Baby, It's COLD outside!!

You can see that Darla has been at work with her Christmas hats forcing everyone to put on the hats and be jolly. There is also a picture of the boys with their new Olympic shirts from Dad. Darla told them to pose for a picture and Daniel went and grabbed the US Flag from the front of our house. I guess he wanted to make sure that Dad knew which country has their allegiance.

We spent Christmas Eve up in Paradise with Darla's parents, Earl and Frances. We had a mid afternoon meal of ham and then went to their 6 PM Christmas Eve service at Paradise Alliance Church. We returned home, visited and had a nice dessert before heading back the 90 minutes to Roseville. I talked to Jennifer on the drive home from work and she had just put Samantha down for a nap and they were going to open presents when she woke up. Jen had taken Samantha to a "Build-A-Bear" shop and Samantha picked out Alvin (from the Chipmunks) and they built an Alvin teddy bear and also bought his sweater with the "A" on the front. She had taken her that day to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, Samantha's first movie in a theater. She said she did really well and enjoyed the movie, but kept wanting to get up and dance to the music like she does with her DVDs at home. Jennifer ended up standing along the side of the theater with other parents of toddlers who couldn't sit still in the theater.

On Friday, Christmas Day we awoke at the crack of 9 AM and Darla fixed a ham, mushroom and cheese quiche and David made me some decaf coffee in his new coffee press. We opened gifts and the boys were off to see their Dad by 11AM. I bought Darla a new Wii as well as a dual charger fro her i-phone and a 4 hour housecleaning certificate for the house. We are having a gang over on New Years' Day and we want the house detailed before they arrive. We may sign up to have the housecleaning service come in and do the heavy duty cleaning once a month (baseboards, fans, oil the cabinets, dust the blinds and windowsills, scrub the toilets and sinks, showers, etc.) The cleaning crew will be in on Wednesday to clean the house.

We left the house about noon and headed over to my work to pick up a book that I'd left in my office and then headed over to Don and Alicia's house. Don was fixing a turkey and I prefer turkey on Christmas, so it was a slam dunk. Don is from the mid-west and wanted to see snow on Christmas day, so we packed up the car with coats, scarves, hats and gloves and drove 50 minutes up Highway 50 above Placerville and Myers to a campground that is closed for the Winter. We drove in and hiked back to the river and up above the campground. You can see that I put on my ear covering in the picture by the moss covered trees as the temperatures were dropping. You can also see by the pictures of Darla and I and Alicia and Darla that it was a beautiful day on Christmas.

The title of this blog is in reference to the temperatures that dipped today into the mid forties as I went out and played golf. We endured a one hour frost delay in the early morning and finally tee off a little after 9 AM. I've been struggling with the colder temps and the fact that the ball doesn't travel in below fifty temperatures. It all came back together today and I shot 41+42=83 at Cherry Island in Elverta. It was cold and I kept having to put on my ear covering and then I'd get hot and take it off and then get cold again. It was a bit of a nuisance really. I plan to take Don out golfing next weekend as Alicia has a shower at our house on Saturday afternoon and we will head up into the foothills above Lodi to Valley Springs and play La Contenta.

It will be nice to put the holidays behind us and move on to the new year as our business has fallen off over the end of December as so many people are off work and on holiday. Darla and I will be in Mexico from January 6th -10th and I look forward to getting some nice hot sun on my cold skin for a few days before we return back to reality. The following weekend is Alicia and Don's wedding and I will be in Napa at the Silverado Resort on that Friday into Saturday morning with Darla.

In looking back over 2009, it has been a fantastic year for me professionally as our office has grown substantially in 2009 and made a very nice profit for the company. I'm sad that the team in Modesto had to be terminated and that office will close on December 31st. (Pete and I will be there on December 31st to move some items to our assistant underwriter's home and to bring some of the office equipment back to Sacramento). We had several great vacations in 2009 starting with the Bahamas in January, including Almanor with Samantha and Jennifer in July , Colorado with Darryl and Cheryl in September, and culminating in the trip to Nuevo Vallarta with Dad and Shirley and Darryl and Cheryl and our friends, Neil and Lilly, in November. The boys got a year closer to being out of college which warms my heart. We missed Buddy, our dog, who was put down at the end of 2008. It was a good year in many ways and we will lift a glass of sparkling apple cider to the year that was on December 31st.

Well, this is the final blog for 2009 and I want to wish each of you a Happy New Year and God's richest blessings in 2010. Ciao.

Twas the Week before Christmas...

The first picture is of our family room dressed up for the holiday and a fire that saw us through the football games today as it slowly fades away. The others are pictures of my staff at work during our staff party this past Tuesday. We enjoyed food and beverage prepared by each other and had a white elephant style gift giving. We limited our gifts to $25 and I ended up with a package with Baileys, coffee and a coffee press that I stole from Peter when he was out of the room. I'll give the coffee and coffee press to David as I don't drink regular caffeinated coffee and the press is a bit too in vogue for my tastes. I just want a cup of coffee, not a science experiment. The days are growing shorter and a good number of my staff are on holidays this week. I gave each of the staff $50 gift certificates to the Elephant Bar Restaurant for Christmas. The fog has come into the valley and been sticking with us until well after noon. It is wet and cold. Alas, a storm is brewing off the course and destined to bring us rain this week.

I did get out on Saturday and knock the golf ball around a bit. Boyd, Bob, Darren and I braved the cold and wet conditions and hammed it up on the course. I shot 44+45=89 and the ball was not travelling. I usually hit an 8 iron about 155 yards and it was lucky to go 135 in the fog. It took me a few holes to figure out the distances and then I spent the rest of the round trying to shake off the rust. I didn't play last weekend and it doesn't take long to get out of a groove in your golf game. Bob shot 83, Boyd 77 (he plays four days a week), and Darren shot 93. We played at Woodcreek this week which was a challenge as I hadn't played out there in about two months. I have a qualifier coming up next month and can use the help on my handicap.

