We have just endured a weekend of temperatures over 100 degrees. I had my assistant, Anthony, and his girlfriend, Erin, meeting us at our house on Saturday afternoon. Darla and I were treating them to a concert at the local Placer County Fairgrounds and Anthony wanted to see the koi pond and our backyard. That, of course, motivated me to be up early on Saturday and work on trimming, re-filling the pond, cleaning and spraying down the entire backyard. It took me about four hours to tidy up and make the yard presentable, but the good part of all this is that I worked hard, yet was still standing when I was finished. The drugs that Kaiser provided worked their magic and my back is finally beginning to allow me to walk, talk and work like one of the homo sapiens again. The concert on Saturday night was a benefit put on by the local Roseville Active 20-30 club. Being that I'm nowhere near 20 or 30, I felt that we'd be safe to invite Anthony (27) and Erin (23) to the concert. We had a blast and my boss, Bill, and his wife, Storma, joined us at the concert for dinner and the show. The Trailer Park Troubadours, who are quickly becoming our favorite show band, were headlining and they brought down the house. They came on about 8 p.m. when the sun had mercifully dropped behind the National Guard building, which is on the fairgrounds site. We stayed until the end of the concert at 10:45 and Darla's name was called for a T-shirt and a Sizzler MVP card. They told her that they would mail the items to her. We are both curious what a Sizzler MVP is. Neither of us has been to a Sizzler restaurant since we were married, so unless they give her a crown and let her eat free, I doubt that it will command much attention in our household.

The boy's had their first open scrimmage of the year at the annual "Meet the Timberwolves" night at their school on Friday. They played an intersquad scrimmage and David totally outplayed his competition at quarterback. David threw for two touchdowns and directed drives that resulted in four touchdowns. His friend and fellow quarterback, Adam, threw three interceptions and was sacked three times. He was inconsolable after the game and David definitely looks like the opening game starter at this point. David is confident that he has outplayed Adam throughout the practice schedule and looks forward to the start of the season. The highlight of David's year so far was when he picked off Adam during practice (David plays offense and defense) and ran the ball back for a touchdown. Adam tried to tackle David at the goal line and David lowered his shoulder and took Adam out. The whole team was oohing and aahing at the colllision. Daniel did not come off the field during the JV scrimmage and played both offense and defense. Dan is 6'2" and 215 pounds now. The coaches know they can't afford him not being on the field. I noticed some real hussle in Daniel on Friday and he has really grown into a football player. David has always worked hard at sports and been the best he could be no matter what he played. Daniel always just went along with the flow, never doing anything more than he needed to in order to get by. That is changing gradually and Daniel will be a star this year.

Jennifer will leave for home on Thursday. Her Mom is flying to Augusta and they will drive her Explorer home. Jennifer has processed out of her home base of Fort Gordon and will be leaving Georgia for good on Thursday. She had some of her belongings shipped to Kuwait and will only bring what she can carry onto the plane to Kuwait. She will drop off the rest of her clothes and personal effects at the house. Her Explorer will be here waiting for her when she gets home. She will leave for Kuwait from Sacramento in mid-September. Jen turned 24 on Saturday

I talked to Dad and Shirley last night. They just got home from a week of vacation with Shirley's daughter, Sherry, and her family. They rented a 2800 square foot home on a lake in Canada and unfortunately it rained most of the week that they were gone. Dad and Shirley may not be able to join us in Kauai as they are taking a three week vacation to Hawaii in January. I didn't know that until he mentioned it last night. They are keeping the idea on the back burner for now and may decide to join us yet.

Darla and I will take the long Labor day weekend and visit her parents up at Lake Almanor. It's a long drive, but it will be nice to get away and enjoy some time at the lake. They have a fifth wheel with two slideouts and we will sleep in the double bed that makes up in the galley. The boys were at Almanor this weekend with Darla's sister, Alicia.

Well, work beckons with an unending flow of business just waiting for my attention. My post for next week will be a day late as we will be in Almanor for the long weekend. Ciao.