It's true, the Sun is back in all it's glory and the fog has moved back to Siberia or wherever it came from and all is bliss in the land of Northern California. We had a marvelous weekend after enduring rain and fog most of all of last week. In fact the rain lasted right up until Friday night. I had a 9:09 tee time on Saturday morning and we were sweating the rain right up until the last minute.
There are a few clouds in the sky this morning and it is COLD, but the sky is blue and the grass is green and my car is washed and waxed and stands gleaming in the parking lot with shiny chrome wheels and dressed tires. It is depressing to drive a rain-streaked car and so nice to travel in a freshly washed and shiny car. My Dad ruined me with his obsessiveness about his cars.
Speaking of Dad..and Shirley, I called them last night in Hawaii and we visited for about a half hour. I told him that I knew he was trying to hide on vacation, but his mistake was in giving us his itinerary and phone numbers. I have Verizon cell phone service and Verizon is the largest phone company in Hawaii. My plan includes free long distance and free nights and weekends and includes both Hawaii and Alaska in my calling plan. It costs money to call Vancouver, but not Hawaii. Go figure. They are having a great vacation, but true to form ran into another housing crisis. The second hotel that they booked through Expedia was a complete dump and Shirley was very unhappy. So much so that they checked out after one night and moved to another resort. Dad didn't really get into specifics, but it couldn't have been as bad as the time they had a mouse infestation at the hotel in Hawaii and woke up to mouse droppings in their bed. They do manage to have quite a time on their Hawaii vacations. Dad said the weather has been great and they had several meals at Turtle Bay where the Senior Golf tournament was being held this weekend. Dad sounded relaxed.
I played golf this weekend with Boyd, Mel and one of Daniel's friends, Wes Sandroni. We had a foursome with Greg Wanee, but he called me Friday night to say he had to work. By the time I got back from David's basketball game it was too late to call anyone as a replacement. I had Dan call Wes to see if either he or his Dad wanted to join us. Wesley is about an 8 handicap and will be on the Woodcreek golf team this year. He is an accomplished golfer and has been playing the game for about five years. He used to be a neighbor on our court and I used to chase him off my lawn where he was hitting plastic balls from one yard to the other and taking big divots as he did. He always had a golf club in his hand and it has paid dividends. He handled himself well with the adults and shot a 41+41=82 in wet conditions on a course he hasn't played much. I showed up at 8:30 to pick him up Saturday morning and when his Dad answered the door I asked him if Wesley could come out and play. I shot 40+43=83 on the day, but hit the ball really well. I had an eagle putt on the 488 yard par five 15th, after hitting a driver off the deck from 235 yards that landed on the green on the fly and left me a forty foot eagle putt. I missed the putt, but made the birdie. Boyd shot 78 and Mel shot 90 and paid each of us $2 for his efforts. It was a good day and gives me confidence going into the Super Bowl tournament next Saturday.
David's team played Rocklin on Friday after having a bye early in the week. Rocklin is a great defensive team and they have something of a genetic Science experiment at center with a 6'8" albino black kid. He has red hair and white skin with black features. He is a second generation albino as his father is also an albino black man with red hair. Ike once again left the team in the lurch when he showed up for the game 45 minutes late (the team has to be there an hour early) and was benched for the first quarter. David has been moved to the starting lineup and the guy he replaced moved over to take the center spot. We scored the first basket and then went through a painful stretch where we turned the ball over and missed shots to the tune of a 14-2 deficit after the first quarter. Ike started the second quarter and we closed the gap, moving to within 4 points before having Rocklin go on a tear late in the second to take a 10 point halftime lead. They led by eight after three and by the same 8 with four minutes to play. Woodcreek finally turned up the defensive pressure and we scored the next ten points to take a two point lead with 23 seconds left. They worked the ball well and hit a banked three pointer with 14 seconds left. Our point guard got loose and hit a driving tear drop floater in the lane with 4 seconds left and our fans exploded. They had one chance left and tried a three pointer that bounced out, but was put back by the Science project for an apparent win. The officials waved off the basket as coming after the horn and ran off the court to the safety of the locker room as both sides cheered in the confusion. The scoreboard operator had put up the winning basket for Rocklin and their fans were celebrating, but we saw the officials wave off the basket and our team was jumping and high fiving each other. It was a great come from behind win and we are solidly in second now with a 5-2 conference record. This is the second time that we've beat Rocklin, who was a ranked team early in the season. We may finally get some play as a ranked team in Sacramento now. Awesome stuff.
Darla and I started our Life Group last week. Our church is going through Rick Warren's book, "The Purpose Driven Life", "40 Days of Purpose". We met with the group as an ice breaker to get to know the group and to socialize before we start. We'll meet again tonight to go over ground rules and set up our reading for the week and start the study next week. One of the couples in the group I know because the husband, Gary, is in my Men's group. I will take a leave of absence from the Men's group during the next seven weeks as I can't afford the time for two groups a week on top of the fifty hours I put in at work. The sermons will kick off on Sunday with Dave Dravecky speaking to the group on his calling after he lost his pitching arm to cancer in 1989.
Work is good and getting better. We will finish at least $100,000 over budget this month and I may add a new underwriter sooner rather than later. I received a call on Monday last from Pete Morrison, the underwriter that I hired to replace me at Republic Western when I was promoted to Underwriting Manager. Pete had left the insurance industry and was working as a mortgage banker the last two years. He made a lot of money, but got severely burned out on the 70 hour weeks he was putting in. He called me to ask about a competitor that he was slated to interview with. I said, "Whoa, if you're available, I may be able to create a position for you here". I called the Regional VP and he told me to interview him and then he'll arrange to come out this week and interview him as well. Pete is willing to take less salary than he's been getting because of the bonus plan. Pete was a new business machine for me at RWIC and I need that kind of production to get this office rolling.
