It is another glorious Monday morning in California. The sun is up and bright, the sky is blue and it will hit about 82 degrees today, absolutely perfect early Spring weather here in Northern California.

I haven't had an opportunity to talk to Jennifer in about two weeks. She has been busy and hasn't been able to get a phone call in. I miss talking to her. We missed her call in Vegas as we were in a noisy casino and I didn't hear my cell phone ringing. We had set up for her to call us on Friday night when the family was meeting at PF Changs, but Jennifer overslept that morning and was almost late to work (it would be her Saturday morning as she is 11 hours ahead of us). She finally called on Sunday night (her Monday morning), but I missed the call. I have, however received numerous e-mails from her. She has a new e-mail address with the military that allows her to send and receive e-mail pretty easily. It is a little cumbersome to get into her MSN account.

Her e-mail address is: Jennifer.Lyon@vcmain.hq.c5.army.mil

It looks like Jennifer will be coming back to her base in Georgia on April 15th as planned. She so wants to stay in Iraq and will miss the civilian contractors who are staying until the communications center is complete. Jennifer's mission was to complete the fibre optics cable installation and then they are out of there. Praise God.

My office is moving this week. We had an efficiency expert, Dave Hossler, in our office last week from Home Office and he took me to dinner one night to pick my brain. He is impressed with the success that I've had and wants to know how to pass that on to some of the other underwriters in the office. I very frankly told him that if he could get them to put in 50 hours a week, they would probably miraculously find that they start to write more business. He has closed out a couple of lines of business that we were writing and he let two people go. It is a little bit nerve wracking in here right now as people fear for their jobs. Dave told me that my job is secure and that they want to build around a nucleus of people in this office and that I'm on the top of his list. That was certainly encouraging, but there are more changes to come and the boat will be a little rocky in the coming weeks.

I played poker on Friday night with the Roseville Golf Club group and then I played golf Saturday morning with two of the low handicappers in our club. I started poorly and shot a 46 on the front side. I was a bit embarassed playing with two of our better players, but I pulled my round together on the backside and shot a 36 to win the money and leave the guys shaking their heads over what happened to them. It was fun. The weather was ideal.

I got my car washed and waxed this weekend and the lawn trimmed. There is something powerful about Springtime. It is rebirth and the fresh blooms on all of the trees and bushes. The backyard is awash in fresh growth and the irises and the umbrella tree over the pond are in full bloom. The goldfish are active again and sunning themselves between the plants in the pond. I took out the hedge trimmer and cut back many of the bushes and hedges last night and everything looks so good. Living in California is a dream and I can't imagine ever leaving the Golden State.

The boys are active in their Spring sports. Daniel is playing baseball on his high school freshman team and David is active in track and field, doing high jump, long jump, triple jump and relays. He is staying active in order to train for football. Darla is still playing volleyball on Tuesday nights and she involves her boys whenever she can. Darla says that I'm the only one not involved in a sport. I can't seem to convince her that golfers are athletes. Craig Stadler has ruined it for all of us.

That's it for this week. I will come in Friday morning to pack my desk and then have an 11:00 a.m. tee time at Mather. I will play with Anthony, Gail and Mel. Anthony is the 27 year-old assistant underwriter in the office, Gail is one of the underwriters and Mel is the husband of our policy typist. I leave for Scottsdale on Monday morning for a convention with Scottsdale Insurance. Emery Jensen, my former boss at Republic Western, is one of the managers at Scottsdale Insurance and we will play golf together on Tuesday. The blog will be late next week for those of you paying attention. Ciao.

Back to the blog after a wonderful and memorable family reunion in Vegas. Seeing my brothers, Dad and Shirley, Janelle and Aaron with Braden, Jesse, Josh, Jenny, Chris, Sherry and Al and the two Barbie twins, Laurie and Laura (Jesse and Josh's girlfriends) was absolutely wonderful. The only thing that could have made it better was seeing Jennifer there, but as we all know, she has a bit more on her plate in Iraq at the moment.

