It is a spectacular Spring Monday with a high blue sky, sunshine and temperatures into the low seventies. Nice. The umbrella tree above the koi pond has begun to flower and the geraniums are bright red and pink above the pond. Buddy, our Golden Retriever, is sunning himself on the stamped concrete deck with a smile plastered on his face. All is bliss in his world. I'd like to join him out there, but my boss has these high expectations that I work during the week. Oh well.

I talked to Jennifer last night. As the war plays out on television, I can't help but worry with a daughter in the Army. Her understanding is that her unit will not be going to Iraq. She is in a signal battalion and her specialty is communications and fibre optics. The only scenario where she could end up in Iraq that we can see is once the war is over and the peacekeepers are in place, they could have a need for additional communications infrastructure and she could be called in. That is a long shot, but a father can't help but worry. She is packed and ready to go overseas, but so far she remains safely ensconced in the cocoon that is Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia. She and her roomate were playing Army Monopoly when I called on Sunday night. It is a US Army version of the board game Monopoly. She is doing great and as I said, is ready for her next set of orders.

I played golf this weekend and it is getting to that point in my golf year when my lovely bride begins to get a little tired of all of the golf and being left behind on weekends. We've even had a number of conversations regarding just how much golf I'll be playing on our Fall trip to Hawaii. The condo that we are sharing is owned by my golfing buddy, Dave, and one of his motives in inviting us was to play golf and have someone for his wife, Marilyn, to visit with. Darla has let it be known that she does not plan to be a golf widow in Hawaii. We are deep into negotiations on how many games I'll play while I'm there. She is set on 2, I'm lobbying for 4 and Dave would like 6. I think we'll likely settle on 3, but 2 would not be a surprise.

My golf this weekend was much better than last week. The weather was windy and it sprinkled rain on Sunday morning. This was the back two days of a three-day medal tournament at my club. I limped through the first round last Sunday with an 89, improved five shots to 84 on Saturday and improved another five shots on Sunday to a 79. The 79 could have and should have been a 75 or 76, but I stumbled with two double-bogeys and a triple-bogey. I made four birdies, three in a four hole stretch on the back nine. It is early in the year, but I feel my game coming around. I finished out of the money, but won $35 for low gross in my flight on Sunday with the 79. I have no tournament golf until April 19, but will have another three-day tournament in May and the two-day Monterey/Carmel trip in June. Darla is along on that trip, so I should be okay there. I will play in a Master's tournament on the Sunday morning of Masters. We tee off at seven a.m. and then go to the host's house to watch the final day of the Masters on television. I will miss the next Away tournament as Darla and I'll be in Las Vegas with Dad and Shirley. See, I do sacrifice golf for my wife!

Darla and I called Jim Dodds on Saturday to see if we could take him to dinner and pick up the long awaited coffee table. Well, it has been sent back to the sander to have some hinges re-sanded. Apparently the table is built with several compartments where the table can be expanded and the glides were sticking. I'm sure this table will weigh over two hundred pounds when we finally get it and it will have a built-in wet bar and entertainment center. We need to pick it up soon, before Jim goes nuts working on it. I've never met the gentleman, but I'm getting an initial impression of eccentricity.

I was in the San Francisco Bay Area last week, visiting agents and doing the marketing thing. I was there when the war broke and saw first hand some of the war protestors lining the streets and locking arms in steel cylinders to block traffic. They picked the financial district for maximum impact and made a complete mess of the city and have led to an additional $900,000 a day in overtime and lost revenue for the city. They picked a benign group to interrupt in the business men and women of the city. IF they try this during the opening game of the San Francisco Giants, there will likely be some real violence. Baseball fans do not want to be messed with, especially when they are going to a ballgame to blot out the War for a few hours.

David's varsity basketball team got beat in the state finals by Mater Dei of Santa Ana. Mater Dei is a private school that travels all over the country playing games and their team is led by DJ Strawberry, Darryl Strawberry's son. They had won 19 games in a row and their last loss had come to the Lebron James-led St. Vincent-St Mary's team from Ohio. Mater Dei was ranked fourth in the nation by USA Today. We, of course, were unranked. We had a magical season and beat some great teams along the way and I'm sure the boys will remember this for their lifetimes. As I said after the game, we played well right up until we played a team with a payroll. The Mater Dei team is sponsored by Nike and won their fifth California state championship in the last nine years. Our guys were out-sized and out-played, but our senior point guard led all scorers with 19 points. The final was 88-69, but we were within four points late in the third quarter. Their size and ability finally did us in. Mater Dei has three seniors who will be going on to Division 1 colleges on full ride scholarships. We have none. Darla and I are going with David to the Basketball banquet tonight for all of the Woodcreek basketball teams. Something tells me the night will belong to the varsity players.

Well, folks, pray for George Bush and our leaders. Give them peace and strength for this battle and may it end quickly. God Bless.