Work continues on our Oasis

It was a busy weekend with 3 yards of 50/50 Topsoil/Mulch mix being delivered on Saturday. David and I got the 3 yards moved from the side yard to the planters and flowerbeds. Initially, the large raised bed was accessed by David using a ramp that was built by the cement guys. That was until the wheelbarrow slipped and fell over on its side spilling most of a wheelbarrow of dirt into the pool. After that, we carted the mix into the planter by use of a large bucket with rope handles. The problem with that scenario is that the usable bucket only had one handle. We had another bucket on the side where the bottom had been punctured. We had to set the good bucket with the bad handles into the bad bucket with the good handles and fill the bucket and then carry both into the raised bed and dump it. I wanted to change out handles, but the handles are put into the bucket and then the rope is knotted and then melted to hold firm (apparently that didn't happen with the one bucket). It took us awhile, but we got the mix put in and most of the dirt moved and settled. Daniel joined us when we were mostly done and helped move the last yard of mix into the planters and also built a box around the waterfall controls, which are in the ground and are ball cock PVC controls. He also put in a border at the shed which will mark off the planter from the gravel around the shed.

I sprayed down the side driveway and took a quick shower and took the boys and Darla out to Homai Hong Kong Buffet for All You Can Eat Chinese Food. It isn't Darla's favorite restaurant, but they have good Won Ton soup, foil wrapped chicken and pot stickers and decent Orange Chicken and Walnut Chicken. The boys had some Sashimi and Sushi as well. There was a father son duo in the restaurant that I'm sure the restaurant lost money on. The Dad was huge and the son, who was about 12, must have weighed 250 pounds. The two of them went through the line like a tornado, loading their plates high with all manner of food. I watched the son in awe as he piled a mountain of food on his plate. At one point, he decided he wanted more of something and simply used his hand like a shovel to move the food over on his plate so he could slop more of the chow onto his plate. It was like watching a slow motion accident. You didn't want to watch, but you couldn't take your eyes off them. They were both three full plates into the carnage when we finally left the restaurant.

Sunday was church and a transition day weather wise. Saturday was light breezes and a high of 79 degrees. Sunday dawned overcast and breezy and cold. We were beaten by the wind on the walk from the car to church and back out again. Darla and I stopped at Home Depot and shopped for plants, using $300 in gift cards that I had from the appliance purchases we made in the kitchen. Darla and I bought three Sego palms, two ferns, a Pineapple Guava plant, two photinias, a lavender tree, and a pink vermillon tree as well as six pots of ground cover for the pool transition area. These plants are supposed to be hardy enough to handle chlorinated water. We'll see. Home Depot has a guarantee on all of their plants, so we kept the receipts. Those few plants, a bag of Organic Mulch, two gallons of paint for the shed, a paint brush set, and a bag of grass seed for the side yard by the driveway cost us $413.00.

By the time we got back from Home Depot, the clouds had broken and the sun was out. The wind had moderated and it ended up about 72 degrees during the afternoon. Darla spent the day painting the shed. The back wall of the shed was built right against the fence and hedge and was never painted and the rest of the shed had weathered since it was built in 2000 by Dad and I. She helped me place the plants in the backyard and then I planted them all while she painted. It was a long weekend and I'm feeling a bit stiff and sore, but the backyard is beginning to take shape. Daniel came home when I was finished planting the plants and I asked him what he thought of the look. He said, "Well it's okay, but the plants are kind of small." I know I could have made a bigger impression with 25 gallon plants, instead of 5 and 15 gallon plants, but I also know how fast they grow and how much more planting I have left back there. I also want to acid stain the stamped concrete a sandstone color to get it to all match perfectly as well as put a sealer and "wet look" on the flagstone. Money is definitely an issue as it all costs to improve the look of the backyard. I still have fifteen or twenty plants to buy as well as the ground cover for the area in the foreground of the picture of the pool.

It was kind of funny, when I finally finished sewing the grass seed and mowing the lawn and it came time to spray down the deck and clean up, Darla stopped me and made me promise to spray the water away from "her shed". She spent a day painting the shed. Dad and I spent four days building it, but now it's "her shed".