The Insurance Group of which I am on the board is having another retreat in January at Silverado Resort in Napa and it just so happens to fall on the same weekend that Alicia's wedding is in Napa. The good news is that the retreat is on Friday with an overnight stay so it works out perfectly. We will play golf and Darla will have her spa treatment, we will have a big dinner and then up Saturday and over to the wedding venue. We will likely stay over Saturday night as well since Darla's brother, Steve and his wife Kirstin will be here from Hawaii.

Darla and I also set up tickets to Las Vegas for February 5th - 8th. United had some flights for $99 round trip out of San Francisco. it is a little bit of a hassle as we leave out of SF at 10:30 on Friday night, but worth the savings as it is about $240 RT out of Sacramento. We get back about 8:30 on Monday night. Samantha turns 2 tomorrow and she is talking up a storm. We talked to her and Jennifer on Friday night and she opened one of her birthday gifts, a "Birthday Girl" shirt and outfit. Jennifer had her saying "Thank You, Papa, Thank you, Gramma!" She seemed to enjoy the box and wrapping quite a bit as the sounds of tearing paper came through the phone. We are so looking forward to spending the weekend with them. Jennifer will be available as her job on the City Center Casino will come to an end on Tuesday. The casino is open and Jennifer and some girlfriends shared a room in the casino on Saturday night. She is not sure when she will get on another project, but is well liked by the GC she worked with, so here's hoping.

Darla and I will also travel to Canada the week of Dad's birthday in march. We fly in on Saturday March 6th and stay until Wednesday March 10th. Darla and I have been so busy that we haven't made it back to Canada much over the last few years and want to spend some time with Dad and Shirley. We will rent a car and drive up and have Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and a half day Wednesday to visit. Right now the first quarter of the year 2010 will see us in Mexico and Napa in January, Vegas in February and Canada in March. This sounds like Dad and Shirley's schedule. We also have a family reunion in July with Darla's family as we celebrate Earl and Frances' 50th wedding anniversary up in Lake Almanor. Hopefully Jennifer and Samantha can come and join in the fun again this year.

It was good to see the Cowboys win a big road game in December against the Saints. I was hoping the Niners could beat the Eagles, but their offense is pathetic. The boys have tried to tell me how much Alex Smith, the Niner's qb has improved this year, but he looks just as uncomfortable as he ever has and throws some terrible balls. It's amazing that the two Bay Area teams have first round draft choice quarterbacks that are so terrible. Tony Romo was a free agent and sometimes you have to get a qb on the cheap and let them learn on the bench. When you roll the dice and millions on a 22 year old kid, you end up with Jamarcus Russell and Alex Smith, both poster boys for the wasted draft choice in the NFL. Dallas controls their own destiny and will win the NFC East if they win out against the Redskins and Eagles, two tough division games that will get them ready for playoff football. By the way, the Niners lost again with Smith throwing for a paltry 177 yards and three interceptions. If this is THE GUY in SF, it will be a party every time they finish 8-8, which, in truth, is pretty great in the world of Bay Area professional football. Last word, if Mike Singletary wants to see his job eliminated in 2010, he will keep Alex Smith as his starter.

I ran across a couple of good random thoughts and as this is the name of my blog, here you go:

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3.Was learning cursive really necessary?

4. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

5. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
6. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

7. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

8. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this --ever.

9. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

10. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

11. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

12 I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

13. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

I wish each of you a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season. Merry Christ-mas, Saviour's Greetings and Happy Holy Days! Ciao.

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY!!

Nothing but a wet, dark, depressing weekend has come and almost slid into ignominy. The Cowboys continue to be December goats, this time losing to San Diego in Dallas and causing a self inflicted wound with a totally inept field goal kicker. The storm that rolled in actually brought snow to the valley floor for the first time in 20 years. We had about an inch and a half in Roseville and some foothills location had over 6 inches of snow. I got to work Monday and had a call from one of my workers telling me that she was ill and couldn't come in, which was just as well, because she looked outside and had 2 inches of snow EVERYWHERE and wouldn't be able to drive in it. Two inches of snow is nothing more than a heavy frost. I considered calling in the bloodhounds and snow dogs with brandy on their collars, but held off. The National Guard was busy in Iraq, but I was hoping they could fly in relief supplies to her neighborhood. Thank God the blizzard stopped and she was able to make it in to work on Tuesday.

I reluctantly got the Christmas lights up on Saturday before being booted out of the house due to another blasted Silpada party. I've already been told to find somewhere to be on Tuesday because of a team event for Silpada that night. Things are finally winding down for Darla and she is able to breathe again. The rush up to Christmas is pretty intense in the jewelry business. She has been working three jobs to help put her boys through college without any debt to themselves. Nice (for them), but it has put a crimp in our lives together. I looked forward to an empty nest, but didn't know that empty meant alone. The hard thing for me is that I don't think the boys even recognize how hard she is working to help them. The house probably suffers the most as the laundry backs up and things are often left out of place. I now look forward to them being out of college. Maybe then, we can slow down and start to enjoy our lives together. I help out where I can, but I'm not allowed near the laundry due to that unfortunate incident with the red shirt and some bras and underwear.


A correction from the last blog entry. David's trip next month is to Boston (Not New York) and he looks forward to the experience. He will miss Alicia's wedding, but the opportunity for him is just too great to miss.

I went to the casino on Saturday while I killed time waiting for Darla's party to be over. It was pouring rain and I couldn't golf so snuck over to Thunder Valley for a few hours. I lost about $80, which was my winnings from poker Friday night. I did hit four 2's with an ace before I left for a $90 win, but was down quite a bit leading into that.

