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.