Well, folks, be kind to one another. Remember I live in Sacramento and "Sacramento" is a Spanish word for the "body of Christ". I'd rather live no where else but in the body of Christ. Ciao.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Monday, January 24, 2005
Just Another Foggy Monday
I suppose the heavy fog is pennance for the sunshine that we enjoyed yesterday. It is a heavy ground fog that coats your car with a layer of water as you cut through the dense, wet and cold mist. The trees are dripping water and the ground and lawns are thick with moisture. We had a lighter fog yesterday morning and the sun finally burned off the fog about 1:30 in the afternoon after trying for an hour and being a large, bright halo in the sky behind the fog.
This was the poker and golf weekend and I had a blast. Darla unfortunately had her plans cancelled by Joni in Marin. Darla doesn't know what's up with Joni, but is tired of worrying about it. You can't force friendship and unfortunately I don't think Joni ever got over our marriage. They had a "Lavene and Shirley" friendship where they did everything and anything together and were inseperable. Joni actually had moved to the Bay Area prior to Darla and I beginning to date. Marriage can and does change friendships. Joni is still one of Darla's best friends, but from my perspective, the reciprocal is in question.
Ah well. Poker was a success at my house. We had six players and I managed to take $58 from my friends and finance a nice dinner out with my wife on Saturday night. One of the players, Steve, is a friend of mine from the golf club and he has played in three games at my house and let me know that he's lost a sum total of $220 in those games. He has decided to host the next game on March 4th to try to change his luck. To make matters worse, he had to get up at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning to commute to a job in the Bay Area. Steve is an electrician and the jobs are often few and far between this time of year. So he got fleeced Friday night, got no sleep and had to commute two hours to work. At least he got double time for working on the weekend. I also invited Greg Meacham, who we had over on New Year's with his family. Greg lost some money, but had a great time and will be back.
Golf was a little frustrating this weekend. I showed up Saturday and was told that the tournament director had made a mistake and the tournament was set for Sunday instead of Saturday. Most of the guys got games together, but I had things that I wanted to get done at the house, so headed home. I called Darla and invited her to lunch and then stopped at the store to pick up some fertilizer for the lawn. Darla and I got a package together for Jennifer (we had some mail and she wanted some more shampoo and conditioner) and went to mail that and then stopped at a little Roseville restaurant for lunch. Darla seemed a little cranky and when I asked her about it, she said, "Well this was supposed to be my day and you were supposed to be playing golf." Oops. I didn't even stop to think about that and thought it would be fun to go to lunch. I kind of made myself scarce when I got home, basically by curling up on the couch and getting a two-hour nap in. I then went out and did some chores, working on the spa and spreading the fertilizer on the lawn. Jerry Tuel called while we were sleeping (Darla took a nap on the bed) and when Darla said that we were both napping, Jerry thought he was interrupting something and we were using code. I set him straight there.
We did have dinner with a couple of friends from the golf club and their wives on Saturday night. We ate at Brother Olivers, an old fashioned steak house in Carmichael. Gary and Greg are both wine guys and brought their own bottles of wine and we paid corkage. It was a nice evening and we are planning a trip up to Amador to do some wine tasting in the near future.
We finally got in the golf tournament on Sunday and as I said, we actually saw some sun. We have a new tournament director this year and he made quite an impression on his first away tournament. Not only did he make a mistake on the day of the tournament, but he also had us tee off from the blue tees. Our home course is 6200 yards from the blue tees. We played at Mather Golf Course and the yardage from their blue tees is 6800. They have five par fours that measure over 435 yards from the blue tees, including a 460 yard hole that runs straight uphill. A good drive in the foggy, wet conditions was about 235 yards (no roll, heavy wet air). I managed to have a great round in spite of the tough conditions and shot 41-39=80 and won my flight with a net of 68. The low round of the tournament was 74 and I was third with an 80 out of 32 players. The average score was 91 and the guys were not happy at the end of the day. I won 68 dollars and bought myself some new black Nike golf shoes, a hat and a golf glove with my winnings. It was a great weekend from stem to stern.
David's basketball team struggled without their center on Tuesday and they lost 63-54 to Natomas. We actually had a three point lead at half time, but imploded in the third quarter being outscored 14-3. They came out with a half court press, doubling the ball when it crossed half court and we had turnover after turnover. It was a brutal game to watch. We did manage to whip Del Oro on Thursday night with Ike coming back to lead the team with 18 points and 18 rebounds. David scored eight points and was a force down the stretch hitting key free throws and playing some great defense. They have a bye on Wednesday and play again on Friday night. We are in second place in the league with a 4-2 record, behind Natomas and look forward to playing them with our full complement of players at home in the next couple of weeks.
David had a scout from William and Mary college in Oregon talk to him last week at school. They'd like him to play football for them, but aren't offering a scholarship. At this point, David is concentrating on academics and is only interested in an Architectural program, which W&M doesn't offer.
Well, that is the news for this week. I hope you all stay well and live lives that are a light in God's kingdom. Do something nice for someone today, it'll throw them for a loop. Ciao.
This was the poker and golf weekend and I had a blast. Darla unfortunately had her plans cancelled by Joni in Marin. Darla doesn't know what's up with Joni, but is tired of worrying about it. You can't force friendship and unfortunately I don't think Joni ever got over our marriage. They had a "Lavene and Shirley" friendship where they did everything and anything together and were inseperable. Joni actually had moved to the Bay Area prior to Darla and I beginning to date. Marriage can and does change friendships. Joni is still one of Darla's best friends, but from my perspective, the reciprocal is in question.