The boys just got here from Cal Poly for their Winter break. They will be home until mid January and may even still be home when we go to Riviera Maya in January. Darla and I are off to her annual Silpada incentive trip and will be gone for 5 days and four nights at an All Inclusive Resort on the beach in Riviera Maya. The resort looks nice and we will take a trip over to the Grand Mayan in Riviera Maya to see the resort where we have two time share weeks through our resort in Nuevo Vallarta. We are still on a high from the family vacation to Mexico and still waiting for the pictures Darryl promises to send us on disc. What, do you have a job or something, Darryl? Whazzup?

I've had to drain the pool off twice this week as the rain has been incessant, especially over the weekend. I was late to poker Friday night as it took about 40 minutes to drain off about four inches of water. I did get out on late Saturday afternoon and clean the pool of dirt and leaves from the storm. I also was able to get into the filter and clean out the dirt and debris from the inlet filter from the pool. I clean the large filter about twice a year and will do it in the Spring again.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can make it through one more year with our wood shake roof. I see more and more shingles lying all over the front and back yard after storms as the shingles are brittle and dry. So far, I've only had one leak that I know of and I was able to get in the attic and plug that leak. I've already had a couple of roofers out to give me estimates and will have the house re-roof done in the Spring of 2010. We will go with a dark asphalt shingle that works well in the milder California weather.

Samantha's birthday is a week from Monday. Darla and I bought her a few gifts and I also set her up with a 129 College savings plan. I've funded it and will put money away every month for her education. Darla said that I've set a precedent with Sam and will have to follow through for the rest of the grand kids. Frankly, I can't think of a better gift. The 129 plan is very favorable to grandparents putting money aside for their grand kids, because the account is in my name and Samantha is the beneficiary, so I have control of the account until she is in college. If she chooses not to go to college, I can transfer the account to another grandchild. Hopefully, with multiple grandparents, she will be all set when the time comes 17 years from now.

I was able to take second place in the year long Eclectic event at the golf club by picking up those two birdies on the last day. I ended up with a 63, net 53, but lost first place on a tiebreaker. There was a guy in my flight that also had a net 53, but had a net 26 on the back side and my net was a 27. The course is having a Holiday sale on Wednesday night and I'll go by for eggnog, rum, wine and to spin the wheel for savings and prizes. I also have to pick up my 2010 package for the upgrade membership with a range card, coupon book, towel and a Diamond Oaks headcover.

Darla will join me tomorrow for lunch with my top agency. Jeff and Linda run the agency and I worked with Jeff almost 30 years ago at Commercial Union Insurance in Sacramento. Jeff was a casualty underwriter and I was a package underwriter. We met up again when I started at Burns and they are now a million dollar producer for us. Darla and I have taken them to dinner and to some other activities and I wanted to plan a lunch with them and bring Darla. I stopped last week and got them some booze and chocolates for their office.

My office will have our Christmas party Tuesday afternoon. I still have to get out and buy dinner certificates for everyone. The company gives us so much a head for holiday celebrations and the staff decided they want restaurant certificates. Costco sells two $50 certificates to area restaurants for $79, so I'll be at Costco on Tuesday buying the certificates. Darla and I made peanut brittle today and I'll bring that on Tuesday. We'll shut down Tuesday afternoon early and do a gift exchange and have some hors de ouevres and enjoy the season.

Well, that's it for this week. I will be back at the computer next week with another episode. Be well. Ciao.

Big Storms are heading our Way

Sunday Night. The Dallas Cowboys have begun their annual December fold losing to the New York Giants this afternoon. That said, Tony Romo looked very good today. A huge storm system is rolling into the area and we are supposed to have wet weather and localized flooding through next weekend. We have had a stubborn high pressure system that has sat over California for the last three weeks and brought us cold, crisp weather, but no rain. That is moving off to the east and has brought in clouds and a few sprinkles so far. It was cold and windy this morning and we waited out an hour frost delay before finally teeing off in blustery, freezing wind that would have peeled my ears if I wasn't wearing a beanie to cover my head. I also had on a long sleeve undershirt, a short sleeve golf shirt and a coat over top of that. I hate playing golf in a coat, but not as much as I hate freezing. It was our last tournament for 2009, the Eclectic Final. The Eclectic event is a year long event where we track our best scores on each hole at Diamond oaks in all stroke play tournaments throughout the year. I had a 64 coming into December and my 11 strokes gave me a 53 and I was tied for third place. My index dropped to a 9.5 and a 10 for December, so my net went up to 54 and a five way tie for fourth. I played terrible today with a 46+46=92 in brutal conditions. I couldn't wait to get off the course as my hands were frozen. The good news is that I birdied two of the holes where my best prior was a par to drop my gross score to 62 and my net is now at 52. Depending on how others did today, I should be in for a decent paycheck on this tournament.

We had our annual holiday party last night with the Roseville Golf Club and it was fun as always. Darla and the other wives dressed up and I had to stand in and have numerous pictures with all of the past presidents wearing our blazers with the RGC emblem that sits in the closet and gets brought out for funerals of members or for the Christmas party. Darla and i got there late as I told her it started at 7 PM (that's what the website said), but cocktails were at 6:30 and dinner at 7 PM. Bob and Vicky (bless their hearts) had saved us a seat and we enjoyed dinner with them. Awards were presented and gifts given out (I got a $50 gift card to Lowes) and then we danced the night away until the wee hour of 11 PM , when the deejay abruptly folded his card table, packed up his gear and left. I know when I ran the Christmas party the deejay played until at least 11:30 and maybe even until midnight. I guess the group is getting older. One of the original founders of the club was there with his wife. They both use canes and move SLOW. Dinner was called and the wife seemed to be having trouble getting out of her chair, so I offered my hand. Little did I know that she has no strength left and I ended up having to crane the woman out of her chair and ended up slipping backward and landing in the cake. Luckily I just brushed it, but ended up with frosting on my tush that I hadn't noticed until one of the folks in line pointed it out. There is no free pass for the good Samaritans in life.