I did get out and play golf in the perfect weather on Saturday and shot a 41+41=82 for a net 69 and took second place in the Cobra Golf tournament at Diamond Oaks. Boyd shot 73 and Bob Pando shot 84. I managed that score with two double bogeys and two birdies and was putting the ball well. Darla leaves for Mexico this weekend and I plan to get out a couple of afternoons next week and will play Woodcreek again on Saturday. I will likely set up a bit tougher golf game for the following weekend as I get ready for Pebble Beach on Monday the 9th of April and Spanish Bay on the 10th. I'm already beginning to pray for good weather. I know I got the "deal" at $1530 for two days stay and two golf games because it is off season. A friend of mine called to set up a tee time and stay in October and the price is $4,100 for a three day stay with three days of golf and that is the minimum stay required. now $1530 sounds cheap.

Jennifer will be going for her checkup today and see how her surgery went. I talked to her this weekend and they went out for dinner and got her out of the house on Saturday to see a movie. She sat at the bottom of the upper section so she could rest her foot on the rail while she watched the movie. She seems to be doing really well and the pain has subsided. She will have an update on her blog today or tomorrow, so check it out.

Well, work awaits. It is my day to do payroll and I have to have that done by nine AM my time. Work continues at a good pace, but we've had a couple of our managers quit in Home Office and things are in a bit of turmoil back East. Have a great week. I plan on working on the back yard a little more next week and the oasis should continue to morph going forward. Be well. Ciao.

Driveway and Patio are in

Yep. The job is done. It only cost me $4,000 and a lawn chair that the guy in the orange shirt sat in to drink a Coke and he bent the metal support on the legs to the point that they are breaking the metal. As you can see, I had them match the existing stamped pattern on the patio and he had the cement delivered with a slight sandstone coloring to match the color of the cement on the existing patio. (double click on the pictures to see full size) They worked hard and did a good job preparing the area. It took them most of a day to pull out the cement that Dad and I poured back in 1999. The cement was as thick as a foot in some areas as we used the amount of cement that was delivered at the time. He left the storage area for the jet ski with a brush finish and I had him use a different stamp for the driveway on the side of the house. It turned out nice and I'm happy.

Jennifer is going stir crazy at home. Call her on her cell at 702-688-0870. She had her surgery on Monday and you can see her posts and pictures of her foot on her blog which is linked to the right of this post. Ciao.

Spring Arrives This Week

Actually, you could have fooled me as we have had a week of temperatures in the low to upper 80's and the grasses, plants, trees and bushes are all in full bloom. I finished the sprinkler project in the back yard and we are now ready for a concrete flatwork contractor to pour the driveway on the side of the house and the sidewalk and patio by the shed behind the pool. I will also order 5 yards of topsoil and two yards of compost to add to the flowerbeds and the raised planter behind the pool. Once all of that is accomplished, Darla and I will hit the nurseries to find our trees and plants for the backyard. We have scoured the Garden Books and have a good idea of our decorating plan. Darla wants a tulip tree and I will add a couple of sego palms, some Lily of the Nile, some lavender, photinia, ground cover and small shrubs. We will have a lot of purples and reds in the backyard and it will be fun to see the plan take shape. We also want to put in a shade screen room by the shed that will hold our glass table and chairs and will provide a place to get out of the sun.

I was washing my car last night and it dawned on me that I had finished laying all of the pipe and sprinklers in the yard, but had not tested the system at all. I went out and ran the sprinklers, made a few adjustments on spray and changed a head or two, but it is all working according to plan.

That reminds me of a joke where an older couple (50 years old or so) are sitting in their living room. They both suffer from the onset of Alzheimer's and struggle with basic short term memory. Being old, they eat dinner at 4:00 PM. It is about 8:00 PM and the husband says to the wife, "You know what sounds really good to me right now is some bacon and eggs." The wife dutifully heads off to the kitchen and the sound of banging pots and pans drifts out to the living room. She is gone about twenty minutes and finally emerges carrying a tray with two bowls of Rocky Road ice cream. The husband slowly shakes his head and says, "Honey, you are really getting forgetful. I told you I wanted a scoop of chocolate mint."

Daniel made a dump run last week and got rid of a lot of the extra plants, cement, broken sprinkler pipe, the old toilet from our bathroom, etc. All of the junk that had piled up and we were ready to send to the dump. I needed him to get it out of the side yard, so we could get the cement work done.

