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.