We are blessed here in Roseville to not get the "tule fog" that curses some areas of the valley. Unfortunately, the town of Modesto is not exempt from the malady and it took me two and a half hours to drive to the office last Thursday, poking along on the freeway at 45 MPH and only being able to see tunnel vision for about 200 feet in front of me. Luckily, I will close that office on December 31st and no longer be obligated to a weekly visit to that mecca of the world. I am looking at bringing on board a young man from Stockton. He is 25 years old and went to the University of the pacific and graduated with a Finance degree. I have interviewed him, Harvey met with him in SF and he will come into my office on December 23rd for a litmus test with my staff. He is young and aggressive and I need someone to be out in the field marketing Burns and Wilcox to the agents. My guys are busy and see their top agents, but I need to be growing the stable and youth will help in that regard.

Jennifer is winding down on her contract with City Center casinos, but she is working 12 hour days and worked both weekend days this weekend. She is making a lot of money right now and hopefully will put some aside for a rainy day as her next job is not yet lined up and she may be out of work for awhile. John has stepped up during this busy time to help out with Samantha.

David has an opportunity to go on a field trip over Martin Luther King Day in January and go see some modern architecture in new York. He only has to pay for his airfair and he will fly with one of his architecture professors and select group of students for the four day weekend. The problem is that it coincides with his Aunt Alicia's wedding. Both Darla and I have told him to take the trip, that we;ll take plenty of pictures for him. Of course, Alicia wants him there, but he's 23 years old and the trip would be invaluable in his education. How often do you get to travel with a College Professor and view some of the great architecture of the United States first hand? He's feeling guilty, but we told him it is David time and to take advantage of it. The boys will be home at the end of this week for the Christmas break.

Well, time for some couch time. I hope you are all doing great and preparing for the celbration of Christ's birth in a few weeks. Also, Miss Samantha's 2nd birthday!! Ciao

Post Thanksgiving Meanderings

No, We aren't in Mexico anymore, Dorothy! You can see above the freak storm that hit Roseville and Northern California on the Friday after Thanksgiving and completely upended my golf plans for the weekend. The white is not snow, but hail that fell Friday afternoon. The hail clogged the downspouts and caused the torrent of rain water that you see outside my back door looking out to the pool (double click on that picture and you can see the size of the hail stones raining down). That storm quickly moved out and was followed by an area of high pressure that brought with it winds up to 40 MPH on Saturday. Two of the three players in my foursome called to cancel Saturday morning and I called the fourth and he was on the fence. We were traveling 45 miles to Rio Vista to play the Trilogy course there where winds were gusting up to 60 MPH. We both reluctantly agreed to fore go the golf.

By the way, my car was left out Friday afternoon after Darla and I returned from a trip to the theater and a screening of the Sandra Bullock film, The Blind Side. It is a tremendous film with humor and tragedy and a heartwarming ending. I highly recommend it for a wet afternoon. Sandra Bullock will likely at least be nominated for an Academy Award for her strong performance in the film. The rain was supposed to pass on by about 4 PM and it did, but hail followed and then even stronger rain and I had to brave the onslaught to run out and retrieve my car from the hailstorm.

The boys were home for Thanksgiving, if only briefly. They arrived home late Wednesday night and were headed back to Cal Poly by Saturday afternoon as David is working on a project that is due next week. Daniel hopes to graduate by a year from June and David will still have two years left on his 5 year degree in Architecture. David won't graduate until he is 24. He got a little sideways on his credits for Cal Poly coming out of Junior College and is on the 6 year plan for college. It took me 5 years, but there has been inflation since 1980. Daniel went straight into Cal Poly out of high school and has strong plans to graduate on time. His girlfriend, Becky, will graduate this Summer and is looking at graduate schools now.

We spent thanksgiving with Darla's sister, Alicia, and her fiance, Don's home in Folsom. The boys were with us and their cousins, Shae and Taylor came into town from Willits, arriving late and being the first to leave. Shae works for AT&T at a phone store and had to work Black Friday early. It was a nice visit. Don and Alicia will marry in January and they have a baby due in late May. We had a good time, eating, watching football and playing the card game 3-13.

I did receive my payment from United Airlines for my golf clubs and they made me whole. I had a couple of items that I didn't have receipts for, so they dropped those to $100 each, but I am able to replace the set and was very pleased with the speed and sensitivity that United exhibited in the claims process. They were very apologetic for our inconvenience and even gave us a $150 credit for future travel.

Unfortunately, I also lost my i-phone on the Saturday before we left for Mexico and it was never recovered. I had it in my golf cart and it was gone when I finished the round. We stopped for drinks at the turn and someone must have seen it and grabbed it. I shut it down immediately, but the phone was lost. The i-phone does not have insurance if it is lost or stolen unlike other cell phones, so I had to eat the loss. I was able to upgrade to a 16GB i-phone on the 3Gs network, but I was out the cost to replace the phone ($300). I will treat this one like the small computer it is and be more careful.

I saw a funny e-mail pass my desk the other day and saved it to add to my blog:

"Something Else to Worry About

Here's my concern...

• 3 years ago, Chinese calendar year of the cow . . .
Mad Cow disease.

• 2 years ago, Chinese calendar year of the bird . . .
Avian flu.

• This year, Chinese calendar year of the pig . . .
Swine flu.

Next year is the year of the cock.

Is anybody else worried?"

I was born in in 1957, the Year of the Cock. (I know, I'm proud.)

I talked to Jennifer on Thanksgiving. Her project at the City Center in Las Vegas is quickly winding down. Jennifer said the Circus Soleil is already practicing for their opening in mid December (it will be an Elvis themed show). She had thought that she would be working all weekend overtime, but her GC called her in Wednesday and told her that he is keeping her on until the end of the project and letting some others go. He was giving the jettisoned workers the option of working overtime for the weekend, so Jennifer was able to drive three hours to Redlands and join her Mom (and Diane's husband) for Thanksgiving at his parent's house. John had Samantha for the weekend and took her to his grandparent's house in California as well. The good news from Jennifer is that on her next project she will be promoted to a foreman position and will direct a crew. Where or when that is is still up in the air, but she should be at City Center until the end of the year. Good for her. She works hard and is good at what she does.