Ah well. Poker was a success at my house. We had six players and I managed to take $58 from my friends and finance a nice dinner out with my wife on Saturday night. One of the players, Steve, is a friend of mine from the golf club and he has played in three games at my house and let me know that he's lost a sum total of $220 in those games. He has decided to host the next game on March 4th to try to change his luck. To make matters worse, he had to get up at 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning to commute to a job in the Bay Area. Steve is an electrician and the jobs are often few and far between this time of year. So he got fleeced Friday night, got no sleep and had to commute two hours to work. At least he got double time for working on the weekend. I also invited Greg Meacham, who we had over on New Year's with his family. Greg lost some money, but had a great time and will be back.
Golf was a little frustrating this weekend. I showed up Saturday and was told that the tournament director had made a mistake and the tournament was set for Sunday instead of Saturday. Most of the guys got games together, but I had things that I wanted to get done at the house, so headed home. I called Darla and invited her to lunch and then stopped at the store to pick up some fertilizer for the lawn. Darla and I got a package together for Jennifer (we had some mail and she wanted some more shampoo and conditioner) and went to mail that and then stopped at a little Roseville restaurant for lunch. Darla seemed a little cranky and when I asked her about it, she said, "Well this was supposed to be my day and you were supposed to be playing golf." Oops. I didn't even stop to think about that and thought it would be fun to go to lunch. I kind of made myself scarce when I got home, basically by curling up on the couch and getting a two-hour nap in. I then went out and did some chores, working on the spa and spreading the fertilizer on the lawn. Jerry Tuel called while we were sleeping (Darla took a nap on the bed) and when Darla said that we were both napping, Jerry thought he was interrupting something and we were using code. I set him straight there.
We did have dinner with a couple of friends from the golf club and their wives on Saturday night. We ate at Brother Olivers, an old fashioned steak house in Carmichael. Gary and Greg are both wine guys and brought their own bottles of wine and we paid corkage. It was a nice evening and we are planning a trip up to Amador to do some wine tasting in the near future.
We finally got in the golf tournament on Sunday and as I said, we actually saw some sun. We have a new tournament director this year and he made quite an impression on his first away tournament. Not only did he make a mistake on the day of the tournament, but he also had us tee off from the blue tees. Our home course is 6200 yards from the blue tees. We played at Mather Golf Course and the yardage from their blue tees is 6800. They have five par fours that measure over 435 yards from the blue tees, including a 460 yard hole that runs straight uphill. A good drive in the foggy, wet conditions was about 235 yards (no roll, heavy wet air). I managed to have a great round in spite of the tough conditions and shot 41-39=80 and won my flight with a net of 68. The low round of the tournament was 74 and I was third with an 80 out of 32 players. The average score was 91 and the guys were not happy at the end of the day. I won 68 dollars and bought myself some new black Nike golf shoes, a hat and a golf glove with my winnings. It was a great weekend from stem to stern.
David's basketball team struggled without their center on Tuesday and they lost 63-54 to Natomas. We actually had a three point lead at half time, but imploded in the third quarter being outscored 14-3. They came out with a half court press, doubling the ball when it crossed half court and we had turnover after turnover. It was a brutal game to watch. We did manage to whip Del Oro on Thursday night with Ike coming back to lead the team with 18 points and 18 rebounds. David scored eight points and was a force down the stretch hitting key free throws and playing some great defense. They have a bye on Wednesday and play again on Friday night. We are in second place in the league with a 4-2 record, behind Natomas and look forward to playing them with our full complement of players at home in the next couple of weeks.
David had a scout from William and Mary college in Oregon talk to him last week at school. They'd like him to play football for them, but aren't offering a scholarship. At this point, David is concentrating on academics and is only interested in an Architectural program, which W&M doesn't offer.
Well, that is the news for this week. I hope you all stay well and live lives that are a light in God's kingdom. Do something nice for someone today, it'll throw them for a loop. Ciao.
Monday, January 17, 2005
The Rains Came...and Went. MLK Day
The rains have come and gone and what once seemed like a storm of Biblical proportions now seems a faint memory. The fog has come to replace the rain and it has left the land sodden and weary. We finally got a day of sunshine yesterday and it warmed back up into the low sixties and the park across the street was ripe with families, soccer players, baseball players and kids running and yelling and being outdoors. I was able to mow the lawn, wash the car and clean up the back yard and side yard of leaves and papers and things blown about in the latest series of storms. We are supposed to have sun and fog all week.
Saturday was a bit different in that the sun never did win the battle over the fog and it was socked in all day. I finally ventured out to the golf course for the first time this year and it was a cold, wet and early experience. I had trouble finding partners to play with me and it ended up just Mel and I at 7:24 in the morning. The sun was up by the time we teed off, but you would have had trouble proving it as it was overcast with a chill and wetness to the air. We teed off on the back nine as the front was still a bit overwet from the storms. I struggled in the cold and the wet and managed just a 45 in the conditions. I was able to pull the round together on the backside and shot a 42 for 87. Mel struggled to an 89 and we sought the shelter of the indoors. I called Darla and invited her to lunch. I went home first to change out of my wet and dirty clothes and we had a nice lunch together while the boys were in Linden helping out Darla's Dad with some chores out at the farm. Darla's Dad, Earl, has graciously financed the boys' trip to Mexico this Easter by having them help him out at the farm and paying them $100 a day for their labor. He needed the help out at the farm, but more than that he knows the value of this trip to the boy's development as Christian men and citizens of this country and I applaud him for his love of the boys and his stewardship of their development. He is a wonderful role model to the boys of a Christian man in the way that he lives his life and in the way that he loves the Lord.
