we have 20 home dates, At $29 a pop, that works out to $780. I will be in charge of the newsletter, which I'm sure I'll enjoy and be in a learning mode as the VP steps up to President for the next election.

The boys' football games were played in El Dorado, CA, a small foothill town just west of Placerville off Highway 50. Daniel's team lost 24-22 on Thursday night and the Varsity worked themselves to the bone for ANOTHER tie, 21-21. We had a chance to go ahead in the game with five minutes left, but our coach elected to go for a touchdown from the four yard line on a fourth down play and we were stopped on the half yard line. We should have kicked the field goal and the fans were actually booing the decision to go for the touchdown. David had another great hit on a kickoff, when he slipped past the wedge and cut down the runner on the 14 yard line, basically knocking his feet out from under him with a vicious low tackle that had the stands oohing and aweing. Our record is now 1-3-2 and looks more like a good hole-by- hole miniature golf score.

Darla and I volunteered for some community service through our church this weekend. Our pastor is really pushing the concept of getting out into the community and making a difference. He wants us to wear Christian t-shirts and be seen doing good. Of course, the rest of the volunteers were mostly boy scouts and other churches, including LDS. We went to a public park at 8 am and put in a cedar fence around a newly planted and barked grove of trees. The fence was about 200 feet long and we spent about three hours cementing posts and notching and scewing in the stringers. The fence is two rail and about three feet high, more decorative than practical. It was a great day and Darla ended up sitting with a woman going through a divorce and talking to her as we worked. There were so many workers, we were tripping over each other. It felt good to give something back.

I have been contacted by Bill Souza at Burns and Wilcox and he is ready to hire me. I'll be meeting with him on Thursday to iron out the details. I have yet to hear back from Keenan and Associates, the school insurer, but perhaps God is pointing me to Burns and Wilcox. I'm definitley feeling led as this job combusts around me. Richter Robb had their open house for the new office in Lathrop on Friday. The problem is the office sits next door to a salvage yard and we could get a rather ripe smell wafting in the air as we sat out on the lawn and drank white wine and made small talk. There is a large "No Dumping" sign on the road leading to our office and it had a mattress, a small car engine and several boxes and other debris leaned up against it. Quite a professional site to behold on the way to our new office. I'll be happy to move on after our vacation in Kauai.

That's it for this week. Be good to each other. Ciao.

It is once again a Monday, although I sit in my office shuffling paper and handling phone calls and faxes while my family enjoys a day off. I think it's either the Canadian Thanksgiving or Columbus Day. Darla gets so many holidays, I think her union has taken to importing foreign holidays to round out the 100 days a year of time off the social workers get. The boys are off from school for the same holiday, although the elementary school across the street is in session and the bell rings and there is the sound of children uncaged about every fifty minutes or so.

The Rose Cup has passed into another year of the perpetual cup escaping the grasp of the Diamond Oaks team. We played well in the four ball competition on Friday, taking a 21 to 15 point lead over our pursuers. All of our team played well, with our lowest point total of the six matches coming in at 2.5 points. My partner and I tied for first in our flight and took 3.5 points. We shot a combined 67. We enjoyed the prime rib dinner on Friday night, but I had to bolt down my food and run over to David's football game at seven-thirty. Saturday, saw a beautiful day, but the Diamond Oaks golfers struggled on a tough Billy Casper designed course and we had not one of our twelve golfers take a first place in any of their flights. I shot an 85 to take second in my group, but struggled with a triple bogey on one of my finishing holes to lose the chance to win my flight. We took third overall with 44 points and the winners had 51 points, with six first place finishes out of 12 to take home 35 total points on Saturday and retain the cup.

We had a great time and celebrated life with dinner at a local Mexican Food joint where the beer flowed and we all told our sob stories. On the triple bogey hole I had a plugged ball that plugged into the ground, but partially popped out of it's hole. Half the ball was in the plug and half out. It was covered with mud and the consesus was that it was NOT a plugged ball and I had to play the ball as it lay. I hit a screamer across the green and finished with a seven on the par four. Oh well, such is golf.

The boys played their cross town rivals, Roseville, in football this weekend. Daniel's team was up against an undefeated and very talented group of Freshmen players, but they were up to the task and came from behind to win 28-27 in an exciting and fun football game. Daniel played well and was involved in several plays where his name was called. That's always exciting for a lineman, who do the dirty work with little fanfare.

David's game was much more frustrating as the coaching staff took a very conservative offense and play calling into the game and we ended up on the short end of a 21-9 score against a team that had injury problems and hadn't won a game all year. They relied on their ground game and scored on three running touchdowns. We scored the first touchdown on a long drive which mixed up passing and running, but then went conservative with short passes and runs that bogged down and had us punting all game long. We were behind 21-9 with over six minutes on the clock and facing a 4th and 3 from Roseville's 39 yard line and we punted only to watch Roseville grind out a twelve play series that used up the clock and left the fans venting their frustrations on the coaching staff. It was a poor way to lose a game and we can only hope that the offense opens up a little this week.

I will have to miss Daniel's game on Thursday as I have an open meeting with the golf club. This is election time and I am up for the post of Vice President this year. I've enjoyed being the handicap chairman over the last year and a half and will further enjoy duties as the VP if I'm elected, which will include the newsletter.