Darla and I had our taxes prepared last week and we absolutely got hammered. Darla has three jobs, but in only one of her jobs is taxes withheld from her check. We are making more money than we ever have and seem to have less of it at any one time. Why is that? We are setting up a plan to have Darla pay quarterly estimates next year so that we don't have the same problem next year.

I played golf in the beautiful weather this weekend. It was about 88 degrees on Saturday with a light wind. The Roseville Golf Club is in the middle of a three day tournament that started while we were in Vegas. I set up a tee time at Woodcreek for Saturday and played with Bob Hand, Mel and one of Mel's friends from work. I shot a nice 41+39=80. I was thrilled with the round and had 9 bogeys and 9 pars on the par 71 track. My goal whenever I play golf is to avoid a double bogey or worse and let the pars and birdies come where they may. Woodcreek is a championship course with a higher rating than Diamond Oaks, so it was good to perform. I also collected the most skin money and was home by 1:30 PM after eating lunch at the course. I will play in a Cobra sponsored tournament next Saturday at Diamond Oaks and will be at Pebble Beach in three weeks living the dream of playing one of the world's most famous golf courses.

Jennifer is on her way right now to San Francisco with John for foot surgery. Her surgery is scheduled for 10:30 and they will go into her foot with a two inch incision and shave the bone, insert some pins and straighten her big toe. She has a bunion that is causing her toes to turn inward and this surgery will correct that problem. I talked to her last night and she was beginning to get a little nervous about the surgery. She said she was excited, but is concerned about the long (six week) recovery. The doctor prescribed Vicodin for the pain and her foot will be numb for about eight hours after the surgery. She will be on crutches and have to have her foot elevated during most of that recovery.

Jennifer and John are buying a new car. They looked and shopped and finally decided on a Scion. If you are like me, your knowledge of Scion begins and ends with that "box" car they came out with a few years ago. It is still one of their models, but Scion is owned by Toyota and is a more affordable version of the Toyota. She and John are looking at a TC and I saw one on the road the other day. They are very nice and look like a tight, well built car. Jennifer's Mom owes Jennifer some money and will help her finance the car and make the first year of payments for her. John and Jennifer will double up on payments during that time and pay the car off early. Check out the Scion TC at: http://www.scion.com/showroom/tc/gallery/. Now, doesn't that car look like a Jennifer car?

The office continues to excel this year and we are up 55% on the year and still in the running for the $500 per employee prize for the first quarter. We just added a much needed insurance market (Burlington) to our quiver, we are preferred agent for Colony and we have a 5% running loss ratio with our largest carrier, Scottsdale. Things are really looking up at work.

Well, that is it for another week. I hope you are all well and living a life that is in concert with our Lord and Saviour. Ciao.

Vegas was a Royal Flush!

The vacation and Lyon Family Reunion are history and it was everything that we all hoped it would be. Family, fun and just being together was on the agenda and we succeeded on every level. The boys enjoyed hanging with Chris and Jennifer and John. Darla and I had a great time with Dad and Shirley and definitely hanging with my brothers was a great time. Eric Clapton was as good as advertised, the golf and weather were ideal and I even managed to hit a Royal Flush on a nickle progressive machine for a $416.95 payout on a 50 cent bet. Not too shabby. The last time I hit a Royal on a nickle machine in Vegas was last Summer and it only paid me 4000 coins ($200), but the max bet was only 25 cents on that machine.

Not everything was perfect as the Jockey managed to mess up our reservations in every way imaginable, from initially checking us into a two bedroom suite and then calling up to the room to have me come down and fix their mistake. They then got on me for accepting a two bedroom when I knew it was only supposed to be a one bedroom. The problem with that logic is that I didn't know it was a two bedroom until I opened the door and walked through the room. They also called and harassed Darla when I was on my way down to the front desk wanting to know what was taking so long (the fact that you have to walk a half mile from the front desk to your room is the first of many problems). They also told me that our reservation was not until Thursday and we were a day early. Shirley had sat on the phone for an hour to get our reservation moved up only to find out when they came on the line, that the reservations staff had been in a meeting that whole time. Nice. They ALLOWED us to check in, but only after I let them know that I was already checked into a nice two bedroom suite and would stay put until tomorrow if there was a problem.