It is Martin Luther King, Jr Day here in the United States. The state and feds have the day off, the banks, the Post Office, but schlubs like me are at work. The roads were nearly empty this morning when I drove in at 6:30. Martin Luther King is still a vivid symbol of philisophical change and the fight for equality in the US. As was mentioned in church yesterday, King said in his famous speech, "I have a dream that one day my four children will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream." That dream has not been realized in this world and may never be, but there is a place that it is a stunning reality and that is at the foot of the cross. Jesus does not see color or circumstances, he sees character, evidenced by the way he treated the prostitute, the beggar and the criminals as he was dying on the cross. Praise God, eh?
David's basketball team is beginning to jell and Ike has started to play like he is one of the premier players in the Sacramento area. We won two league games last week and now stand at 3-1 in league and 10-7-1 overall. We are tied for first in the league and play the other team tied for first, Natomas, tomorrow night. Unfortunately, we will have to play that game without the services of Ike. Ike has had to put up with a lot of trash talk and the chant of "overated" every time he misses a shot or a dunk. It has been eating at him, but for the most part he has responded with his play on the court. Thursday night, his anger boiled over after the Woodland game. The fans had been taunting him all night, yelling some racial comments and other assorted badgering. He missed a shot late in the game and the fans went wild yelling all manner of things at him and chanting the dreaded "Overated" when he ran up and down the floor. Frankly, Ike should have let it go as he scored 28 points and had 23 rebounds, but as he walked off the floor after dunking the ball off of a perfect alley-oop from David to win the game 64-63, he ran at the group of fans and began yelling at them and cursing them. Our Principal ran on the court and pushed him back toward our bench and actually pushed him into the opposing coach, who stuck his hand in Ike's face and yelled at him to get into the locker room as fans began pouring onto the court and it was getting ugly. Ike slapped the coach's hand and told him to "get out of my face". For that, Ike earned a one game suspension, right at the wrong time. David will start the next game at Power Forward and unfortunately, Natomas features the other 6'8" center in our league and now we will feel like so many other teams do when they play us. We have no one to match up with their center. Actually, we do, but he'll be sitting on the bench in street clothes. We had one other player suspended for the game who came off the bench and began yelling at the fans in Ike's defense. He is a key reserve, but won't hurt us as much as the absence of Ike. Ike has already verbally accepted a scholarship to Wyoming and I think it hurts his decision making. If he was still trying to impress the scouts, he would have his head in the game more. Oh, well, we'll see how we do this week.
Saturday night, Darla and I had dinner with Mel and Cora at their house in Carmichael. Mel was a wine importer in Paris for several years and Cora has run a catering operation. They are tremendous hosts and always cook five course meals when we join them for dinner. Saturday's dinner was no exception as we dined on fish soup, green salad, cooked tomatoes, lamb, gorgonzola cheeses, fruit, brushetta and a dessert of hot chocolate sauce over a chocolate tort cake filled with more chocolate sauce. Darla is on Weight Watchers and has lost a great deal of weight, but used up her flex points on that dinner for the next month. We ate with Mark and Pamela from the club and some friends of Mel and Cora, Ed and Mary. It was a nice evening.
Darla and I have signed up for a Life Group at church. We will begin the study, "40 Days of Purpose" in February and have it run up to Easter. The entire church is going through the study and we will kick off the study with a presentation by Dave Dravecky, a wonderful Christian witness and a former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, who lost his left pitching arm to cancer during his prime years as a pitcher. Our Life Group will be Monday nights and is in our neighborhood. I look forward to the study as I've heard many friends talk about the conviction that they felt during the study.
I haven't heard from Jennifer in awhile. Did you get our package, Jen? She is getting ready to start a new mission on a communications building in Kuwait. I received some pictures from Jennifer and will post one on the site that I am using as my background on my computer. Can a soldier look cute? Check out the picture and you tell me.
I play in my first golf tournament of the year next Saturday and also play in my first poker game of the year the Friday night before. Boy, do I plan these things or what? Darla will be going to the Bay area to visit her friend, Joni, and it will just be poker, golf and male bonding next weekend. Pray for me. Take care. Ciao.
Saturday was a bit different in that the sun never did win the battle over the fog and it was socked in all day. I finally ventured out to the golf course for the first time this year and it was a cold, wet and early experience. I had trouble finding partners to play with me and it ended up just Mel and I at 7:24 in the morning. The sun was up by the time we teed off, but you would have had trouble proving it as it was overcast with a chill and wetness to the air. We teed off on the back nine as the front was still a bit overwet from the storms. I struggled in the cold and the wet and managed just a 45 in the conditions. I was able to pull the round together on the backside and shot a 42 for 87. Mel struggled to an 89 and we sought the shelter of the indoors. I called Darla and invited her to lunch. I went home first to change out of my wet and dirty clothes and we had a nice lunch together while the boys were in Linden helping out Darla's Dad with some chores out at the farm. Darla's Dad, Earl, has graciously financed the boys' trip to Mexico this Easter by having them help him out at the farm and paying them $100 a day for their labor. He needed the help out at the farm, but more than that he knows the value of this trip to the boy's development as Christian men and citizens of this country and I applaud him for his love of the boys and his stewardship of their development. He is a wonderful role model to the boys of a Christian man in the way that he lives his life and in the way that he loves the Lord.
It is Martin Luther King, Jr Day here in the United States. The state and feds have the day off, the banks, the Post Office, but schlubs like me are at work. The roads were nearly empty this morning when I drove in at 6:30. Martin Luther King is still a vivid symbol of philisophical change and the fight for equality in the US. As was mentioned in church yesterday, King said in his famous speech, "I have a dream that one day my four children will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream." That dream has not been realized in this world and may never be, but there is a place that it is a stunning reality and that is at the foot of the cross. Jesus does not see color or circumstances, he sees character, evidenced by the way he treated the prostitute, the beggar and the criminals as he was dying on the cross. Praise God, eh?