I feel like I got a good visit with both of my brothers and Dad as we played golf together at Eagle Crest golf course on Friday. Aaron tagged along and made it a fivesome, although Al bowed out as we had an odd number of players. In truth, we had an even number when he was in, but an odd number when he dropped out. Al was concerned about getting on the golf course as we only had a tee time for four of us and driving over in Randy's rental Century. We could have worked it out, but there will be a next time. This was just too much fun to do it once and forget it. It was the first time that all of the Lyon men had played golf together in our lives. Randy, Darryl and I have played several times and I've played with Dad and Shirley several times, but this was a first. True to the calling of men in general, none of us brought a camera to record the event.

We played the par 60 golf course with rental clubs and still played well. I shot 37-36 for 73. Darryl shot 78, Randy, Aaron and Dad were somewhere in the 80's. It wasn't about the score though, and I know we each had a great time and it is a special memory for me.

We met for dinner on Friday night and Shirley and Dad had a reservation for 19 at PF Chang's at the Alladdin. We were seated upstairs and were a boisterous crowd as we enjoyed lettuce wraps, pot stickers, crab won tons, sake, Sapporo and many flavorful and fragrant main dishes. Shirley asked for a menu and we all signed the menu with words of encouragement to Jennifer. We raised our glasses in a toast to her bravery and said a prayer that God keep her in his care while she is in harm's way. It was a party and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Dad and Shirley set up an informal hospitality suite in their room at the Polo Towers and we met each afternoon to socialize and spend some quality time together. Vegas is great, but it can be difficult to get a large group together in any of the casinos. Al, Darryl and I managed to get together at a blackjack table at the Boardwalk and we were soon joined by Jesse and Aaron as we took over the table and had a few laughs playing cards. I was the first one to sit down and the first to leave as my stack of chips grew from $40 to well over $100. I decided to cash in my winnings. I had a hot streak over two hours and hit about a dozen blackjacks, four of which I hit after putting a coin in the 15-1 payout for a blackjack spot, so $60 of my winnings came on that "sucker bet".

The crowd began to thin on Saturday. Randy fell ill and missed the blackjack party. He and his family as well as the boys and their girlfriends all left town late Saturday night with flights back to Dallas. Darryl, Cheryl, Al and Sherry joined Darla and I for dinner out on Saturday night. We all enjoyed Prime Rib and then went out to gamble.

Darryl and Al and Sherry flew out Sunday morning, while Cheryl and Janelle, Aaron and Braden went over to Cheryl's parents' home in Henderson, Nevada. Darla and I were able to visit with Dad and Shirley. We spent time at the pool and then went out to dinner again at PF Changs. We enjoyed it so much Friday night. I told Dad that Darla and I would buy dinner in honor of his birthday (which incidentally made my birthday possible) and he chose PF Changs. We then went over to Monte Carlo and gambled, where I hit a $100 jackpot on nickels (four Aces and a two) and while I was waiting to be paid, I hit four twos and an Ace for 800 coins on the adjacent machine.

We were on our way back to Sacramento Monday morning filled with some good memories and a hardcore tiredness that is just now beginning to wane. I guess I'm too old to stay up until 3 a.m. three nights in a row, eh? We will do this again and Jennifer will be in the middle of it next time. I hope all are well and happy and invested in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Ciao.

Jennifer sent her Mom an e-mail and she has met some young hunk in Baghdad. He is from Florida and supposedly in the Army as well. She seemed like she was having a good time and we are all so happy for her. To be 23 and free in Iraq? maybe not so great. Take care.

Wow! The weather here in California has been nothing short of glorious the last week and a half. This weekend saw shorts weather in the low-to-mid eighties all weekend. I think I may have to dress warmer for Vegas as the temps there have been a few degrees cooler than our temperatures. This blog is a little bit late as I had a dental cleaning this morning at 8 a.m. The dental hygienist was very nice, but it was early for her. She got the button stuck on the water and thought she'd turned it off when rinsing my mouth, but ended up squirting me all over my face, hair and shirt. She was mortified, but I had a good laugh. I told her that I'd already showered that morning, but thanks for the effort.