Well, that's it for this week. I was able to make it to church today for the first time in about 6 weeks what with Detroit, golf and vacation. It was nice to be back in our portion of the church. It felt like HOME. You all be well. I hope Thanksgiving was great and that you are all hale and hearty. My tan is quickly fading, like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. Ciao.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to Dad and Shirley Happy Annivercity!!

It was a blast in Mexico. Happy thanksgiving everyone. The Lyon clan (with a new recruit) had a relaxing, thoroughly enjoyable time in Mexico. The weather was perfect all week, highs in the low 90's and lows near 68 degrees overnight. It was bright blue sunshine during the day and a few clouds would generally roll in off the ocean about 3:30 in the afternoon. The only day it even looked like possible rain showers was the evening (Tuesday) when we went on our party boat from the harbor in Nuevo Vallarta past the hotels along the beach in Banderas Bay and over to the city of Puerto Vallarta. We were able to get some pictures along the way and enjoyed a windy, but nice cruise from there over to the city of Las Caletas on the tip of the peninsula. We ate under candlelight as the area only has lights at the dock and in the theater for the show after dinner. The food was good, the company even better and we had a lot of laughs. The show itself was very authentic in terms of the Mayan culture and included music and a lot of dance. We left Las Caletas at 10:30 and got back to Nuevo at 11:30.

The cruise itself was interesting as there was a group of 100 lesbian women on board and they came in all shapes and sizes. There was a group on the beach when we got off and they yelled that they were "recruiting". I laughed and one said, "Not YOU!"The most interesting couple had to weight 600 pounds as a couple and I got stuck behind them on the way to the taxi. It was impossible to pass as I walked from the ship up past the bar and the gift shops to the front of the Travel Adventure office. Everyone was waiting for me as they wanted to get one of the first cabs of the 150 people on the boat. They were chiding me and I let slip that I got behind Shamu and her sister. Everyone knew who I meant.

We also took a trip into the little beach town of Busceria this trip. It was a 15 minute cab ride and we picked the perfect day as it was Mexican Revolution Day and the whole town was out for a parade. The taxi had to let us out on the highway and we walked past the parade into town. Busceria is a typical Mexican town with the Catholic Church in the center of town next to the plaza. A Mexican band was playing and there were vendors all over selling food and drink, which we were all loathe to try. The girls shopped and Darla bought some Mexican pottery for nachos and dips and Cheryl did the same at the little flea market in town. We walked from there to a restaurant on the beach, Claudios at Mason Bay. They had $6 margaritas in a glass as big as your head. They also had $9 fajitas and each couple split a plate and we ordered chips and guacamole. It was a highlight of the trip as we sat next to the beach and talked and watched the people wander the beach.

Of course golf was a big part of the trip and Neil and I hooked up again with Martin`, our caddy from last year. He can read greens like a magician. Shirley wasn't at all happy about the caddy and expressed it to us on Monday night. She couldn't wrap her head around some stranger in the middle of our golf. Of course, Shirley absolutely loved Martin` and he was instrumental in her very good round on Wednesday. She hit several long putts and Martin` had the putts read perfectly. We saw the crocodile again, in fact we saw two this trip, although they stayed in the water where they belong. Martin` told us a story of how the management of the golf course tried to trap the crocodile last year as they were concerned that golfers would approach it. They used a chicken as bait and unfortunately hung the chicken outside of the cage the first night and the crocodile easily made off with the bait. The second night, the chicken was inside the cage and in the morning the cage was open and the chicken was gone. They gave up after that for fear that more crocs would come out of the river for the free meals.

I was able to get in four golf games while we were there, but it was hard to get a tee time. They have imploded three of the Mayan Village buildings to make way for the new Grand Villa, Grand Estates and Grand Bliss buildings. They are selling all three of the upgraded resorts and all of their buyers are staying at the Grand Mayan. We couldn't even get an ocean view room, which was maddening. The Grand Bliss and Grand Villas open in November so our next trip should be much quieter. I shot 81, 39, 77 and 83 while we were in Mexico and I was happy to see my new driver helping me more than hurting me. Dad played two games, Shirley one and Darryl and Neil got in three games. Martin' was able to get us three morning tee times and we took his number and will call him a month ahead of our next trip and he will arrange our golf.

We met every twilight at Dad and Shirley's condo for appetizers and drinks. It was a lot of fun and we all looked forward to our time to come together before dinner. Two of the nights we returned to the condo after dinner and played dice and laughed and enjoyed ourselves before heading to bed.

Dad and Shirley left for home on Saturday brown and relaxed after two weeks in the Mexican sun. That night, the three remaining couples went to Buenos Aires restaurant right outside the entrance to Paradise Village. It was a tremendous final night for us as we enjoyed a feast. Luckily each couple split a steak and shrimp dinner. We added a couple of "must return" restaurants to our itinerary this trip. Neil and Lilly took us to Toni's restaurant in PV and surprised us all by picking up the tab. I was able to buy his dinner the next night when we ate at the onsite Italian restaurant and Darla and I had our first taste of Chateaubriand and loved it. We also returned to Brasil restaurant on our first night and thoroughly enjoyed the Brazilian steak restaurant.

Darryl and Cheryl and Darla and I bought the meal plan and were able to share appetizers and dessert with everyone at each meal we ate onsite. It turned out that four of the eight with a meal plan was perfect as we couldn't possibly have eaten more appetizers or dessert.