David's basketball team is beginning to jell and Ike has started to play like he is one of the premier players in the Sacramento area. We won two league games last week and now stand at 3-1 in league and 10-7-1 overall. We are tied for first in the league and play the other team tied for first, Natomas, tomorrow night. Unfortunately, we will have to play that game without the services of Ike. Ike has had to put up with a lot of trash talk and the chant of "overated" every time he misses a shot or a dunk. It has been eating at him, but for the most part he has responded with his play on the court. Thursday night, his anger boiled over after the Woodland game. The fans had been taunting him all night, yelling some racial comments and other assorted badgering. He missed a shot late in the game and the fans went wild yelling all manner of things at him and chanting the dreaded "Overated" when he ran up and down the floor. Frankly, Ike should have let it go as he scored 28 points and had 23 rebounds, but as he walked off the floor after dunking the ball off of a perfect alley-oop from David to win the game 64-63, he ran at the group of fans and began yelling at them and cursing them. Our Principal ran on the court and pushed him back toward our bench and actually pushed him into the opposing coach, who stuck his hand in Ike's face and yelled at him to get into the locker room as fans began pouring onto the court and it was getting ugly. Ike slapped the coach's hand and told him to "get out of my face". For that, Ike earned a one game suspension, right at the wrong time. David will start the next game at Power Forward and unfortunately, Natomas features the other 6'8" center in our league and now we will feel like so many other teams do when they play us. We have no one to match up with their center. Actually, we do, but he'll be sitting on the bench in street clothes. We had one other player suspended for the game who came off the bench and began yelling at the fans in Ike's defense. He is a key reserve, but won't hurt us as much as the absence of Ike. Ike has already verbally accepted a scholarship to Wyoming and I think it hurts his decision making. If he was still trying to impress the scouts, he would have his head in the game more. Oh, well, we'll see how we do this week.
Saturday night, Darla and I had dinner with Mel and Cora at their house in Carmichael. Mel was a wine importer in Paris for several years and Cora has run a catering operation. They are tremendous hosts and always cook five course meals when we join them for dinner. Saturday's dinner was no exception as we dined on fish soup, green salad, cooked tomatoes, lamb, gorgonzola cheeses, fruit, brushetta and a dessert of hot chocolate sauce over a chocolate tort cake filled with more chocolate sauce. Darla is on Weight Watchers and has lost a great deal of weight, but used up her flex points on that dinner for the next month. We ate with Mark and Pamela from the club and some friends of Mel and Cora, Ed and Mary. It was a nice evening.
Darla and I have signed up for a Life Group at church. We will begin the study, "40 Days of Purpose" in February and have it run up to Easter. The entire church is going through the study and we will kick off the study with a presentation by Dave Dravecky, a wonderful Christian witness and a former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, who lost his left pitching arm to cancer during his prime years as a pitcher. Our Life Group will be Monday nights and is in our neighborhood. I look forward to the study as I've heard many friends talk about the conviction that they felt during the study.
I haven't heard from Jennifer in awhile. Did you get our package, Jen? She is getting ready to start a new mission on a communications building in Kuwait. I received some pictures from Jennifer and will post one on the site that I am using as my background on my computer. Can a soldier look cute? Check out the picture and you tell me.
I play in my first golf tournament of the year next Saturday and also play in my first poker game of the year the Friday night before. Boy, do I plan these things or what? Darla will be going to the Bay area to visit her friend, Joni, and it will just be poker, golf and male bonding next weekend. Pray for me. Take care. Ciao.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Rain Rain Go Away
After 11 straight days of rain, I am pretending that the rain is going away. We are between rainstorms now and I washed my car yesterday. I was so tired of my rain spotted, dirty and downtrodden looking Mustang that I got out a bucket and some car wash and scrubbed the car clean yesterday. I detailed the wheels and dressed the tires. Darla and I went to the movie (Meet the Fockers) yesterday afternoon and the car shined. It was nice and, in fact, it hasn't raned since, but the clouds outside are slate gray and building and it is just a matter of time before the skies open up and the rains come to depress me and all of those around me once again. BTW, Meet the Fockers is a tour de force for both Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman. Funny stuff. Darla thought some of the gags were a bit over the top, but I laughed my way through that movie and it was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
We were able to officially pack away Christmas for another year this weekend. I snuck out Saturday morning and took down the Christmas lights from the house and then helped Darla on Sunday dismantle the Christmas tree and assorted ornaments and other Christmas decorations and pack them in boxes and settle them back up in the attic to await another season this year. We once again have some room to stretch in our family room and things don't seem as cramped nor as festive as they did when the fibre optic angel waggled her wings at us or the golfing Santa waved his driver at us. The boys return from a week at their Dad's tonight and adding two teenagers over six foot to the mix will help fill that void.
David is well into his last season of Varsity basketball at Woodcreek. They have a good team this year led by their All League 6'8" center, Ike. David is close to 6'4" and they have three players all at or closer to David's height. The problem seems to be the lack of plays. We have a new coach and he doesn't draw up plays. He wants the boys to move and send the ball around the perimeter and look for open shots. Often, two players are running in the same area and trip over each other. When it works, it is a thing of beauty, but when it doesn't it is ugly. The team is 8-8 overall and 1-1 in league play. I don't see them improving over a 50% team unless they get more disciplined on offense. In their last game, they had a five point lead with 90 seconds left in the game and promptly turned the ball over on offense in their next six possessions and lost the game by a point, wasting a 27 point effort by Ike. The coach told the guys they were playing not to lose rather than to win, but the coach needs to find a mirror if he wants to see the problem. Hopefully they learn from that experience and improve. We should be 2-0 in league and you can't afford lapses like that if you want to win in their league. Three of the teams in their league are all ranked in the top 15 schools in Sacramento. Shades of the football season. It is Deja Vu all over again.