Darla visited her brother in Sonora this weekend while I was off golfing and then we hosted Darla's cousin and her family for lunch yesterday. They were in town for a wedding with the other side of the family and joined us at church and then came over for lunch. It was Daniel's 14th birthday yesterday and he received a tennis table from us, which sits in the garage at the moment. Darla and the boys will clear a space for the table to sit in the garage in it's folded position.

Church was an inspiration as usual this week. The pastor shared with us the acronym B.I.B.L.E., which is Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Pretty right on. He also shared a story about a pastor who was concerned about the lack of biblical literacy in his church. (This will amuse those of you who know the Bible) He decided to sit in on the high school class and was shocked at the display of rowdiness and horseplay going on, especially by the boys in class. He strode to the front of the room and bellowed, "Boys, someone has knocked down the walls of Jericho!" The boys looked at him and squirmed in their seats. "Does anyone here know who is responsible for knocking down those walls?!" The boys all squirmed and wouldn't make eye contact with the pastor. "You, son. Do you know who knocked down the walls of Jericho?" The boy looked up and shook his head, "Sir, we didn't do it and don't know who did." The pastor turned to the teacher and said, "These boys are obviously missing something here in class and I'm going to get to the bottom of it." The teacher said, "Look, pastor, I've known these boys my whole life and if they say they didn't knock down the walls, then they're innocent." The pastor stormed out of the room and caught one of the Elders of the church in the hallway. "This church is falling down around us. I just sat in on the high school class. They were all goofing off and not paying attention to the lesson, so I went to the front of the class and asked the boys if they knew who knocked down the walls of Jericho. And all of them were so clueless that they swore it wasn't them and then the teacher joined in and defended the boys. What are we going to do?" The Elder grabbed the pastor and pulled him to the side. "Look, pastor, youre making a big deal out of this. We'll just take the money out of the general fund and get the wall repaired."

We teach the Bible in our church and modern churches have shied away from Biblical teaching just as the world is caving in around us. God bless Adventure Christian Church, a haven in a world of chaos. Ciao.

The remnants of the weekend just past are embedded in my memory and partially in the left side of my esophagus as the reality of the life of a working stiff awaits me here at my desk. I sweep that reality to the side of my desk as I take to a new entry in the blog.

First off, I heard from my soldier and she is off on a mission to Fort Bragg in North Carolina where she, another Specialist and three sergeants will work on a new antenna on a tower on the base. She is excited to be away from Fort Gordon and the humdrum of Army life. She really enjoys her MOS and looks forward to putting all of her training to actual use. I suppose working on a 100 foot tower beats mowing the lawn on base, eh? She still expects to get her orders early next year and ship out to Korea for a year. She had hoped for Germany, but that is a two-year commitment and she will finish two years next month and be half-way through her stint.

Darla and I went to the San Francisco 49ers game yesterday in San Francisco. One of my agents had tickets that he couldn't use and offered them to me. The weather was unbelievable and we both got a little sunburnt as we sat in the blazing sun and watched the Niners stumble their way through a victory against a vastly inferior Lion's team. It was the homecoming for Steve Marriucchi, who was unceremoniously fired by the penny-pinching owner of the 49ers, John York. York jettisoned Mooch and then hired perennial NFL loser, Dennis Erickson, a good college coach who has not figured out the NFL. He was one of only a handful of coaches willing to work for the tightwad York, who is unwilling to cede control of player personnel decisions to the GM and coaches. This team will never approach what they once were until the owner either sells or realizes that the NFL is not about dollars and cents, but wins and losses. The game was mildly interesting, only in that the Niner fans are restless and viciously booed Erickson, Garcia, Owens and anyone in gold and maroon all day long. Terrell Owens has been the cover boy for idiot ballplayers all year and lived up to expectations by once, during a timeout, taking his helmet off and laying down on the field as if he was taking a nap. The guy is an even more obnoxious version of Michael Irvin. We had preferred parking right next to the stadium at a school and enjoyed our tailgate picnic before entering the stadium. We left about midway through the fourth quarter in order to beat the traffic. Neither of the combatants were my team so it was not worth the hassle to wait for the game to end. We did see ALL of the scoring in the 24-17 Niner victory.

The boy's games were played at Natomas in Sacramento this week and Daniel's team won 29-12. David's team mounted a furious 4th quarter comeback to tie their game 30-30 after trailing 30-19 entering the fourth quarter. We actually had a chance to win the game, but our kicker missed a 31-yard field goal with four seconds left in the game. Both David and Daniel played solid games and David made it into the paper as his picture was included in a tackle of the opposing team's runner. Next week, we will be home against Roseville High, the local team and the team of our next door neighbor, who is one of David's friends. He plays offensive line and David said that he'll meet him at the ball carrier this week. David had a fumble recovery and six tackles in the game and was named Defensive Player of the Week for his team.

This is the week of the recall election in California. My vote is going to Arnold, although I believe Tom McClintock is the best choice for California. I just don't think he can win the election and I refuse to waste my vote. I learned that lesson with Ross Perot, when that moron Bill Clinton was re-elected. I had lunch on Friday with one of my inspection contacts and he brought along a died-in-the-wool liberal Democrat, who spent the lunch spouting his ideology. At one point he declared that Arnold was through due to the allegations of groping women. I looked him in the eye and said, "You're dead wrong. Those allegations just won him the election." He looked at me incredulously and said how could that be. I said, " He just secured the vote of the Clinton Democrats." He wasn't amused, but I was.