I talked to Jennifer this past weekend. She was in great spirits and had spent part of her day Sunday sitting in a lounge chair soaking up the sun and reading. Basically she was just relaxing and suntanning in the most war torn area on the planet. She has made some excellent contacts with IMG and General Dynamics and will interview with IMG when she gets out. I'm happy for her, but IMG is based in Virginia, near Washington DC and Jennifer would be travelling the world working on military installations. The only difference from then and now would be that she'd be civilian and making serious cash. She has received packages from her Mom, us, Cam and Kathy in Canada (she loved the cards from the boys!!) and from the sorority that several of the ladies here at Burns and Wilcox belong to that inundated her with three boxes of books, games, food and movies. The chocolate that they sent made it to her intact. So much for the military's ban on sending chocolates. Jennifer is doing very well, although she was very jealous of my family's trip Friday night to Benihana's restaurant for dinner. She is also feeling a bit left out of the Lyon family reunion. We plan to take lots of pictures and get a big card to have everyone sign for her.

Darryl called me over the weekend to wish me a happy birthday and told me that his trip to Vegas is on hold. Apparently the Nazis that run Fed-Ex won't let him take his previously approved vacation because of an audit that is being conducted. Darryl is pretty well fried with Fed-Ex and looking forward to getting out of there and soon. The company is well regarded as a family friendly place to work, but Darryl says they do not walk that talk as he was overtly threatened with termination if he left for Vegas. So far, he has the family going and he hopes to arrive by Friday night and spend the weekend. I feel for him. Work should be only a part of your life. Fed Ex wants it to be his life. Hopefully Fed Ex is an ex in his life and soon.

I am really excited about getting to Vegas and spending some time with the family. It will be here soon and go by all too quickly, but I will hang on to the feeling while we are there. Jennifer is going to try to call me on my cell phone on Friday night (her Saturday morning) while we are all at P.F. Changs for dinner and talk to everyone.

I played golf on Saturday afternoon and the equipment, the swing, and the stars all came into alignment and I shot a blistering 75. In fact, I was one-over par going into 17 and finished bogey-bogey for the 75. The new clubs are awesome and I'm ready to bring that game over to my competitive side and start winning some golf tournaments. I have the California Amatuer coming up in May and look forward to seeing if I can bring the focus and energy to that weekend. It was a fun round of golf and this game is really awesome when everything clicks.

We had Darla's Mom and Dad and sister over yesterday to celebrate my birthday and watch the King's game. Earl's recovery from prostate surgery is coming along. He will have to undergo radiation once he regains full use of his faculties and he is in our prayers as he recuperates. The surgery hasn't slowed him down as he just bought a new 5th wheel for traveling. He also had to buy a bigger truck and bought a brand new Ford F250 pickup with a diesel engine and trailering package. He has his motor home at a lot in French Camp to be sold. Earl and Frances are living my dream, which isn't camping, but spending the kid's inheritence while you are still healthy. They are both great people and much of what I love in Darla is reflected in them. I'm blessed to have married into such a great family. Say a prayer for Earl that the radiation treatment will eradicate all of the cancer cells in his body.

The blog will be a little late next week, as we fly out to Vegas on Thursday afternoon and return home on Monday morning.

I'll leave you with the story of Winston Churchill at a cocktail party when a woman who did not agree with his political agenda confronted him. She said to Winston, "If I was your wife, I would put poison in your tea". To which Winston famously replied, "Ma'am, if I was your husband I would cheerfully drink it!"

Well, what a difference a week makes. Last week at this time, the rain was pouring down and the cars outside were slipping and sliding along on their way to work or school. This week has seen the weather gradually improve as a high pressure system settled over the western coast of California and the temperatures slowly rose to the point where yesterday saw shorts and winter white legs in abundance at the park across the street from our house. We had a high temperature of 79 degrees and it is supposed to hit eighty today. I played golf on Saturday morning in shorts for the first time this year. It was a nice change from the bundled up winter wear that restricts a full body coil on your golf swing. It was about 74 degrees on Saturday and a wonderful weekend all told.