I was glad that Daniel is on Steve's insurance as he took over the driving from Bakersfield and when I awoke from a nap, he was doing 90 miles an hour outside of Mojave. It was nice to have some help with the driving and I think Daniel enjoyed it. It took us only 9 1/2 hours to drive from Roseville to Las Vegas and that included two stops, one for about 45 minutes for dinner.

Jennifer's boyfriend, John, was a big hit on the trip for many reasons, but one of the biggest was he allowed us to use his Vegas resident discount for golf which saved us about $30 a person off the tourist rates and he saved the boys money on their trip to the Stratosphere Tower where they rode the roller coasters and thrill rides. John and Jennifer are looking to move permanently to Vegas where they can both use their fibre optic skills to work at the big shows at the casinos.

We had a great time eating out as a family and PF Chang's was a huge hit with the group as we celebrated Dad's birthday on Friday. We went out for Prime Rib on Sunday night before Darryl and Cheryl had to fly back to Austin and when it came time to order, Cheryl who had been drinking vodka tonics in the sun all day, ordered the "Asshole" special from our Chinese waiter. It was so off the wail and we all stared at her, including the waiter who apparently had no sense of humor and perhaps thought she was ordering the Asso special off the Chinese menu. It was hilarious.

Jennifer particularly enjoyed her vacation as she missed the last family get together in Vegas and had looked forward to our return to the desert this year. She bought Dad a beautiful photo album with the inscription "Lyon Family Reunion" and "Happy 70th Birthday Gramp 3-09-2007". We all took lots of pictures to help him fill the album.

Darla and I took almost 11 1/2 hours to return on Monday and the traffic was at a dead stop several times as we headed back into California. It was NASCAR weekend in Vegas and every Bubba in the Southwestern United States seemed to be in attendance at the race. The strip was virtually dummed down in the evenings when these yahoos were out in force, decked out in their colors with the number 3 or 8 in abundance. The traffic was marred by pick-up trucks and fifth wheelers crawling along. The traffic was particularly bad at the Ag Inspection station and at the stoplight on Highway 58 before Mojave.

I was exhausted when we got home on Monday night and decided to take yesterday off and get caught up on the house and get another Bowen treatment in the afternoon. I arrived back in the office today to a huge mess in my office as the staff had covered all of my desk and chairs, conference table, pictures, bookcases and file cabinets in black crepe paper. There was a small coffin in the corner with Ken Lyon's Youth RIP written on it. The floor is covered in confetti and streamers and it was huge mess. It took four of us fifteen minutes to pull all of the crepe paper and pop all of the balloons and straighten this place up so I could work this morning.

Well, that's it for now as work awaits. I will add more pictures from Vegas in the coming days. We had an absolute ball and I had a great time with the family. Thank you everyone for a great 50th birthday.

Bad Backs and Las Vegas on Tap

Yep. It happened again, Lucy. The back that I tweaked on Saturday with the Ditch Witch seemed to be getting better, but took a nasty turn on Friday and I spent the weekend with back spasms and hunched over like Quasimodo. My planned golf game was a casualty of the bad back as I was up early on Saturday morning and took a shower, but wasn't able to bend over to put my socks on. It was one of those glorious late Winter days with a high blue sky and temperatures that would top out in the low seventies. As painful as it was to pass up the opportunity to play, I knew that if I did play, I'd be in even more pain. Reluctantly, I called the guys who were together on the driving range hitting balls and waiting for me to arrive.

Darla took off to do some errands and to spend some time with her Mom and Dad who were at Alicia's house. I sat in my recliner trying to get comfortable and feeling sorry for myself. This weekend was supposed to be my time to finish the sprinkler project in the backyard and get things cleaned up for our trip to Vegas. The other problem is that the pool company is coming out today to redo the transition area between the deep end of the pool and the stamped concrete deck. I wanted to have the sprinkler pipe installed because I need them to bury the flexible hose for the drip system under the flagstone. I guess, in retrospect, I could have just laid the pipe over the path and put a note for them to bury it.