I interviewed with both Keenan and Associates and Burns and Wilcox last week. BW has offfered me the job and I'd start in mid-November. Keenan is impressed and I'll meet with the Vice President next week. This will be my third interview and I feel confident that I've passed the test so far. I'm anxious to get something concrete settled and need Keenan to make a decision, so that I can make one.

The Rose Cup golf tournament will be played on Friday and Saturday this week. We have a practice session at Sun City tomorrow and then play two-man best ball on Friday and the individual matches on Saturday to determine which club will hold the Rose Cup for 2003-2004. This is the fifth year of the tournament and my fourth time on the team. We won the cup two out of the three years that I've been on the team and we hope to bring it home again this year.

That's it for this week. Continue to walk in the ways of the Lord and he will clear all obstacles from your path.

I didn't get to my normal Monday posting of the random ravings of a modern lunatic (or my blog entry as it is more commonly known). I had a meeting at the unGodly hour of 7 a.m. yesterday in Manteca, CA, a 70 minute drive if you push the speed limit and at that hour you can. The Mustang cruised at 70 miles an hour and I showed up right at 7 a.m. after leaving the house at 5:50 a.m. As this job continues to confound me, the meetings and the drive to arrive at them have become more of a hassle. I displayed my unhappiness in the meeting and was supported by the other underwriters. The problem that I'm having is that my agency plant is made up of habitational agents and our companies do NOT have competitive rates in this class of business. I've been floundering as I attempt to keep my agents happy and interested, but I'm losing the battle. I've been branching out to other agents and picking up some contractor's agents and I'm just staying alive, but I'm not thriving. It's frustrating.

I'm continuing to build my business while looking over my shoulder and talking to other potential employers. Darla and I leave for Hawaii in four weeks and I'd like to get this settled so that I can relax on the beach and not carry the burden of my employment woes with me. I have interviewed with Keenan and Associates, a broker who handles insurance for school districts in California. They are the 4th largest broker in the country and are hiring a new Account Executive to replace the current AE, who is being promoted to Vice President in the Northern California office. I had a very good interview with the Assistant VP last week and hope to meet with the Vice President in the next week or two. I have a lunch meeting with Burns and Wilcox this Thursday. The Vice President for the west coast region is in town and I will meet with him and the local branch manager to discuss joining their firm. They are also a Surplus Lines broker, but have a national footprint and a corporate structure, which is unlike the family-owned firm that I'm working for now. I underestimated the power of a franchise when I joined Richter-Robb. Burns and Wilcox is owned by The Kauffman Group and is the second largest surplus lines broker in the United States. THAT is a BIG footprint. It will all work out and I'm leaving it in the hands of the Lord, who has never failed to provide for me, even in my bleakest moments.

The boy's football program took on Folsom High School last week. Daniel's game was on Thursday night and his team took a 22-0 lead, only to lose the game 36-34 in the last minute of the game on a furious comeback by Folsom. It was a tough game to watch, certainly because our boys let one slip away, but even more so because they had the visitor's bleachers closed and we had to sit on the Folsom side of the stadium and listen to the screams and yellls as they made their way back to win the game. The fans were stomping on the metal stands and causing a virtual headache to become a literal one. Daniel played well on both sides of the ball, but was pretty down after the game.

The Varsity played on Friday night and we expected this to be a tough game. Folsom has one of the top rated quarterbacks in the area and is a Division I school. Woodcreek has three junior quarterbacks (including David) that are still learning the ropes and the game plan is to hope that they can hand off the ball and not make mistakes that will cost us the game. Our guys played a whale of a game and David was one of the standouts. Unfortunately, he plays free safety and when your free safety leads the team in tackles, it's NOT a good night for your team. David also had an interception that he ran back 25 yards to the Folsom 8-yard line. Unfortunately the strong safety grabbed one of Folsom's players by the jersey and threw him to the ground, earning a flag. The penalty was after the interception, but it cost us field position. I was afraid that David was going to make it into the end zone as I saw the penalty on the return. We lost the game 21-6, but had plenty of opportunities. Our quarterback only completed one pass for minus three yards and was intercepted twice. Worse than that, our starting tailback fumbled the ball away four times. The defense played great. We intercepted their all league quarterback three times and sacked him four times. He had three touchdown passes, but one of them came with thirty-four seconds left in the game, when he should have taken a knee. I think we embarassed him in the game. Our quarterback earned a spot on the bench and our backup will start in the next game. David earned the "hammer" award, a tee shirt that the coaches present to the player who best lays the wood to the opposition. David had a play in the third quarter where their qb threw an out pattern to the tight end and David read the play beautifully and arrived with a full head of steam just as the pass arrived and blew up the tight end, knocking him one way and the ball the other. The tight end got up, grabbed the ball and threw it at David, drawing a penalty. The Folsom bench exploded after the penalty and drew another fifteen-yard unsportsmanlike penalty. So the result of the play was no gain followed by thirty yards in penalties. David was down after the game, but he is living up to the coaches' opinion that he will be an all-league safety in his junior year. It was by far the best game I've ever seen him play on defense. He has a real nose for the ball and plays with an intensity that is contagious.

Enough crowing about my sons, eh? David did pass his driver's test and is now enjoying the freedom that having wheels gives a young man. I talked to Dad over the weekend and he said that David is living one of the favorite times of his life right now, whether he knows it or not. He is a football player, he has a new car and the freedom that that represents and he is living the American dream.