I had my new rims installed on Saturday afternoon. As mentioned in my last episode, I had ordered a set of aluminum alloy clear coated wheels, but the company had delivered the chrome wheels. The difference in price was $105 a wheel for the alloys and $195 for the chrome. The manager of the shop hadn't realized that the wrong wheels had been delivered until I showed up for my Saturday appointment. He had signed for the shipment but had not looked at the invoice. The wheels wholesale to him at $142 a wheel and he agreed to charge me his cost and deal with the supplier at a later date. So, I paid more than I had intended, but the wheels are so nice. Again, they are a five spoke diamond design and they really shine. I could have waited until next weekend to get my wheels, but that wouldn't have been any fun. As I told Darla, I didn't spend $37 a wheel more, but saved $53 a wheel off of retail.

Darla and I went to see The Passion of the Christ this weekend and the hype for this movie is more than deserved. Mel Gibson has made a true recreation of the last twelve hours of Jesus' life. It is a brutal replay of the scourging and crucifixion. While I was watching it horrified by the brutality, finally the scourging ended and Christ lay in his own blood in agony, when the Roman soldiers rolled him onto his back and began to whip him again. It made me wonder if my sins were so bad that Christ had to endure that pain for me. I highly recommend this movie. For the critic who ask , "Where is the love? If Christ was such a compassionate soul, why is the movie so violent?" The critics don't get it. The love is so powerful in that Jesus willingly was tortured and crucified so that I could be saved. What greater love is there?

I talked to Jennifer on Friday. I tend to sleep in on Fridays as the traffic is so light and happened to catch a call from her. She had received a couple of packages from home and was enjoying Freetos and Pringles and the simple foods that she can't get in Iraq. She also had many books, games, candy and DVDs to help while away the hours.

I had mentioned that Jennifer is working with General Dynamics on the wiring infrastructure of the palace communications network. General Dynamics is the general contractor and she is actually working with a group from IMG (Information Management Group), a wiring and communications contractor. She is making some good contacts and I suggested that she get business cards from some of the managers and ask to use them as references when she leaves the military. She liked that idea and was going to talk to several of them. The civilian contractors really like Jennifer and her work ethic. They are working from 8 a.m until 8 at night six days a week. It is tiring, but rewarding work for our soldier.

Did you see the story on television Friday night about the fire crew from Florida that left the station house abruptly to fight a fire and left the stove on and burned down the fire station? Now that pretty well defines irony.

We had a guest speaker at church on Sunday. He is a well known pastor from a church in Kentucky. He talked about friends of his who visited Kentucky from California. They said that they knew Kentucky was a little backwards, but didn't realize how much so until they went to the zoo. They said in California at each enclosure there is a sign that lists what the animal is and in parenthesis the name of the animal in Latin. In Kentucky, they have the name of the animal and then a recipe in parenthesis.

I hope all are well and living a Godly life.

It is a wet, cold, blustery Monday and the cars outside my office window swish through the water as they sail by. Most of the drivers by this time are in search of a hot lunch. I'm just happy to be safely hidden in my office away from the tangle of metal and mayhem on the streets. We hear about two or three accidents a week outside our window and watch as the participants trade information and most of them stand by their cars and wait for the CHP, only to be told by the uniformed patrolman to get their cars out of the street. Friday saw a pretty good fender-bender outside my window as a Home Depot truck collided with a Ford Escort and pushed her into the two cars in front of her. The Escort driver was about nineteen and reduced to tears by the trauma and sight of her little car banjoed in the rear. Her trunk popped open and the compartment was pushed into her back seat. I don't know what the Home Depot driver was doing to miss the red light, but he smacked her pretty good. I wanted to go out and tell the girl to relax. Thank God she got hit by a Home Depot truck. You know he has good insurance and her car will be put back in one piece.