David has played particularly well coming off the bench. He should be a starter, but again, David's team attitude has hurt him. When he asked the coach why he wasn't starting, he was told that a couple of the guys don't have the "personality" to be reserves, that they need to start because of their egos. Gee, coach, good reason to start a kid. You know life will beat down that ego eventually, why not give them that life lesson in high school? David is averaging about 18 minutes and six points. He plays tenacious defense and forces a few turnovers each game. He has one dunk to his credit this year, although in the last game he had a steal and a breakaway and had planned on dunking, but got too far under the basket and had to lay it up instead.
Daniel is taking a break from basketball and is instead playing on Darla's volleyball team on Tuesday nights. Daniel is the serving whiz and helped them shut out their last opponent three games to nil.
Darryl called me this weekend to report that he shot an 80 on his home course this weekend. I was happy for him, but would love to have some of his 70 degree weather here. We can play golf year round in Sacramento, but it is quite cold this time of year. I have a tournament on January 22nd at Mather Golf Course and hope that this storm rains itself out by then. I bought a new hybrid "rescue" style club to take the place of my three iron. When I ordered my Wilson "Deep Red" irons, I ordered them with a 4 thru 9 iron and did not order the 3 iron with the intent of getting a hybrid. I bought a Cobra hybrid that matches my 440 driver and look forward to getting back on the course. I haven't had a chance to get out and play yet this year, but did play on December 31st. At least when I do play, it is winter rules and I can bump the ball. Also, all of the other guys in the club are in the same boat in terms of not playing through the rain.
I talked to Dad and Shirley on Saturday night and they are preparing to leave Wednesday for a three week vacation in Hawaii. They are staying on Oahu for the entire trip and will get to relax and enjoy the 80 degree weather and recharge their batteries. Shirley is trying to talk Dad in to bringing the golf clubs and playing. One of the resorts that they are staying at has a golf course and they might play nine holes in the late afternoons a couple of times. I envy them this trip, although they are leaving snow on the ground and temperatures in the thirties. At least here, we still get into the fifties and sixties during the day.
I also talked to Randy this weekend and he's been enjoying having Jenny home for the Christmas break from school. She just got back from Idaho where she spent the better part of a week skiing and enjoying her vacation. Randy continues to criss cross the country in pursuit of his job and will be in Los Angeles later this week after visiting Wisconsin and Georgia last week.
Finally, I had a nice visit with Jennifer last week. She called and just wanted to talk, which was nice. She misses home and doesn't realy have any close friends in Kuwait. She is forcing herself to get out more and spend time with people as well as getting in to running and exercising more. Jennifer aced the Physical Training test and no longer has to get up with her unit to do PT at 5:00 am. She sleeps in until 7:00 am and then gets breakfast at the mess hall before starting work. Perhaps, that alienates her from her unit, but as Jenn says, they just need to ace their tests as well. The unit will start a new mission in the next week where they will be putting in some new communications infrastructure at the base in Kuwait. The mission is expected to last three months and Jennifer is looking forward to getting busy with putting her training to work again. Check out her blog at the link at the bottom of this page.
Well, that is all the news that is fit to disseminate for now. Take care of each other and God Bless the US of A. Ciao.
We were able to officially pack away Christmas for another year this weekend. I snuck out Saturday morning and took down the Christmas lights from the house and then helped Darla on Sunday dismantle the Christmas tree and assorted ornaments and other Christmas decorations and pack them in boxes and settle them back up in the attic to await another season this year. We once again have some room to stretch in our family room and things don't seem as cramped nor as festive as they did when the fibre optic angel waggled her wings at us or the golfing Santa waved his driver at us. The boys return from a week at their Dad's tonight and adding two teenagers over six foot to the mix will help fill that void.
David is well into his last season of Varsity basketball at Woodcreek. They have a good team this year led by their All League 6'8" center, Ike. David is close to 6'4" and they have three players all at or closer to David's height. The problem seems to be the lack of plays. We have a new coach and he doesn't draw up plays. He wants the boys to move and send the ball around the perimeter and look for open shots. Often, two players are running in the same area and trip over each other. When it works, it is a thing of beauty, but when it doesn't it is ugly. The team is 8-8 overall and 1-1 in league play. I don't see them improving over a 50% team unless they get more disciplined on offense. In their last game, they had a five point lead with 90 seconds left in the game and promptly turned the ball over on offense in their next six possessions and lost the game by a point, wasting a 27 point effort by Ike. The coach told the guys they were playing not to lose rather than to win, but the coach needs to find a mirror if he wants to see the problem. Hopefully they learn from that experience and improve. We should be 2-0 in league and you can't afford lapses like that if you want to win in their league. Three of the teams in their league are all ranked in the top 15 schools in Sacramento. Shades of the football season. It is Deja Vu all over again.
David has played particularly well coming off the bench. He should be a starter, but again, David's team attitude has hurt him. When he asked the coach why he wasn't starting, he was told that a couple of the guys don't have the "personality" to be reserves, that they need to start because of their egos. Gee, coach, good reason to start a kid. You know life will beat down that ego eventually, why not give them that life lesson in high school? David is averaging about 18 minutes and six points. He plays tenacious defense and forces a few turnovers each game. He has one dunk to his credit this year, although in the last game he had a steal and a breakaway and had planned on dunking, but got too far under the basket and had to lay it up instead.
Daniel is taking a break from basketball and is instead playing on Darla's volleyball team on Tuesday nights. Daniel is the serving whiz and helped them shut out their last opponent three games to nil.