We did get moved into our new church building this weekend and it was incredible. The church is absolutely beautiful. The church body has gifted the pastor with a two-week, paid vacation to wherever he want to go. He'll probably take his family to Orlando. He deserves this gift as he has worked so hard to build this church, from 100 members meeting at the elementary school to a church of 5000 attenders now meeting in a 3000 seat facility. We are so blessed with what the Lord has provided to us. David and Daniel are again involved in the high school program, attending their own church service during the eleven o'clock hour. We are so thankful for the Godly influence in the boy's lives. The high school group is now meeting in our old worship center, now that we've moved into the new building. God is faithful and we are blessed.

Stay focused on the ways of the Lord and NOT the ways of this world and you will feel real contentment in your own life. Ciao.

Monday and thoughts turn back to work and responsibility and paying the bills, etc. I much prefer living in the realm of my inner child...playing golf and puttering in the yard and washing cars and walking the dog. I'll make a good retired person.

The weekend has come and gone. I tripped on my sword in the Club Championship and got speared by a competitor who played mistake-free golf. I shot an 84, which is right at my handicap, but he shot a 77 which is three shots better than his handicap and he beat me 4+3. I started out well, but should have seen the handwriting on the wall. I rolled in a thirty-five foot putt for birdie on number 1 and he rolled in a twenty-foot putt right on top of me to tie the hole. It was a close match until the back nine when he went par-birdie-par to take a 4-up lead and it was a matter of time after that. The killer blow was a sixty-yard chip that he rolled in for birdie on number 11. I enjoyed myself and walked away with my head held high. When someone beats you with a great round, all you can do is tip your cap and then let all the air out of his tires in the parking lot, while he drinks beer and gloats in the bar after the round. J/K. Up next is the Rose Cup in October.

Darla and I went out to see the Trailer Park Troubadors last night with four other couples from her work. We met at the Hard Rock Cafe at the Downtown Plaza where we ate dinner and then walked over to the Crest Theater. The Crest is one of those turn of the century movie theaters with loge seating and gilded accents on the walls and ceilings. It was a great venue for a concert and our ticket price was going to the Sacramento Housing Authority, a group promoting affordable housing for low income families. We had a ball and the band played from 7:30 until 10:30. We're both a little tired today, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves last night.

As the time ticked away for me to hand the keys to the Mustang over to David, I was getting more and more melancholy. In fact, I think I started to slip into a midlife crisis. I've really enjoyed tooling around in the Mustang. The lines are great and the 3.8 litre V6 is a peppy little motor that scoots. I finally took a look in the mirror last week and saw an adult looking back at me and decided that I'd go out and get myself a newer Mustang as a replacement for the 1994 which David is stealing from me. Darla and I found a 2002 Tropic Green (it is a dark green metallic, like a Hunter Green) Mustang Coupe. It has a rear spoiler and a tan interior and we got a good buy on it. I bought an extended warranty which will cover us from the 24,000 miles that it has n it now until 6 years or 100,000 miles with no deductible. I consider an extended warranty to be lemon insurance as most modern cars should easily hit 100,000 miles without serious problems. We are both thrilled with the new car and Darla said that If I had to have a midlife crisis, she would much prefer it to be a green Mustang rather than a blonde.

The boys football games have come and gone and they couldn't have been more different in their outcomes. Daniel's team dominated the game over Bear River and David's team got a can of whoopass opened on them. They lost the game 29-6, but it wasn't that close. Their starting quarterback fumbled three times, was intercepted twice and we dropped a pass in the endzone when the score was 6-0 that would have tied the game and given us some momentum. The next play after the dropped pass, the qb was sacked and fumbled the ball away. It was a brutal game against a Division I team who was playing their first home game. We travel to Folsom this week and play in their new $4.5 million stadium. This is Jennifer's alma mater and they got shut out last week in their home opener. They are also a Division I school (Woodcreek is Division II) and they are spoiling to open that same can on us this Friday. It will be interesting to see how the team responds. Daniel's team gave up an opening drive to the hosts that resulted in a touchdown. The extra point was missed, we ran the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown and didn't look back in a 35-6 victory. Daniel played particularly well, blocking on the offensive line and had one play on defense where he stormed through and smeared the quarterback for a huge loss of yardage. Daniel has really matured as a football player and can be dominant in a game due to his physical size. The coaches say Daniel's only problem is motivation and they are working hard to keep him fired up during games.

Well, that's it for this week. We move into our new worship center at church this weekend and I am once again ushering. The new facility seats 3000 and we are going from 11 services a weekend to three. The wear and tear on the pastor and his staff have been overwhelming the last few months and we all look forward to the new facility. We are going from a need of twenty ushers for each service to 96 and we are being stretched. Darla will be filling in where needed as we are short help at the moment. It is an exciting time, but also a stressful one. Pray for us as we reach out to a community in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. God bless all of you.

Monday and the cool weather returns. It is again supposed to be about 85 degrees today and although the Canadian readers may think that is a heatwave, I'm stating this in fahrenheit and 80 degrees is not a heatwave folks. I remember my grandparents used to put a bowl of ice in front of a fan in the living room when Vancouver would hit 88 degrees. We'd laugh coming from Texas and the muggy, hot and humid conditions. Heat and temperature are all relative to the climate that you are used to. Dad has lived in Texas and Arizona in real heat and I have to laugh when I talk to him now and he tells me about the drought conditions in Canada and how hot its been. I look in the paper every day and see Vancouver topping out at a whopping 77 degrees and wonder if he is being taken in by the locals who haven't seen rain in three weeks and think that they are in heavy drought conditions. He told me that his grass is stressed because the city is experiencing water rationing due to the drought conditions. In fact, I just went and took a look at the weather section of the paper and see that Vancouver is due for 62 degrees today and showers and 53 degrees tomorrow and rain. I'd say that 5-day drought they were experiencing is over. Just an observation.