I missed a call from our soldier on Saturday when I was out playing golf. She sounds a little homesick, but the bombings have slowed and the weather is mid-eighties, sunny and nice. She has volunteered to work with a civilian contingent from General Dynamics on the palace and she is really enjoying it. She reports to a civilian contractor rather than to a military person, so her day is more relaxed and the GD people really appreciate her help. She wouldn't be so happy if she knew what the General Dynamic people are being paid to work on the palace versus what she's making. It is great experience for her and will look good on her resume when she gets out of the Army. They are putting in long hours. In fact she was still at the palace when she called me this morning at seven-fifteen. She talked to Darla as I had already left for work. It was six-fifteen pm her time. She has not received any of our packages yet, but we were told that they take ten days to three weeks, depending on the frequency of supply drops to Iraq.

Darla had her jewelry show this weekend at Cal Expo. It went much better than the Christmas show that she attended in December. The difference was great weather and less jewelry vendors. They had poor weather and about 12 jewelry vendors at the last show. This show had four jewelry vendors and it was on a weekend that saw plenty of tank tops and shorts. The temperatures were only in the high sixties, but it was a bright blue sky without a breath of wind in the air.

I enjoyed the weekend with golf on Saturday morning (85 at Woodcreek and I won all bets) and plenty of yard care and car washing the rest of the weekend. All of that to see the rain come back in and a hint of Vancouver weather splatting about out there. My nice clean car is getting soaked. I did go over to several tire and wheel shops and picked out some new wheels for my Mustang. I have the stock Mustang wheels on the car and I'm having a set of American Racing Clear coat aluminum alloy wheels installed next weekend. This is what I wanted for my birthday. The wheels are a five spoke with a diamond design and are called the Casino. The website for american racing let me pull up my Mustang in green and see what the wheels looked like installed on the car. The internet is an amazing resource in this day and age.

David's basketball team made the playoffs and played a valiant game against one of the top schools in the area. His team played stellar defense and took a 7-0 lead after one quarter, frustrating their opponents at every turn. Unfortunately they outscored us in each successive quarter and beat us on a last second shot 38-36. It was a fun season, but a frustrating one for David. He went from starting and playing a majority of the game to not starting about midway through the year, but being the top bench player. He finished the year deep on the bench and not seeing any action the last three games. He will apply himself this Summer and be ready to start as a Senior.

Daniel has been a little bored lately. He missed the cut on his basketball team and was on the bubble for his freshman baseball team. He made the cut and will play third base. Darla was thrilled as Daniel needs the structure of team sports in his life. He's a bit of a couch potato and has put on some weight. The baseball training has sharpened his skills and begun to work on the extra pudge that he's developed since football. David, of course, will transition right into track. He is a total athlete and would either take Athletic PE after school or be involved in a sport. He chose track.

Darla and I did not get out to see the Passion of the Christ this weekend. I wanted to go this week, but she promised to take the boys. Church was a bit extra crowded on Sunday, so the film is having an effect on our society. I'm happy for Mel Gibson. I'm sad that his father is such an anti-semite. Unfortunately Mel is being painted with that same brush...the old, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" argument. Mel is his own man and his film is having critical and box office success. I knew it would, as their are far more Christians in the world than critics.

Our pastor did, as usual, have a good joke on Sunday. A minister in the midwest was eating dinner with his wife. Times were tough and their budget was stretched to the limit. He noticed his wife in a brand new dress and asked her where she got it. She was embarrassed and said she knew money was tight, but the devil made her buy it. She was in the store and found herself trying on the dress. The devil told her it looked great on her. The pastor said, "Well, dear, you know what the good book says about temptation from Satan. You need to point at him and command him to get behind you." "Well, dear, I did that and then the devil told me the dress looked even better from the back!"

I hope you are all well. I look forward to the Lyon family reunion in Vegas in two weeks.