One wet and windy weekend in the books

Yep, the pool is slowly filling with water. Unfortunately, the plaster has not yet been done. We received about an inch and a half of rain from this storm, the first real rainfall of the season. The rain came in on Friday afternoon and evening and we had a real gully washer by about 10 PM on Friday. I awoke Saturday morning to a fence that was leaning precariously into my yard at the spot where the demolition crews knocked out one of the fence posts and significantly loosened two others. I made a run to Home Depot where I bought two eight foot 2x4's and three t-bar posts. I nailed one of the eight foot studs to the fence and then used two of the T bars to wedge the section of fencing back up. I used the other T Bar to strengthen the weakest of the two fence posts and the fence is back up and holding. The fence contractor will not be able to get out here until January so it will need to hold until then.

Our backyard is a muddy mess with all of the dirt from the trenches now piles of mud and water. Buddy can no longer use the backyard for his business as he has far too much fun slogging about in the mud. His paws dig in about six inches and he tracks the mud back into the house. Darla had an open house on Saturday and let Buddy out back to do his thing and then let him back in without checking his feet and he tracked mud all over our bedroom. I got home from making myself scarce during her party ( I was supposed to be golfing in the last tournament of the year, but it was postponed) and Darla handed me a rag and some carpet cleaner and set me to work cleaning up after the mutt. It finally came clean (after all it is only mud), but it was a chore. I have a new spot rug cleaner coming soon, so we will be able to clean these messes more readily.

I had won the golf tournament for the manager's meeting in Detroit, finishing in first place and also capturing a closest to the pin and the long drive. We have a new Rewards website for our agents and I was granted 5600 points on the website. I bought a new cart bag from Nike and a dinner certificate at Olive Garden with my points and also a small portable steam cleaner for the carpets. It is a steam cleaner that is meant to get out spots in the carpet and we can really use it now that the weather has turned for the worst. We are all pretty good at taking off our shoes in the house, but it is hard to get visitors to do the same and the dog has no sense of neatness and doesn't even wipe his feet before coming in the house. We try to do it for him, but he has so much energy, often it feels like wrestling an octopus.

Darla was out of town Friday night at a show in Monterey and I stole off to the Thunder Valley Casino for dinner and a shot at the nickle machines. I never made it to dinner as the machines quickly ate up my $40 and I was down to single bills. I put one in the machine and quickly hit four aces for a 2000 coin payout ($100). I got on a streak and hit four aces four times in the next two hours, once with a 2 for a 4000 coin payout. In all, I left the casino at 11 PM with $433 in my pocket. I called Darla, who was in Monterey with her best friend, Joni, for a Silpada party. They were already in bed and Darla was not too thrilled that I'd been out galavanting all night until she heard that I'd won close to $400. I slept in Saturday morning as it was pouring when I left the casino and I knew the golf tournament would be delayed. We have tee times set up for next Sunday as a rain makeup date and we wouldn't play on a sloppy course. I finally strolled out of bed at 8:30 to find Darla sitting in the living room putting an order into her lap top computer. She had arisen at 4:30 and drove the 3 1/2 hours home. Joni had a commitment at her church in Marin at 8 AM and Darla decided to drive home early as well.

Darla and I went to a Christmas party with her foster care agency Saturday night. The event was held in South Sacramento in some decrepid community center. Each of the foster families brought a dish and the agency provided some really awful pizza from a place called Fat Tony's. After trying the pizza, it is a good bet that Tony didn't get fat eating his own pizza. The agency administrator (Steve) is a New Yorker with little sense of propriety. He was the master of ceremonies and at one point was giving out DVDs to the families and said to one of the Dads not to open the movie at the table as it was X-rated. He also made a big point of acknowledging on microphone the people who showed up after 6:30 (the party started at 6:00 PM). One family showed up after 7 PM and the mother was showing Steve what she'd brought to share. He took one look under the tin foil and said, "That's nice. We've all eaten already. You can just wrap it back up and take it home." Nice guy. He also talked briefly to me and then said to one of the guys at the table: "Oh, that's Darla's husband. I didn't know who the hell that was!" What a peach. Darla has had several run ins with him over the years and had me listen to one of his voice mails to her. It was a voice mail yelling at her for not having her cellphone on when he needed to reach her. He said that she needed to be available 24-7 for when he needed to reach her. Understand that this is a part time position where Darla is a social worker for one foster child with the agency. I told her that if my boss talked to me that way, I'd punch him in the nose. During the evening he gave away a "Bullseye" award to the social worker that had more run ins with him during the year than any other. Half the room raised their hand when he asked who thought they'd won the award. Apparently, this schmuck revels in his pugnaciousness.

Well, Chris' football team finally met their match in the Texas High School football playoffs. They played again at Texas Stadium on Saturday and lost to Southlake Carroll 34-7. Their team gave up five turnovers and were outplayed and outcoached in the game. Southlake Carroll is a team from the same town and their stadium can be seen from Colleyville's stadium. Interesting that they each ended up in the round of eight in the Texas state championship game. Southlake Carroll is the defending state champions and a powerhouse team. Congratulations to Chris and his teamates for a great run in the playoffs. He will remember it and relive it his entire life.

We have our annual holiday party on Saturday. The company has allowed us $35 per employee this year and I have $665 to spend on the party. I should be able to buy dinner, booze and a gift for everyone with that kitty.

Well, work awaits on a dreary Monday morning. I have several salary reviews to do and a Manager's report as well as a slew of new business to quote. I hope all are well and busy keeping Christ in Christ-mas. Happy Holy Days and Saviour's Greetings to all.