The weekend has come and gone. The boy's football teams dominated their opposition. Daniel's team won 27-0 in a real one-sided affair. David's team then went out (after the Junior Varsity won their game 32-0) and the Varsity backed up the junior squads with a 36-12 victory. Woodcreek's football program is the only undefeated program in their league and they all look good. We have speed at the skill positions and each of the defenses is obviously stellar. It could be a real fun year. They play one of the league's powerhouses this week on the road and we will get a sense of where this program is after that game. Stay tuned.

Darla and I went to a fundraiser for the football program on Saturday night. They had the affair at the Placer County fairgrounds in the shadow of the Saturday night races at the racetrack. Darla and I both had to grin at some of the mothers of the football players dressing up in slinky outfits and watching them strut their stuff. Nothing like a 40 year-old woman attempting to be 18 again. It makes me appreciate the adult woman that I married that much more. It was amusing up to the point that they started the music and the dancing and then it just got sad. The dinner was good: barbecued tri tip and chicken and we enjoyed the company of the folks that we sat with, but I could do without a repeat of this on a regular basis.

The Club Championship started on Sunday. I got dropped down into the first flight due to a couple of cancellations, so I had to play a 9-handicapper in the first round. I get twelve strokes based on my 11.1 index. It was a close match, but I was able to beat my opponent 2-up on the 18th hole. I had taken a 3-up lead with four holes to play, but lost the 15th and 16th holes before shooting a par to tie 17, putting me dormie for the match and then winning on number 18 with another par. We both shot 82 for the round. I have been fortunate in all of the club championships to win my opening round, but have always stumbled and lost in the second round. I will play a 7-handicapper next Saturday and take 5 strokes from him in the match. This guy can really bomb the ball off the tee, routinely outdriving me by 50-75 yards, but he can also be erratic, spraying his drives left and right. I'll let you know next week how I fare. If I win on Saturday, I'll play for the flight championship on Sunday.

David took his final driving school road lesson yesterday and takes his driving test on Saturday. Darla and I will see our insurance bill increase from $1,440 annually to $3,421 annually. The increase is accentuated by the fact that we will add another car to the policy, but more impacted by the fact that we are adding a 16 year-old male to the policy. Pray for us. Daniel is two years away from his license and I may not survive that event.

Well, that is news from the home front. The job continues to confound me, but that's another story for another time. Ciao.

This is a special blog addition. I just got an E-mail from Jennifer announcing that she has been promoted to the rank of Specialist. She has worked hard to achieve this promotion. Send her congratulations at lyon80@msn.com.

Back to the blog. I won't complain about weather as it is partly cloudy today with a nice cool breeze and the temperature is expected to top out at a mind numbing 82 degrees today. The weather could stay like this for about three months and I'd be thrilled. Did someone say "Golfing Weather"?

I did not play any golf this last week and actually enjoyed the respite. I will be back at it full bore this weekend as our club's Championship starts on Sunday. I'll hit the range today and probably every day until Sunday. Our club plays our club championship in a match play format and our club champion will be the winner of the scratch flight. I'm not even attempting to qualify for that flight because you have to shoot even par to even have a chance. My biggest concern about entering the qualifying tournament is that I'd make it into the scratch flight and then shoot a 90 in the match. I'd rather play in the 11-13 flight and try to win my flight. It will be fun and I really enjoy match play. It allows you to have a blowup hole without destroying your chance to win. A bad hole is just one lost hole, not a disaster.

Jennifer has returned to the land of Army and we thoroughly enjoyed her stay. Darla and I both have seen a tremendous change in her maturity, her demeanor and especially in her care and concern for her family. She truly misses home and lets each of us know individually how much she cares about us. She spent alot of time with her friends, but went out of her way to spend special time with her family, including the trip to Lake Almanor and a barbecue with her Mom and Bill and our family. I probably had lunch wth her five times during her visit and she even got up early and went to church with me while Darla and the boys were up at Lake Almanor. One big change that I've noticed both this trip and the last is how responsible Jennifer is. She calls and lets us know where she is and what she's doing and she is early to everything. She showed up to church at 7:30 for the 8:00 service. She was chagrined to find that our coffee service has been suspended until we move into the new building due to construction. On the day that she flew home she was to meet Darla and I at the restaurant at eight-thirty for breakfast. The phone rang at eight-fifteen and I laughed as I ran for the phone and said to Darla, "Well, Jennifer is running late". It was Jennifer on the line and she was waiting for us at the restaurant. The military has done amazing things for Jennifer in terms of responsibility. It is a pleasure to see these changes in her. And she is happy. That may be the ultimate reward.

