Blue Skies...smiling at me

Good morning, Vietnam. It is another tremendous Northern California morning with a high blue sky and shadows that give evidence of the light breeze that is blowing as the trees sway and shake in the early morning air. The day invites me outside to play golf. Alas, work awaits me and the siren song of paychecks and responsibility trumps the call of nature. I seem to be in a somewhat whimsical mood this morning.

It was a great weekend filled with golf, yardwork, dinner out with my bride and a visit yesterday to the town of Auburn, where Darla and I wasted away a few hours while three bug bombs were busy wasting some moths in our house that have proven to be quite a project to rid ourselves of.

I played golf with my assistant (soon to be former assistant), Anthony, Anthony's brother and Mel at our course in Roseville. The city had just aerated the greens on Monday and they are still recovering. We struggled around the course, hoping to get a good bounce out of the sand filled holes on the green as we bumped our putts along toward the hole. Anthony doesn't play much golf and asked that we play the white tees rather than the blue and I managed a 41+42=83 on the day in spite of the bumpy greens. Anthony shot 47 on the front, but came on fire on the back side and shot 43 which is a great round for someone who doesn't play much. He even trundled in a putt from about 40 feet on a par three for a birdie. He was pretty thrilled. His brother shot 86 and Mel shot 87, recovering from a tough 47 on the front side with a 40 on the back. I've decided to sign up for the Roseville City Amateur which will be held April 30 and May 1st. I figure that I play so much golf, I might as well give the City Championship a try. I'll play in the handicap division and give it my best. It should be fun.

Jennifer called on Saturday while I was on the course and talked to Darla for about a half hour. It was two in the morning in Kuwait and Jenn was up and felt like checking in on the home front. Jenn, if you want to call me, do it M-F at night and call me at the office. Of course, I'll be out Wednesday afternoon this week getting a crown on one of my molars and out Thursday afternoon marketing... on the golf course. Jennifer is doing great. She can't wait to come home in July and is anxious to hang up her combat boots and join us here in the civilian world. Darla and I are taking Jenn to Puerto Vallarta in 2006 and I'm inviting Dad and Shirley to join us. We will likely go in March of 2006 and we will stay at the Sheraton Buganvillas resort. You can either trade your time share for rooms there or the resort will put you up in the hotel side of the resort at $59 a night as guest of a condo owner. Put it on your radar. Anyone else that wants to join us, let me know as we can get you the $59 rate as well. The resort is on the beach, has two pools, five restaurants and two night clubs. Nice. I'll give you the exact dates as the time draws a little closer.

Darla and I went out to Bella Italia on Friday night. Bella is slowly becoming one of our favorite restaurants, although it is a restaurant located in a storefront close to our health club. The ambience actually isn't bad, but it is a little tight in the restaurant. The food more than makes up for the inconvenience. I had a lasagna and Darla had their award winning gnocchi. We then went over and worked out on a full stomach, which I don't recommend.

I played golf on Saturday afternoon in the sun and was exhausted after the round. Darla, however, was antsy waiting for me at home and had set up a reservation for a racquetball court and I limped over to the health club and played three games with Darla. I just about fell asleep in the shower after that. We watched movies that night and it was nice to relax at home. We saw Hotel Rwanda with Don Cheadle which is a pretty intense film.

Sunday we ventured to church and heard that the special collection for the orphans in Uganda had exceeded $200,000. The power of our large congregation is mind numbing. We have it so good in the US and stories like the one that Jackson Sonyonga told and the movie Hotel Rwanda showed makes us realize just how great it is here in the Western world.

We studied the 1st chapter of the book of Ruth on Sunday and the story of Naomi is so close to that of my Dad, it is strange. Naomi lost her husband and then her two sons and began to question God. Not that I know Dad questioned God, but I can imagine when he lost his wife and parents all in the course of a year. The love that Ruth showed to Naomi was her saving grace. When we are hurting God will put special people in our lives to help us through. Shirley is Dad's Ruth.

Darla and I did set off three bug bombs in the house after church and we had to skeedaddle for four hours. We had breakfast in Auburn and then strolled the shops in the old town of Auburn. We bought six books at a small book store and I bought a new wallet, which was 50% off. Darla said my wallet was a joke and she wasn't convinced that the new wallet was the answer. It is soft leather and very nice, but is a Jack Daniels brand wallet and she wasn't sure that sent the right message. For me, I just need something to hold my license and my credit cards and a picture of my wife. Darla tried on some wild clothes, which I convinced her not to buy. She then bought some supplies at the bead store and we headed back to the park across the street from our house for some reading and a bit of sleep.

Work awaits. I have four people out this week, two attending a training class and two in home office at a personal lines seminar. I've already had two others call in and tell me they are not feeling well. Both plan to be in later this morning, but it is obviously a Monday morning. Take care. Look around you for your Ruth. She is there, you just have to look. Ciao.