Pretty lame heading, but did you know there isn't a word in the English language that rhymes with 70? Count the day lost you don't learn something new (Henry David Thoreau). We had a wonderful, although truncated visit to the land of my birth to help celebrate Shirley's 70th birthday. In her defense, her birthday isn't until December, but Dad and Shirley leave Thursday for a three week overseas cruise and won't be back until mid-December. Dad decided to do the deed now and not make it a surprise as he had all of his kids flying in from all over the United States and didn't want to hide us until Saturday night. As it was, the event was very nice and I'm sure a great memory for Shirley. Dad tried hard to mess things up with a speech about how "well developed" Shirley was and how librarians are normally marmish, but he pulled it off the way he always does, flawlessly. Shirley had several friends and relatives come up and share stories about Shirley from her past and it was great. We got to spend some quality family time with a great dinner that Al and Sherry hosted on Friday night, a nice brunch that Shirley hosted on Saturday and a trip to the White Spot for hamburgers Saturday afternoon. Sherry and Al opened their home to all of the Lyon boys and their wives and it was great to hang out with my brothers. If nothing else, it keeps me humble. I haven't been called "idiot" and "penis" and "damn fool" since the last time I got together with my brothers.
At one point we were talking at the brunch table and my brothers started in on me wearing a dress as a kid and I played along, saying it was only that once. We all had a good laugh until Darla asked me on the plane about when I wore a dress as a kid and why. Darn it, I was told it was a Communion garment and that's my story.
I have now been to Dad and Shirley's country club, Hazelmere twice and have yet to even see a tee box or putting green. I suspected this weekend would be golf-free and snuck out Thursday night to a little 9 hole course in Elk Grove. I met my personal lines underwriter there and we traveled up to Modesto from there. We returned about 4 PM and I was going to hit a bucket of balls and it was $7 for a bucket or $9 to play the course on a twilight rate. I not only played, but finished all nine (albeit the 9th hole in virtual dusk) and shot a 37. The pro asked if I'd played there before and I told him no and he ran out to the tee box and gave me a card for a free 9 holes during the week at his course. I'll take him up on it and see what score I shoot for 18 holes. The course is a par 33.
Darla and I flew into Seattle on Friday morning and Randy and Cake showed up late (their plane was delayed) and we ended up waiting 90 minutes for them to get in. We then drove a Toyota Sienna van from Sea Tac up to Surrey, BC. The amazing thing is when we stopped to fill up the van it only took $27 in gas after the trip to Canada and back.
I talked to Jennifer tonight and she has been pulled off the job at The City Center casino project and is working 7 12-hour days on the Wynne casino expansion. It is supposed to be ready by the middle of December and is running behind. She worked both weekend days and made $600 a day with double time. With the split from John she wants to pack some money away in the bank and pay off some bills. John scored because he got to spend an extra weekend with Samantha.
Well, Darla is waiting on the couch for some TV time together, so I'll call it quits for this week. It has been a bit of a whirlwind. The Cowboys won tonight on Sunday Night Football, so all is right in the world. Ciao.
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