Back to the Grind..Oy Vey!

There is no getting around it. Vacation is over and the reality of bills and college and responsibility trump the sweet memories of ukeleles, mango fruit juice and the sound of pounding surf.

Some random thoughts regarding our vacation. Darla forgot to renew her license in the days leading up to David's graduation and our vacation and was pulled out of line at the security checkpoint in SF and subjected to intense screening by the TSA. Her carryons were hand searched and she was frisked before being allowed to move to our gate. The line in San Francisco was long and she actually moved through screening faster than we did. The odd thing is, she somehow had a pocket knife in one of the zippered compartments of her purse that was missed in the intense screening. Makes you feel really safe on domestic flights in the US, eh? We attended a small church in Hanalei last Sunday. The church is pastored by a former bad boy who turned his life over to Christ. He's a bit of a beach bum with longer hair, but a true perspective on the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ. The church had about 13 attenders and we brought the total up to 17 on Father's Day. They even gifted me with a bag of Reeses peanut butter cups when we left. It was good music and a real laid back, beach feeling which added to our vacation and was a blessing to us. I had to drive everywhere on the island as I wasn't about to pay the surcharge for an 18 year old driver and Darla was sans a valid driver's license. Darla did not face the added security on the flight out of Lihue in Kauai as they simply looked at her expired license and waived her through. Things are certainly more laid back on the islands. I'll put the Hawaii trip away in my box of memories. I will add a few pictures to the blog when I finally get around to it.

I am going into some serious withdrawal pangs from golf. I haven't played since June 11th and will finally tee it up again on Saturday in our Firecracker tournament prior to the 4th of July. We had to go to Sonora on Saturday to wish Darla's sister-in-law, Kristin, and her niece, Shae, a fond farewell as they are moving to the big island of Hawaii in Hilo to look for work. Darla's brother, Steve, will retire from his bread job in September and join his family in Hawaii. Why? Who knows, a middle age crisis or a true calling to live in Hawaii. I don't know. We will be able to visit them on our next trip to Hawaii, when we can take a week in our condo and then a week at their place on the big island. Kristin just graduated from college and will look for work in the social services field in Hawaii. I was invited to play golf by Mark Konrad on Saturday, but his tee time was 9 am and I had to leave about 1:30 for Sonora. I grudgingly passed on the opportunity.

Darla's parents, Earl and Frances, have sold the family farm in Linden and will move to a new home on one acre in Paradise, California (outside Chico) in August. They take possesion of the new home this coming weekend and will be up painting the house. We are excited for them as this will force Earl to finally retire. He retired from his construction job a few years ago, but the orchard continued to demand alot of his time and energy. This is a huge step in his life and Earl is going kicking and screaming. I think he knows in his heart that this is the right move, but a farmer is a farmer and most never really retire. The land is in their blood and it's one reason that they bought a home with some acreage. I can't see Earl happy in the middle of suburbia. Currently, his closest neighbor is about 5 acres away from his home and he likes it that way. Darla and I may venture up to the new homestead this weekend as they will be working on the home. We'll pack up some grilling meat of some kind on July 4th and head up to see them. Their new home is close to Lake Oroville and on the way up to Lake Almanor. Earl and Frances had thought about buying a home in Almanor, but when they realized that the region gets some serious snowfall in the winter decided to take a second look and settled on Paradise. The town has a reputation as a retirement area. I do have an agent in the area and will stop in and see them once they are moved in.

Both Darla and the boys have had a hard time with the move and will miss the farm. The boys have spent a great deal of time there the past year helping Earl with some construction and on the farm itself. Darla lived there during her high school years and Daniel lived there when he came home from the hospital as Darla and her ex were separated at the time. We hope to make it up to the farm for a barbecue and swim party before they move.

Work was actually pretty well handled between Anthony on the new business side and Connie on the renewals and endorsements. I have about 28 applications on my desk, which really isn't bad. The problem is that I have some reports to do from a management perspective which interrupts my ability to handle the load. Both Pete and Audra have started with us (our new underwriter and AR person). I will take Audra to lunch today to welcome her. She handles my set-ups of new business and I have to spend a little time getting her on the same page as me. Dinda taught her how to handle the desk and made my set ups a secondary priority. I have to impress upon her that income pays her salary and anything we can do to streamline the revenue flow, the better it is for her.

Gail will be taking off most of July between vacation and some elective surgery. I need to get Peter up to speed, but also need to get him into a licensing class and off to Scottsdale to meet our number one company and the underwriters there. Emery Jensen was our boss at Republic Western and runs the Western region for Scottsdale, so will take good care of Pete.

I haven't heard from Jennifer in awhile. She called to wish me a Happy Father's Day, but her message got cut off. "Jenn, call your Dad!" I want to talk to you about your trip home and just get caught up on what's going on in your life.

The boys are off to Philadelphia, Washington and New York. David called last night and said he was just finishing a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. His luggage didn't make it on the plane and they were still waiting for that to show up. It sounds like they are having a good time with their Dad, which is good.

It was great to be back in church yesterday. The new executive pastor gave the message and he talked about Fear being the "darkroom where negatives are developed". I liked that and found it so appropriate to life in general. I hope that you are all well and looking to the light of the Lord, who casts out the darkness and the darkrooms in each of our lives. Be well. Ciao.