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.