Darryl called me this weekend to report that he shot an 80 on his home course this weekend. I was happy for him, but would love to have some of his 70 degree weather here. We can play golf year round in Sacramento, but it is quite cold this time of year. I have a tournament on January 22nd at Mather Golf Course and hope that this storm rains itself out by then. I bought a new hybrid "rescue" style club to take the place of my three iron. When I ordered my Wilson "Deep Red" irons, I ordered them with a 4 thru 9 iron and did not order the 3 iron with the intent of getting a hybrid. I bought a Cobra hybrid that matches my 440 driver and look forward to getting back on the course. I haven't had a chance to get out and play yet this year, but did play on December 31st. At least when I do play, it is winter rules and I can bump the ball. Also, all of the other guys in the club are in the same boat in terms of not playing through the rain.
I talked to Dad and Shirley on Saturday night and they are preparing to leave Wednesday for a three week vacation in Hawaii. They are staying on Oahu for the entire trip and will get to relax and enjoy the 80 degree weather and recharge their batteries. Shirley is trying to talk Dad in to bringing the golf clubs and playing. One of the resorts that they are staying at has a golf course and they might play nine holes in the late afternoons a couple of times. I envy them this trip, although they are leaving snow on the ground and temperatures in the thirties. At least here, we still get into the fifties and sixties during the day.
I also talked to Randy this weekend and he's been enjoying having Jenny home for the Christmas break from school. She just got back from Idaho where she spent the better part of a week skiing and enjoying her vacation. Randy continues to criss cross the country in pursuit of his job and will be in Los Angeles later this week after visiting Wisconsin and Georgia last week.
Finally, I had a nice visit with Jennifer last week. She called and just wanted to talk, which was nice. She misses home and doesn't realy have any close friends in Kuwait. She is forcing herself to get out more and spend time with people as well as getting in to running and exercising more. Jennifer aced the Physical Training test and no longer has to get up with her unit to do PT at 5:00 am. She sleeps in until 7:00 am and then gets breakfast at the mess hall before starting work. Perhaps, that alienates her from her unit, but as Jenn says, they just need to ace their tests as well. The unit will start a new mission in the next week where they will be putting in some new communications infrastructure at the base in Kuwait. The mission is expected to last three months and Jennifer is looking forward to getting busy with putting her training to work again. Check out her blog at the link at the bottom of this page.
Well, that is all the news that is fit to disseminate for now. Take care of each other and God Bless the US of A. Ciao.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Monday, January 03, 2005
Happy New Year 2005
2005. The rains have come to the valley and we can't seem to get a break. It has been raining off and on now for almost nine straight days and we are beginning to wonder if we fell asleep and woke up in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is an incessant rain that has waterlogged the land and is causing runoff into local streams and canals and is beginning to cause some localized flooding. The boys were off school last week and Daniel had to haul out the ladder and unclog one of the downspouts on our guttering system on the house. I installed drain covers several years ago, but the fine debris that rains down from our white birch trees in the backyard finds its way through the slats covering the gutters and will dam up the downspout. The rest of the house seems fine, but the back yard was a problem. I don't know what got into him to have him fix it, but it's a good thing. Normally, he would internalize the information on the problem and tell me as soon as I walked into the house after a ten-hour workday. Perhaps the boys are growing up.
Our New Year celebration was quiet and very relaxing. In fact, I was in bed by 11 PM on New year's Eve. I didn't hit the spa before bed due to the rain, but I was tired and needed to get some rest. Darla stayed up with the boys and watched one of the television stations and rang in the New Year. It was pouring rain and there was a large crowd in Old Sacramento that stood wet and forlorn and watched fireworks lit in the wet and stormy sky. I guess they got a real downpour right before midnight, but the fireworks are lit by electricity and the show went on in spite of the rain and mire.
We had friends over on New Years and we played pool, Scrabble, cards and talked the day away. We had the football games on in the background, but it was simply white noise as we stayed busy with billiards and then poker in the late afternoon and into the evening. The couple we had over have boys that are in the 10th and 12th grades, the same age as David and Daniel, so it was a nice day for the group.
The article on my stock pick came out yesterday. I'm including a link at the end of this paragraph. I was at the photo studio for about 45 minutes and the photographer took at least 60-70 shots. The editors chose a shot of my head that is such an extreme closeup that it is almost a joke. Darla was a bit surprised when I showed her the shot, she kept saying, "Oh my God" over and over. Now, she just laughs every time she looks at it. Leave it to Daniel to sum it up when he said, "You look like a fat guy who picked Krispy Kreme just to get some free donuts." Nice. I had several friends call yesterday as the article was on the front page of the business section and included the color picture that you see. Here's the link: http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/11917384p-12804278c.html#more_images
I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I do have goals for the year. One is to trust God more and to put him in charge of my finances. Another is to lose a few pounds and to control my nightime snacking. Darla and I are big on a scoop of ice cream in the evening and that needs to stop. Finally, I always have golf goals and they are as follows: 1. To win my flight in the club championship. 2. To reduce my handicap to single digits. 3. To qualify for the Spyglass tournament in Carmel. and 4. To qualify for a spot on the Rose Cup team in 2005.
Jerry Tuel called me last week and then again last night. Tami, his wife, gifted him with tickets to the AT&T Pebble Beach golf classic in February. Jerry promised his brother that he could go with him, but he is a prison guard and has to work on Sunday, February 13th. Jerry said that I could go to the practice rounds Monday-Wednesday or watch the final on Sunday. Well, I'm a golfer. I don't care about the celebrities and only want to see the pros play, and what an opportunity to see the final round of the tournament. I'm in for the Sunday round and really look forward to it. It will be fun to hang out with Jerry Saturday night as well. It looks like the wives will be home and the Tomcats will be on the prowl. Of course, excitement for Jerry and I is a glass of beer and a dart board, but then we are both Christian men who love our wives.
