Back to the salt mine after a week of conventions, parties, Easter and some family time on the weekend. A huge "PRAISE GOD!!" goes out today as Jennifer is on her way back stateside. She originally was supposed to stay in Baghdad until April 22nd, but with the increased hostilities and the marshalling of troops into the area, there are more flights available going back to Camp Doha in Kuwait. She was at the airport this morning with her unit trying to catch one of the flights out of Baghdad. Barring that, her unit would convoy out of Iraq on surface roads. I'm praying that she gets or got a flight out and is out of harm's way. I will be able to breathe again when she is back on American soil. She will be in Kuwait for a few days until she can get a charter back to the United States. Her unit will travel back to Fort Bliss in Texas for debriefing and then she will travel back to her home base in Augusta, Georgia. She will soon learn where her PDS (Permanent Duty Station) will be and Jennifer continues to lobby for Kuwait. We shall see. I hope to hear from her soon and I'll update the blog as soon as I hear from her. Thank you to everyone who kept Jennifer in their prayers. She has had more than a few sleepless nights lately as explosions rocked her base and shook her trailer. She admits to being scared and basically being told only what the Army wants her to know. She made the comment to her Mom that "you probably know more than I do, they don't tell us much".

The conference in Scottsdale was nothing short of a big party and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There are some discussion groups and roundtable conferences, but they simply satisfy the IRS that the conference is a legitimate business expense. The party starts early and lasts late and included a full fledged casino, dance hall, stage review, countless bars, an internet cafe, four different restaurants, a cookout and a full fireworks display that was one of the best that I've seen. The golf was at a world class resort called McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale and it was worth the wait. The course has a lot of sand and water and is immaculate. I also got to rub elbows with a number of senior Burns and Wilcox professionals as well as a number of the top producers. I found that interaction as beneficial to me as the opportunities to meet and interact with the Scottsdale Underwriters. I came back a little sunburned and tired, but was glad for the experience.

I played golf this weekend on Saturday in our annual Master's tournament. This is a tournament hosted by one of the board members of the Roseville Golf Club. There were 14 of us this year and we met at the crack of dawn at The Lincoln Hills Golf Resort at Sun City Lincoln Hills. I started the round double bogey, double bogey, bogey and was 5 over after three holes. I then went on a par barrage and finally birdied number 12 to go four-over after 12 and finished with a 41-39=80. I got hooted by the group as the scores were pretty high at this championship course. I had a net 66 and the closest pursuer shot 71 and then 72. I was pleased with how I pulled the round together after a horrific start. My only disappointment was a double-bogey six on the last hole. I wanted to post a 79. As always, there is room for improvement.

The family was up early yesterday and off to Easter Sunday services at Darla's parent's church in Stockton. We left the house at 7:25 and were in the parking lot of the church at 8:30 for the 9:00 a.m. service. It was kind of nice to be at a smaller church with about 800 attenders rather than the 2500 that were expected at our church. The ease of entrance and exit from their church make our weekly ordeal seem that much more complicated. We then went over to Earl and Frances' home in Linden for a celebration of Easter. The boys were of course with us and Darla's sister and her brother and his wife, daughter and mother-in-law joined us for ham and family time. It was enjoyable.

Their pastor had a story about how human beings deal with death. It is inevitable, but most people tend to regard death as a dirty secret and it ends up being a dark cloud over our lives. Christians do (or at least should) have a diffent view of death as our time on Earth is a beginning and not an end. Anyhow, a man was diagnosed by his doctor as having a terminal disease and he was given six months to live. The man asked his doctor if there was ANYTHING he could do. The doctor told him to sell everything and give it away to charity. The man said, "No problem". The doctor told him to move into tenement housing with no running water or electricity. The patient agreed to do it. Was there anything else he could do? The doctor told him to marry a woman with eight children and move them into the tenement with him. Done. Was there anything else (and this is poetic license on my part)? Yes. Give up golf and all of his friends. "I'll do it said the man. Will this extend my life?" The doctor regarded him and said, "No, but it will be the longest six months of your life!"

Ciao friends. And once again, PRAISE GOD that Jennifer is getting out of Iraq.