On Dad and Shirley's last night, we had planned a nice dinner at the new Asian restaurant on the property called Gong. We got there at 8 for our reservation and as we looked at the menu, we were all a little surprised at the lack of variety. When I told the waitress that four of us were on the meal plan and she told us that Gong had a special menu for that week and wasn't honoring the meal plan, we got up and walked out. Who needs Asian food in Mexico?

We walked back to the Grand Mayan entrance and asked for a ride to the Havana Moon restaurant. The uniformed bellhop said that he could only take seven and that he would get a separate cart for the eighth. What? The driver pulled up and we talked him into taking all eight of us. The bellboy shrugged and we were off. We barely made it around the corner from the hotel entrance and bottomed out on a speed bump. Four of us had to jump off to let the chassis of the cart lift up from the bump. We all had a good laugh and promised diets when we got home. The dinner at Havana Moon was nice and I had asked the Maitre D' to make a special cake for Dad and Shirley's anniversary. When they brought it out, they had written on the plate in front of the cake "Happy Annivercity". You can see this if you double click the first picture above.

They were both taken with the uniqueness of the misspelled cake and it was a nice touch to a very nice evening. We did miss Randy and Cake on this trip and I was told there was some misunderstanding in my invitation and for that I'm sorry. Neil and Lilly were indoctrinated into the family and said that they would be happy to pinch hit for Randy any time he can't make a family vacation.

It took me a few nights to get around to the blog, but i will add more this weekend. Darryl, I'm waiting for your pictures. I hope all are well. Ciao.

The only thing I brought back from Detroit...is a COLD

Yep. There were a couple of Managers at the meeting with sniffles and I ended up next to one at one of our sessions and, sure enough, Friday night I felt the sore throat starting and have been basically miserable since. I flew back to Sacramento Saturday night and was suffering on the plane, especially with my sinuses and my ears. On both landings (Dallas and Sacramento), I cold not get my ears to pop and had severe pain in my eardrums. I know of little kids who have been screaming on landing and I think they had the same problem I had. It was so bad in Sacramento that I could barely hear Darla on the cell phone when I called her in the cell phone lot to let her know that I had landed.

We got home and I took a hot shower and went to bed. i hadn't slept well Friday night and it was 1:45 AM Eastern time and I was a zombie. Darla brought me some hot tea and honey and I drank about half of it before falling into a deep and restful sleep. I awoke at 7:00 AM and got up to gauge if I was well enough to play in the Past President's tournament. I had a runny nose and a sore throat and felt chills and decided that I needed to just rest and called Neil to let him know that I was WD in the tournament. Those who know me, know that I was truly sick if I missed golf. I relaxed on the couch today and drank hot tea and sucked on throat lozenges. Darla left at noon to meet her sister for lunch and for bridal gown shopping. She and Don will marry in January. I watched the end of the morning games and decided to go outside and clear the leaves off the lawn and then mow. Darla got home later and was mad at me, but it's tough to just sit, especially when there is work to do. I will try to get out to the driving range this week and try out my new FT iq before the trip to Nuevo Vallarta next week. It came in on Thursday. I have my FT-9 up for auction on EBay right now and it will close tomorrow. Someone will get a great deal on a Tour quality driver.

The meetings this trip were quite favorable to me and I got a lot of kudos from management for our results year to date. Young Anthony won two of the year end awards with Distinguished Underwriter of the year for booking over $650,000 in income for the year and he also won for New business underwriter of the year. Finally, our branch in Sacramento won the coveted Gold Award for Branch of the Year in Division 3. In spite of my growing cold, I was pleased to be up and down going to the stage to collect the awards for Sacramento. The meeting overall were very well done, from dinner at Cheli's (named for some Red Wing hockey player named Chelios) to the awards dinner and the meeting in between, it was a first class affair. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Dearborn and spent Thursday in Home Office with our companies and staff. They had me set up every 30 minutes with a different market and it was a great way to talk to our suppliers.

The company continues to have policy growth and, although the revenue is flat, we are poised for continued growth in years to come. My meeting with our CEO went well. I have some things to do to help grow the office, but management is very happy with the results. The ten month figures came out on Monday and my profit for the year has surpassed $500,000, which is fantastic.

I talked to Darryl briefly today and he wanted to know what to expect when he gets to Puerto Vallarta. Dad had told him that the airport is a zoo. It's true, there are 100's of time share people trying to entice you just outside of Customs, but if you walk through the second set of doors you will find cabbies lined up to take you to your hotel. I told him the fare to Nuevo Vallarta is $15, or was when we were there last and to make sure he agrees on a price before they leave the airport. Luckily, Darla and I will be picked up by the Grand Mayan when we fly in. Darryl and Cheryl could have been picked up as well, but they are spending an extra night with Dad and Shirley who are already in Nuevo Vallarta. The only drawback to our trip is that they are still doing construction on site and we are still at only nine holes of golf and the regular six restaurants is down to three. We will enjoy ourselves and I look forward to kicking this cold and getting down to some sun and fun in Mexico next week. Speaking of that, the blog is going on vacation. I may do a post before I leave, but only if I get to it. Darla and I will be packing and getting ready next weekend. We fly out at 6:15 AM on Sunday.

It is halftime of the Dallas Cowboy's Sunday Night Football game, so this will be short. Be advised however that I will be back with pictures and highlights from our trip to Mexico after next week. I look forward to seeing the troops tomorrow at work and sharing all of our good news. I hope you are all well. Ciao.

Correction from Butt Cramp Boy!

I have the attention span of a small child with a sever case of ADD and missed the official title that Darryl holds at McClane. He is definitely number three at the facility, but is the Vice President. There is a President on site and a Regional VP, well, let him explain...

"I am the VP and I run the facility (my next move is President) – my President handles the administrative side of the business and I handle 90 percent of the operations and transportation. I have a Transportation Manager who runs the distribution side and an Operations Manager who runs the warehouse side. There is also a Regional Vice President imbedded in the facility who is number two in the company."