However, I pushed myself up and spent most of Saturday laying pipe and using the purple primer and PVC glue to lay in the sprinklers. I got the main yard done and the risers done in the raised bed above the waterfalls and finally quit for the day at about 5:30 PM. Darla came home in the middle of my project and said, "You're Fired, Ken Lyon!" I figured what more could I do to mess up my back, it was already shot? I asked Darla to clear out the tub in our bathroom (she likes to keep plants in the tub) and to run a hot bath.

I soaked for about 15 minutes as the water was only lukewarm and it seemed to loosen up my back a little. The key word here is "seemed". I agreed to take Darla out to dinner at Pete's Italian restaurant and we got dressed and headed over. My back started to spasm in the truck and I had a huge spasm as I got out of the truck and shuffled into the restaurant. Darla parked the truck and met me inside. They gave us a table close to the door and I pulled my chair out and sat down. Unfortunately, every time I attempted to lift myself off the chair to scoot it into the table, my back would spasm. Finally, Darla just scooted the table over to me and we ordered our salads and some pizza. I suffered through the meal, sitting sideways on the chair to release the stress on my back. I told her to take care of the bill and that I would go and try to walk off the back pain. She pushed the table back and I stood up and had a huge spasm that caused me to fall back into the chair and yell "shit!" I struggled up and left, shuffling along the walkway to the car. Darla came along shortly after and told me that the people at the table next to us were concerned and asked if her husband was okay. Darla replied, "He's fine, he just has Turrets syndrome". Nice.

Sunday we skipped church as I didn't want to walk the distance from the car to the church and then sit for 90 minutes. I did, however, finish the sprinklers in the yard while Darla took off for Ripon (outside Stockton) to visit her grandfather on his "80 something" birthday. The work on Sunday was tougher as I had to trench on the far side of the pool where we couldn't get through with the trencher the week before. My back was really acting up and I took frequent breaks to rest. I ended up hunched over with real pain in my lower back and finally quit after refilling the trenches and bringing the flex hose up to the edge of the flagstone walkway. I left a note on the pipe to have them bury it and also talked to the pool company about what I wanted done. They will be out there this morning and I hope that at least one of the crew can read English.

I called my Bowen therapist, Harry, and he called me back on Sunday and told me that he's booked both Monday and Tuesday and good luck with the back. He also gave me the number of Jane Saro in Antelope who is quickly becoming my "go to" Bowen person. She helped me after Christmas when Harry was on a two week vacation. I called Jane and she had three openings for today and I took the first one available at two-thirty this afternoon.

I probably wouldn't have come in to work today because of my back, but I have a new underwriter starting today. Work is really going well this year. Through two months we are up 38% over 2006 and we're up over 55% in February. We have a contest going on right now where the branch that has the highest percentage of premium gain in the first three months will be rewarded with a $500 per employee bonus. Our New Jersey office was up 66% in January and took a big lead, but we put up a big number for February, so it will be interesting to see how this all filters out.

I talked to Jennifer a couple of times over the weekend. She is in Vegas and the weather is great. John and she got there on Saturday and have been visiting with John's Dad. The golf has taken a little hit as Al decided that $89 is too expensive for golf. I thought about changing our tee time to Thursday, but Randy doesn't get in until Thursday night. Randy is thinking about having Chris join us on the course and if he does then we'll have Daniel play as well. I will try to get out and hit some balls on Thursday. I may be able to talk Darryl into taking Dan's clubs and playing a game on Thursday.

Dad and Shirley are off to Vegas today and Sherry arrives on Tuesday. Darla, Daniel and I arrive Wednesday night. Darryl and Cheryl get there Wednesday night. Randy, Cake and Chris get there late Thursday night, Al arrives Thursday and, finally, David flies in Friday afternoon. We are all off to dinner at PF Chang's on Friday night and the Clapton concert is Saturday night. Fun times are in store and I look forward to it. Dad and Shirley are going to the Circus Soleil presentation of "O" at the Bellagio on Wednesday night. We all chipped in and got them tickets which are four rows from the front of the theater.

Well, this is a little thin, but there is only so much I can write about gimphood. Hopefully, the Bowen treatment today knocks me back into shape and the only concern is having to lift all of my winnings in Vegas. That could knock my back out all over again. Ciao.