Jennifer has added to her blog a few times recently and a link to her blog is found at the bottom of this page. She is suffering a bit right now with news that her best friend, Jason Ramos's twin brother committed suicide back in November. I had just met him on Jen's last visit home. Unfortunately, he had a very contentious relationship with his girlfriend and the mother of his child. They were having problems and he was overwhelmed. Jason was very tight with his brother. When Jen and Jason were dating, he kept an out of date cell phone for the single reason that his brother had bought it for him. Jason was heart broken over the loss of his brother and he kept it from Jen for almost a month figuring that she had enough on her plate in Kuwait. It is hard to understand, but it underscores that if you put your happiness in things of this world instead of in the Lord, you will never find true happiness and contentment. Please pray for Jason as he struggles with his brother's choice. They were both coaches for their high school wrestling team and Jason has a huge hole in his heart now.
On a happier note, it is 2005 and Jennifer will be home and out of the Army this year. As much as I have supported our decisions in going to war in Iraq, it is time to turn the country over to local control and to begin our planned exodus from that country. The elections need to go forward and the insurgents caught or killed. We need to turn our attention to Al Queda and Bin Laden and nuetralize that threat. In spite of the clear majority that President Bush carried in the election in this country, the war has caused a polarization of citizens in this country and we need to bridge the gap somehow. I'll be thrilled to see Jennifer bid adieu to the Army and begin her life back home as a civilian.
That is all the news that's fit to print. Be well, be healthy, enjoy your families and put your hope in the Lord, who sustains all of us. Ciao.
Our New Year celebration was quiet and very relaxing. In fact, I was in bed by 11 PM on New year's Eve. I didn't hit the spa before bed due to the rain, but I was tired and needed to get some rest. Darla stayed up with the boys and watched one of the television stations and rang in the New Year. It was pouring rain and there was a large crowd in Old Sacramento that stood wet and forlorn and watched fireworks lit in the wet and stormy sky. I guess they got a real downpour right before midnight, but the fireworks are lit by electricity and the show went on in spite of the rain and mire.
We had friends over on New Years and we played pool, Scrabble, cards and talked the day away. We had the football games on in the background, but it was simply white noise as we stayed busy with billiards and then poker in the late afternoon and into the evening. The couple we had over have boys that are in the 10th and 12th grades, the same age as David and Daniel, so it was a nice day for the group.
The article on my stock pick came out yesterday. I'm including a link at the end of this paragraph. I was at the photo studio for about 45 minutes and the photographer took at least 60-70 shots. The editors chose a shot of my head that is such an extreme closeup that it is almost a joke. Darla was a bit surprised when I showed her the shot, she kept saying, "Oh my God" over and over. Now, she just laughs every time she looks at it. Leave it to Daniel to sum it up when he said, "You look like a fat guy who picked Krispy Kreme just to get some free donuts." Nice. I had several friends call yesterday as the article was on the front page of the business section and included the color picture that you see. Here's the link: http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/11917384p-12804278c.html#more_images
I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I do have goals for the year. One is to trust God more and to put him in charge of my finances. Another is to lose a few pounds and to control my nightime snacking. Darla and I are big on a scoop of ice cream in the evening and that needs to stop. Finally, I always have golf goals and they are as follows: 1. To win my flight in the club championship. 2. To reduce my handicap to single digits. 3. To qualify for the Spyglass tournament in Carmel. and 4. To qualify for a spot on the Rose Cup team in 2005.
Jerry Tuel called me last week and then again last night. Tami, his wife, gifted him with tickets to the AT&T Pebble Beach golf classic in February. Jerry promised his brother that he could go with him, but he is a prison guard and has to work on Sunday, February 13th. Jerry said that I could go to the practice rounds Monday-Wednesday or watch the final on Sunday. Well, I'm a golfer. I don't care about the celebrities and only want to see the pros play, and what an opportunity to see the final round of the tournament. I'm in for the Sunday round and really look forward to it. It will be fun to hang out with Jerry Saturday night as well. It looks like the wives will be home and the Tomcats will be on the prowl. Of course, excitement for Jerry and I is a glass of beer and a dart board, but then we are both Christian men who love our wives.
Jennifer has added to her blog a few times recently and a link to her blog is found at the bottom of this page. She is suffering a bit right now with news that her best friend, Jason Ramos's twin brother committed suicide back in November. I had just met him on Jen's last visit home. Unfortunately, he had a very contentious relationship with his girlfriend and the mother of his child. They were having problems and he was overwhelmed. Jason was very tight with his brother. When Jen and Jason were dating, he kept an out of date cell phone for the single reason that his brother had bought it for him. Jason was heart broken over the loss of his brother and he kept it from Jen for almost a month figuring that she had enough on her plate in Kuwait. It is hard to understand, but it underscores that if you put your happiness in things of this world instead of in the Lord, you will never find true happiness and contentment. Please pray for Jason as he struggles with his brother's choice. They were both coaches for their high school wrestling team and Jason has a huge hole in his heart now.
On a happier note, it is 2005 and Jennifer will be home and out of the Army this year. As much as I have supported our decisions in going to war in Iraq, it is time to turn the country over to local control and to begin our planned exodus from that country. The elections need to go forward and the insurgents caught or killed. We need to turn our attention to Al Queda and Bin Laden and nuetralize that threat. In spite of the clear majority that President Bush carried in the election in this country, the war has caused a polarization of citizens in this country and we need to bridge the gap somehow. I'll be thrilled to see Jennifer bid adieu to the Army and begin her life back home as a civilian.
That is all the news that's fit to print. Be well, be healthy, enjoy your families and put your hope in the Lord, who sustains all of us. Ciao.