Honestly, who wants to be numer two? There are some negative connotations there. Actually, it sounds like he has two middle managers that pretty well run things for him. Pretty good gig if you can get it.

Halloween? No, golf and relaxation in Monterey, CA!!

We have pictures of the little monkey from Halloween in Las Vegas. Jennifer decided to have Samantha wear the Monkey costume again and this time actually go out and do some trick or treating. Jen said the first house they went to Sam tried to walk into the house and Jennifer had to call her back. She finally got the hang of it and absolutely loved seeing the people and meeting her neighbors. We miss her SO MUCH and wish that they lived closer. She is a doll.

Darla and I spent the weekend in Monterey. I decided to work Friday morning and fore go a third day of golf and spend some time with Darla on the drive down and at the hotel. We left about 12:30 from Roseville and after a stop to deliver jewelry in downtown Sacramento got on the road. We stopped in Galt, CA (of all places) and had a late lunch at the Squeeze Inn, a Sacramento institution and once profiled on Diners, Dives and Drive-ins on the food network. The restaurant was a tiny shack with room for about 12 people to eat inside. They did a booming walk-up business, but after their 15 minutes of fame on TV, someone in a wheelchair sued them for lack of access and they were forced to close their doors. They moved to Galt in a new sprawling industrial center and the name "Squeeze Inn" is no longer appropriate, but it stuck. They make fantastic hamburgers, their signature burger a cheddar burger where a large 10"x10" slice of thick cheddar is laid over the patty after it has been turned once and a lid placed over the whole thing (with mushrooms or grilled onions added). They serve the creation with the melted fried cheese hanging over and around the patty and sitting three inches over the entire bun on all sides. We enjoyed two of those with fries and a tremendous milk shake and Darla's blood sugar level was rapidly on the rise. She has been so good and it was a treat to gorge on some diner food.

We got down to Monterey about 5:00 PM and checked into the Portola Inn and Spa on the Monterey wharf. We had Priceline rooms at $89 a night at the $189 a night hotel. They upgraded our room to a King deluxe and we relaxed before meeting up with our friends in town. We had dinner with Rick and Jan and Neil and Lilly along with Jerry and his wife at a small Italian restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. Rick and Jan also got the Priceline deal and were two doors down from us. Bob and Vicki were supposed to be at the same hotel, but Vicki decided to go to SoCal and see the Grand kids and Bob stayed with his elderly Mom in San Jose.

The day on Saturday dawned foggy and cold, but the blue sky was evident on the cusp of the fog and we drove over to Poppy hills knowing a good day was in store. The fog lifted after the third hole and we were bathed in 72 degree sunshine by the afternoon. I wore shorts under wind pants and had stripped the pants off by the 6th hole. I shot 43+42 for an 85. Bob shot 40+50=90 and wasn't a happy camper by the time we finished. His driver was causing him fits and mine was misbehaving all day as well. I had four straight double bogeys on the back side from hole number 11-14. I birdied 15 before finishing par-par-par for a 43 on the back. The low gross on the day was an 80 and I took third low net and won $33.

Darla met up with Daniel and Becky as they drove up from San Luis Obispo (about two hours by car) and met for lunch. Darla had got her shopping fix on at the shops near the hotel and in pacific Grove after a breakfast at Toasties in Pacific Grove, a favorite of ours. Darla and the kids went down to the beach at the bottom of Ocean Avenue in Carmel and took the pictures posted above. They had a nice visit and the kids were back on the road by 4 PM.

We were dropped back off at the hotel by Bob and we went "rogue" and opted out of the group activity that night which was dinner at a Chinese Food place. Darla and Jan both said they didn't drive to Monterey to eat Chinese, so we got together and had dinner at the FishWife in Pacific Grove. I'm glad we did as we enjoyed a special of prime rib and lobster tail for $24.95 that was outstanding. We had drinks at he bar before dinner and basically acted like adults out on the town. It was wonderful.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny with no remnants of any fog. It was warm early and warmed further as it settled out at 76 degrees on November 1st in Monterey. We absolutely could not have picked a better weekend. The boys and I headed to the golf course early and had breakfast at the Del Monte Lodge. I played just as consistently inconsistent and had two birdies on the day to go with two double bogeys, some pars and a bunch of bogeys for 42+43 = 85. My driver continues to befuddle me and I've already taken care of that headache. Bob also shot 85 and I heard two things out of Bob that I thought I'd never hear. One was, "Give me a nine" on Saturday and the other was "That was a 10" on Sunday. Amazing. I ended up taking 6th low net and won $24, which bought me a nice Pebble Beach bag tag at the Del Monte pro shop.

Darla and Jan went to breakfast in Carmel and when they were walking the shops afterward witnessed a car accident. The driver left the stop sign and didn't see an elderly couple crossing the street and plowed into them. The older gentleman flew through the air and hit his head on the median, while his wife was thrown to the pavement and had contusions. It is a small and often wonderful world and a women who was near Darla grabbed her hands and said, "Let's pray" and prayed for the health of the couple as the paramedics responded to the scene. God is good and his people are everywhere. It was encouraging to Darla who had seen the car hit the couple and was pretty shaken.

We got home about 6:30 last night and I was just too tired to work on the blog and left it for tonight. We had a great time on our short vacation and enjoyed the hotel, the food, the friends and being together away from home. We are both so busy, it was good to be together away from the distractions of home.

I mentioned that I did something about my driver and on my way home tonight monitored an auction on EBay and was able to get a replacement for my FT 1q 9 degree driver, brand new one for $152. I had watched two other auctions during the day and both of those clubs went for over $200, so i lucked out. I waited until the last minute and the price was still at $119.50. I put in my bid at a maximum of $155.01 and got it for $152. I will sell the FT-9 Tour model on EBay and recoup some of the $228 I paid for it. Golf is a work in progress. Always.