I took David's Mustang in yesterday morning to have the paint shop buff out the finish. They did a great job. We have also had the problem of not having a horn in the car. The alarm had gone off in the middle of the night when the prior owners had it and they had disconnected the horn. After we bought it, the owner mentioned that as a "by-the-way". David is anxious to get his license in two weeks and he couldn't take the Mustang to the Drive Test because the horn didn't work. I finally took it to an auto electrician yesterday and he said, "just hook it back up". I said, "but the alarm has a short in it". He said, "No, the key fob didn't turn the alarm off because the batteries were low". I said, "how do you know that?" He said, "trust me, it happens all the time." He showed me where to reattach the horn and sure enough the horn works fine and the alarm is operating as it was designed. He didn't even charge me. Funny. Now David can take the drive test in his own car.

Darla and I will have to go out next week and get a replacement car for me. I was looking at the Ford Escape SUV, but I may end up with a Mustang. I have really enjoyed driving the Mustang and I may just have my mid-life experience now and get a newer Mustang GT. We'll see.

Work continues in fits and starts. I've been in contact with the manager at Burns and Wilcox and he would still like me to move over there and go to work for him (on salary plus bonus). He said he'd contact me in a few weeks and see if we can work something out. I still think this job could work out in the long run, but perhaps not before I go broke or have an aneurism sweating out the commission income every month. One of the problems is that our markets are just not competitive for apartment business and that is 80% of what I do. I'll keep you informed on what develops here.

Well. kiddies, that's it for this week. Remember as we are all dying to get ahead in life, that Jesus died so that we can live in peace, with the knowledge that heaven awaits us when our life on earth comes to a close.

Sometimes a week is just a week. Last week at this time I was talking about a slight heat wave and the temperature was supposed to hover at 100 degrees. Well it did, and today is supposed to top out at 103 degrees. What a difference a week makes.

The Labor Day holiday has come and gone and we had a great time. We went up to Lake Almanor on Saturday and had a nice time enjoying the relatively cooler 89 degrees up at the lake. Jennifer and the boys went wake-boarding and knee boarding. Jennifer invited her ex-boyfriend, Jason, and he even wakeboarded in spite of a cast on his right arm from an ATV accident four weeks ago in which he broke his wrist in three places and had to have screws inserted into the bones to let them heal. He wrapped a garbage bag over the cast and had a go on the wake board. I'm not much of a boater and simply watched the proceedings from the comfort of a lounge chair and within arms length of a beverage and my book. Jennifer seemed to particularly enjoy herself and had a good time with David, who has become quite the wake board expert over the course of the summer. He is really getting some air on his jumps and has enjoyed himself immensely this summer. His Dad bought him a $200 wake board for his birthday in May and he's got good use out of it so far this Summer.

Jennifer celebrated her 23rd birthday on Thursday and the family joined Diane and Bill at their home in Folsom on Wednesday night to fete our daughter. Darla finally shared her surprise to Jennifer on her birthday. Darla has been keeping a scrapbook of Jennifer's Army experiences and included in the book are pictures and diplomas from basic training, AIT, and her tower school training. There are pictures from a visit we had with her in San Antonio and included in that was a trip we took to Darryl's home in Houston. Also included is a trip that Jennifer took from her base in Arizona to Dad and Shirley's home in Sun City West. Jennifer was really surprised. Darla was able to find a scrapbook that has the Army seal on it, is green and has the word ARMY on the front of it. Darla has made an Army theme of the book decorating the pages with US Flags and tanks, camouflage, etc. It is really nice and now that Jennifer knows about it, she can send Darla pictures and copies of her orders, etc to continue to add to the book. Jennifer will leave the book with Darla.

Well, I have used this blog to document my golf experiences and it seems that I've had nothing but tremendous success. Well, often reality hits hard. We had our Labor Day tournament on Sunday and I should have known something was out of whack when I lost my ball on the first hole on a drive that was right down the middle. We couldn't find the ball and after five minutes I had to skulk back to the first tee and hit another shot. I double-bogeyed the hole. I then shot two straight birdies and hung on during the front nine for a stellar 38, two over par. I should have headed to the parking lot and gone home then. I started the back nine by drilling a drive dead left into a tree and having the ball ricochet back behind me and by the number eighteen green. I flailed around the perimeter of the tenth hole and finally knocked the ball on in four and then rolled in a thirty foot putt for bogey. I had the shanks on the back side and flailed around the course, going 6 over on the two par threes and finishing with a 49 for a total of 87. This is by far the worst round of the year for me. I've scored worst but I have never gone from great golf to horrible golf from the front nine to the back nine before. The only saving grace on the day was that I won $39 in skin money because of the good front side and I picked up three strokes on my Eclectic score. Our Eclectic tournament runs the entire year and consists of our best scores on every hole on the course in selected tournaments. We have ten "eclectic eligible"events and we take the score for the entire year and subtract from that our index for November of 2003. So far, I have a gross score of 67, which would equate to a net score of 55 with my current index of 11.1. If you're confused, we have guys in the club that play in this year long tournment and they can't figure it out either.

Jennifer has really enjoyed her leave at home. She has been busy juggling her time with three ex-boyfriends, Kevin, Jason and David. I have to hand it to each of them for maintaining their friendships after the romance died. It was never something that I was very good at. Perhaps, as Seinfeld said, it was because I wasn't a good "breaker-upper". I think part of the secret with Jennifer is that two of the guys are still carrying a torch for her and she plays that for all it's worth. All three of the guys are quality people and would give their shirt off their back to help Jennifer. She is lucky to have them in her life.

