Spring has finally Sprung

Thank God. Spring has finally arrived in a rush of foliage and flowers and, even better, temperatures in the upper seventies and low eighties. I played two days of golf this weekend and I'm sporting a nice farmer's tan with a golfer's twist to the tan..shorts and ankle socks. I actually have a slight burn on my neck and I'm wearing some Aloe Vera lotion on my neck and arms. It feels really good.

Darla was up in Lake Tahoe this weekend with the women's retreat at church. She left Friday afternoon and returned home yesterday about 1:00 PM. They had a good time and even took a cruise on Lake Tahoe as part of the package. I took full advantage of her schedule with the first two days of a three day golf tournament.

As of Wednesday, I was fully prepared to cancel my golf game and spend the weekend curled up in a ball nursing a sore back. Harry was able to get me in to the Bowen clinic on Tuesday. I walked in hunched over and listing to the left and an hour later left feeling much better, walking straight, but with an ache in my back that wouldn't be ignored. Harry told me to get up and walk around about every half hour and not to sit or lie down for extended periods until I went to bed. I got home and promptly fell asleep on the couch after dinner (a hangover from the weekend in Vegas). I got back up about ten o'clock and could barely move. Wednesday morning I was no better and when I got stuck against the car and the wall trying to get into my car at six thirty, I decided to stay home. I had a back spasm and fell onto my knees between the wall and the car and it took me five minutes to get back up and out of the garage and I was covered in sweat when I finally did make it out of there. I crawled (literally) back into bed and called Harry to see if I could get back in. Harry got my message and decided to wait until Thursday to call me back as he knew there was nothing he could do for me. Thursday I felt much better, but still had some recurring back pain. Harry told me to meet him at the course and he'd give me a quick treatment there. I showed up with no intention of playing in my Thursday twilight league, but Harry told me that I needed to heat up my back to get his treatment to work, so I played. Naturally, I shot a 39 and played great. My back loosened up and I've been fine since. I see Harry today at 4:00 PM for a tuneup.

Golf was great this weekend and I continued my mastery of the number 84 with a 41+43=84 on Saturday. My tournament handicap is 11, so I shot a net 73. The leader in my flight shot a 75 as an 11 handicap for a net 64. I was nine shots down with one round in on a three day tournament. Yesterday, I shot 40+42=82, for a net 71 and a two-day net total of 144. The leader is at 133 with second at 136. I sit in a tie for fifth place with one day to go. It was nice to shoot other than an 84 and actually have it be lower. The weather was ideal and the course is in great shape. They are out aerating the greens as I write this, so the conditions will be considerably different next weekend. The greens were really hard and not holding. If you hit even a high shot into the middle of the green, the ball would roll off the back of the green. Next week should be fun and I'm in the mix with a tie for 5th in a field of 16 golfers in my flight.

The boys stayed with me this weekend even though their Mom was in Tahoe. They feel very controlled over at their Dad's and wanted to be able to go out and see their friends on Saturday night. Daniel actually spent the night at one of his Christian friend's houses and David went over to a backyard party at one of his friend's. Steve needs to figure out to give the boys some leeway to make their own decisions and stop smothering them. What he really needs is a girlfriend.

I talked to Jennifer on Saturday night. It was Sunday morning in Korea and she and John were going over to the golf course at the Air Base to hit golf balls. She is really enjoying her relationship with John and has warned her Mom and I that this might be THE guy for her. According to her, "He is the nicest, sweetest, kindest, most hard working man I have ever met. And he can put up with me, that's a huge plus." Jennifer is expecting to be in Korea for another couple of months. Her Mom gets remarried in September and she will be home for the wedding. We had a nice long talk and it was great to hear how well she is doing. Apparently, she and John are the two top techs on site for Das Net and they get alot of recognition for the hard work that they do.

Things are really hopping here at work. I have three positions open that I'm interviewing for and one position that I have an offer pending for. Home office still has to tweak the offer, so I'm hoping it goes out today. We are doing well, yet I still see no sign that the company is recognizing the hard work that I've put in to build a solid team here in Sacramento. This will all come to ahead soon and I'll be in Bellevue, Washington this week to help in that process. My new broker is just back from a trip to Home Office and I hope to get her oriented toward writing some business this week.

Well, work awaits like a dog waiting for a treat and I have to accomodate that wish. I'll write more next week. I hope you are all well and living "La Vida En Cristo". Ciao.