Jenn is supposedly off on a road trip to San Francisco today. She was supposed to be up early and heading into the city to do some shopping and sight seeing. Darla offered to take the day off and go with her, but Jennifer wanted to go alone. That is one significant difference in Jennifer. She has more self-confidence and has developed something of a loner streak in her. In that, she has become more like her father. I still crave my time of solitude and it's one reason that I enjoy doing the lawn and shrubs. It's my time to decompress and think through things in my life.

Jennifer will get on that big bird and be winging back to Atlanta and her base in Augusta Georgia on Thursday. It's been a good visit. We've enjoyed our time with Jennifer, the boys enjoyer her time and I know that Jennifer really enjoyed getting away from the mundane Army life for 12 days.

Work continues to improve in dribs and brabs. I still worry like the basic control freak that I am, but basically I am slowly growing a base of business and learning the ropes as I go. I almost hit my draw last month and would have except that I closed a big deal right after the cutoff. The upside is that I'm sitting on over a grand in commssions and it's only the second of the month.

The boys start football for real this week as full pad scrimmages against opponents begin on Thursday and Daniel will play in a scrimmage on Saturday. The games begin in two weeks and every Thursday and Friday are reserved for football from then on. David is starting at Safety on defense and is their third quarterback and Daniel will start on both the offensive and defensive lines.

That's it. Be well and keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the Lord and he will direct your path. Ciao.

It is one of those days that you know will be a scorcher. I just walked out to check the koi pond and there is a smell of heat in the air. We are supposed to hit 100 degrees today, although there is some sub-tropical moisture being pumped up from southern California that will cool us down quickly and bring a chance of thunderstorms tomorrow. Not exactly what Jennifer had in mind for her return to California, but you get what you get.

Jennifer arrived yesterday. Typical of my only daughter, she told her mother and I that her plane would arrive at 11:45 in the morning. I had arranged the flight and it seemed to me that she was due in earlier, so I jumped on the web yesterday morning after church and sure enough, her plane was scheduled to arrive at 10:35 and was actually about twenty minutes ahead of schedule. We were meeting her at the airport and then going over to the Chevy's restaurant on the river for brunch as a group. I quickly called Bill and let him know of the snafu. He said that Diane was still at the gym and they would have to meet us at the restaurant. Darla and I were on time and met Jen as she descended the escalator from the terminal. Darla wanted me to hold the end of a banner welcoming her home, but I'm not in to those type of public displays. Darla took pictures and insisted on setting the banner at the table at Chevy's. Jennifer is thrilled to be home and away from Army life for awhile.

We talked about her pending promotion and she feels that she WILL be promoted to the Specialist rank by November. She upset some of the brass by complaining about KP duty and yardwork. The military has regard for only ONE opinion and that is theirs. Jennifer felt that she didn't join the Army to do KP and cut the grass on base. The brass felt that she is to do anything that they tell her to do. Jennifer is learning about life in the military and will get her promotion in due time. With all of the specialized training that she has had and the expense that the Army has gone to in training her, it would be a sham not to promote her to the Specialist rank. I'm proud of her...and we have someone to wash the dishes and mow the lawn while she is home. Just kidding, Jen.

Jennifer is driving the Mustang while she is here and she was thrilled when she saw it. David was nice enough to agree to let her borrow his car while she is in town. David will finally get his license next month, four months after his 16th birthday. He is so involved in sports it took him four months after he was 15 1/2 to get his permit and the law requires new drivers to drive under permit status for six months prior to getting their license. Darla will be relieved when he finally does get his license as she has to drive him to school and pick him up from football practice every day that we have the boys. Once David has his license he will be free to come and go at his own whim.

Darla ran into Daniel's football coach at the gas station the other night and heard some excellent feedback on Daniel and his abilities at the sport. Daniel has always been something of a quick blossomer. He grew so fast, that it took him a long time for his coordination and his brain to catch up to his physical size. The coach will start Dan on both the offensive and defensive lines. He is one of the best linemen on the team and the coach, who has coached Daniel before, is thrilled with Dan's progression as a football player. I suppose you can't teach someone to be 6'1 and 200 pounds at age 13. You are or you aren't. It is kudos to Daniel and we were thrilled to get the feedback. Following in the footsteps of David, the jock, won't be easy, but Daniel is so far holding his own.

Work continues at a crawl. I talked to Nancy about it and she said that it is a typical problem, where business flows drag at the end of August as the worker bees in an insurance agency are also Moms and they are getting their kids ready for back to school and take time off this time of year. I've never experienced a slow down like this before in my career and I'm a bit concerned. I'm ramping up the marketing side of my business right now and working the phones.

Darryl has moved in to his new home outside of Austin, Texas and sent us pictures of his new deck and patio. He mentioned a wedding next weekend, which is news to us. I assume that my niece is getting married next week. I sent him a note chastising him for not keeping us in the loop. I think he needs a blog.

Darla and I celebrated seven years of wedded bliss this weekend. We've been married for twelve years, but seven happily. Just kidding, we married in 1996 and no itch as of yet. I wrote in her card that the only itch I feel is an itch to be even closer to her. That bought me some points, but writing about it here probably just cost me. Darla has been a true blessing in my life and I thank God for such a wonderful and Godly woman in my life. (I might have pulled out of it, I'm not sure.)

Finally, Saturday was also the qualifying tournament for the Rose Cup annual Ryder Cup-style tournament against three other golf clubs here in Roseville. Our qualifying field consisted of 56 determined golfers striving for 11 spots in the field. I started out strong shooting par-bogey-par-bogey-birdie in my first 5 holes to go one over, but stumbled down the stretch and finished the front nine with a double-bogey, double-bogey finish for 42. I then started the back side with par, double-bogey to go eight over after 11 holes. I was stinking up the joint, but pulled my game together with par-birdie-birdie over the next three holes and a solid finish to shoot 38 on the back side and finish with an 80, net 68 to qualify. This is the fourth year out of five that I will be in the Rose Cup (I missed the cut last year) and it is a tournament that I truly enjoy. The tournament will be held on October 10th and 11th at Woodcreek Golf Course and Sun City Roseville.

That's it for this week. The pastor told us the story yesterday of a young man who was proposing marriage to his sweetheart. He took her out on a secluded lake at midnight and held her hand. He said, "Honey, I may not have a yacht, like Steve Williams, all that I have is a small sailboat. And I may not have a Porsche, like Steve Williams, but I do have a Volkswagen and it is in good shape. And, finally, I may not have a mansion like Steve Williams, but my apartment is nice and we have plenty of room. I adore you and I love you. Will you marry me?" His girlfriend looked up at him and said, "Honey, I love you too, but who is this Steve Williams and where can I meet him?"

Here it is Monday again. Jennifer will be home by the time I write again. She is REALLY looking forward to getting away from Army life for a few weeks. I think she enjoys her job, but she is ready to do a little down time at home where she can lay by the pool or just visit with friends and family.

Darla hosted a shower for her brother Steve's fiancee, Kirstin, at Darla's Mom's house yesterday. I guess it was family only and there were aunts and cousins and Kirstin's Mom and Shea, Steve's daughter. Apparently the festivities went very well and Kirstin was very appreciative of the shower. Darla went downstairs to the cellar late in the afternoon and tripped on a step and took a header down the stairs!! She has a scraped nose and some sore bones as she tumbled all the way down. Apparently no one heard her fall and she crawled back up the stairs and everyone was shocked when she came back up bleeding and sputtering. We talked about the age thing in the last blog. (Well, at least she didn't break her hip.) She looks a little worse for wear, but she is a trooper and is back at work today.

I spent the day at the golf course and enjoyed myself. I've somehow managed to come up with a nasty case of tennis elbow in my left arm. Apparently, this is the only place in your body where a muscle attaches directly to the bone and does not utilize a tendon. Somehow, I've managed to pull the muscle fibres loose from the bone and it is inordinately painful. Basically a dull ache that reminds you of the malady everytime you use your arm. I have a tennis elbow strap that I use to clamp down the muscle and keep the muscle from moving away from the bone, so that it can heal. If I don't do this and I continue to pull the fibres loose as they attempt to repair themselves, I will end up with scar tissue and eventually need surgery. All of that to say that the act of golfing is contrary to allowing the muscle to heal. I was in some pain during the round, but managed to pull my round together on the backside and shot a 44-39=83. My arm didn't bother me as much on the back nine, due in part to the arm sufficiently warming and partly due to the 20 ounce Bud Light that my playing partner bought me. I played with Harry Wharrf, our Vice President at the golf club, Steve Parino, my twilight golf partner and Bjorn Andersen, my friend from Rocklin. Harry shot a 33-39=72, Steve shot a 42-40 82 and Bjorn managed a 47-42=89. We had a great time and it was a practice round for the Rose Cup qualifying tournament next Saturday.

I'm struggling a little bit at work. I've hit a slow patch and I need to ramp up my marketing efforts with new agents and contact some of the agents that have yet to send me business. I'm also frustrated with some of the referral underwriters that I have to work with. In my prior life, I was able to depend solely on myself for getting the business completed and now I have to depend on others. I've had two different underwriters promise me a quote by a certain date and then let me down. That is the most difficult thing for me. I've always been one who lived up to promises implicitly and I'm seeing how the other half operates and I'm not enjoying it.

Both of the boys started back to school last week and are hard into football practice. David has all but been pushed out of the competition for quarterback and is putting all of his energies into starting at free safety as a junior for the varsity. There will only be five juniors starting out of 22 positions and I told David he should be proud. His coaches feel that David could be an all conference safety because of his size and feel for the ball. David continues to harbor thoughts of being the starting quarterback and it appears that only injury or poor performance by the other two will allow for that possibility. It's too bad, but the fact that he will be a two year starter for his varsity football team is a good thing. Daniel will play lineman for his freshman team. he had hoped to play a skill position, but his size, 6'1" and 200 pounds, has the coaches mouth's watering. It will be interesting to see how Daniel does this year in the shadow of his brother on the varsity team. Daniel's sheer size has earned him a starting spot on the team.

I had my fantasy football draft this weekend and chose fourth. I dutifully picked Michael Vick for my first round choice and watched in the afternoon as he broke his right leg in a preseason game. I hate pre-season football. At least I have Drew Bledsoe of Buffalo as my backup and Brad Johnson of the Super Bowl champions as my third quarterback.

Well, I'll let you all know how our visit with Jennifer is going by next week. I think we'll plan to take a day up at Lake Almanor and let David teach Jennifer how to wake board. We'll also manage a day at the State Fair which is going on. Jennifer's birthday is the 28th and it was brother Randy's birthday yesterday. Jennifer will turn 23 and she is 20 years older than Randy, although I won't reveal HIS age. Nyuck nyuck.