I am off to Detroit on Wednesday for the annual Managers meeting and will get back to this on Sunday. Dad and Shirley leave for Mexico on Saturday and we follow the next Sunday. I hope you are all well. Ciao.

A good weekend in the books

It was about golf and relaxing this weekend. I got a chance to try out my new clubs and they are a work in progress right now. I think I actually played better with Darryl's second set. My problem right now is gauging distance. The new X-R 18 irons are about 10-15 yards longer than my R7 irons. The one club that is absolutely perfect so far is the Callaway X 3 iron. I'm nutting that about 215 off the fairway. The driver is probably too stiff for me, but I've hit some really good drives (and a few I'd like to forget). The Callaway FT-9 has an extra stiff shaft and a 8.5 degree face. When I hit it, I'm about 240-250 in the fairway, but I have a tendency to overswing and get a slice., something I didn't worry about with my Ft-iQ.

I went out with Matt and Darren yesterday and played Woodcreek. I was consistently inconsistent and flying some greens with iron shots and shot 44+44=88. Matt shot 75 and was ready for our two man scramble today. We each had to get 5 drives in and I figured that with my inconsistency, Matt would carry us. He hits the ball about 25-30 yards longer than me and was hitting the ball well. Funny, I hit more fairways than him today and we ended up using nine of his drives and nine of mine. It was a 7:30 shotgun, wet and cold (although it was 79 degrees today) at the start and the grass was covered in dew. We shot a par on our starting hole 17 and then Matt hit a 285 yard drive on the 440 yard number one handicap hole 18. We managed to both mess up our approach shot and left a par putt of 20 feet that we both missed. We settled down on the front side and shot a 34 with seven pars and two birdies. The back nine was fun as we had birdies on four of the first 5 holes and ended up with a 33 on the back for 67 gross and 60 net with our combined 7 strokes. Matt is a 4 and I get 11 and we get the average of our two scores which was rounded down for some unknown reason. We ended up taking $5 from Boyd and his partner and winning $45 in the tournament. Matt got signed up for the club at our renewal rate and has the rest of this year and all of next year to play the tournaments. He is an excellent golfer and will be right there with Bob Pando for a shot at the club championship in the coming years.

I got home from golf on Saturday and was exhausted. I talked to Darla for a bit and laid down on the couch and was soon fast asleep. The doorbell rang at 5:30 and Darla got up from her spot on the bed (she doesn't like to nap on the couch, which likely has more to do with my snoring than the relative comfort of the sofa). It was one of our neighbors letting us know that I had a flat tire on my car in the driveway. I had left it out to wash it. The 300 has low profile tires and I probably wouldn't have noticed it, put it in the garage and had to get the tire changed at 6;30 this morning before golf. Thank God they came by. I'd like to think I'd have noticed it when I washed it though. I ended up having AAA come out and change the tire. I then washed my car and Darla's Explorer. I moved my clubs into the Explorer and Darla agreed to take the 300 in to Firestone today after church. It turns out it was a bad air stem and they were able to change that out and put the tire back on my car for less than $25. Darla walked across the street from the Firestone and had breakfast at the Waffle House this morning while they were fixing the tire. I got home again today, watched the Dallas game and fell asleep again on the couch. I'm turning into Gramp Lyon. At least that's what Samantha calls me.

Darla and I are off to Monterey next weekend. I decided to go to work Friday morning as it is month end closing and work a 1/2 day. Darla and I will take a slow drive down to Monterey and have dinner likely on the wharf as our hotel sits at the foot of the wharf in Monterey. We play Poppy Hills on Saturday and Old Del Monte on Sunday. The blog will be late next week as I work on it around the Monday Night football game.

I had mentioned in an earlier blog entry that we had toured the facility at Darryl's work in Longmont, Colorado. I was impressed with the scope of the operation and Darryl is the number three man at this massive facility. There is a facility President, A VP and Darryl as the Operations manager. He has the warehouse report to him as well as receiving, shipping and the terminal operations. We walked through the refrigeration storage areas, the freezer, as well as the main warehouse full of ice cream, candy, cigarettes, dry goods and all types of food, tobacco and candy. It was very impressive and I was impressed with Darryl's respect that he had from everyone as we walked through the terminal and warehouses. They were having some sort of problem with cigarettes on the day we walked through. The cigarettes have to be stamped with a tax stamp from the state where they will be sold and corporate had made some error, so the shipment was late and they had about twenty people standing around waiting for work. They were relaxed until they saw Darryl and they all got busy. It was great.

After we left Denver, Darryl ended up with pneumonia. His guests were both sick when they were there, but he ended up flat on his back for a week sick as a dog. I haven't talked to him, but got an e-mail addressing his illness from him. He was hacking and wheezing and couldn't keep any food down. Tough stuff.

Work is going very well for me and I think we are getting into a rhythm with the Modesto office. I have never been busier than I am now at work as I handle a big portion of the Modesto agents and I QA every file coming out of Modesto. I still have to split up some of the agents to other underwriters, but the office will stay open until December 31st, so I have time before I need to do that. Our office is having another great month and it is fun to ride this wave. I had a young underwriter from a competitor contact me last week and I will meet him for lunch next Tuesday. He's interested in exploring the possibilities at Burns and Wilcox.

I leave for the Manager's meeting in Michigan a week from Wednesday. I fly out at 9 AM and fly through Dallas to Michigan, arriving at 6:30 PM. It is a long day of travel and the limo will pick me up at the airport and take me straight to the restaurant where all of the managers will meet for dinner. I stay until Saturday afternoon and fly back Saturday night. It is a grueling few days and I end up exhausted. Thankfully I am back for only a week and then I'm off to Mexico with Darla, dad and Shirley, Darryl and Cheryl and Neil and Lilly. It will be a blast to get back to the sun and fun of Nuevo Vallarta.

I do have one other leftover from the Denver visit and it feels a little like piling on what with Darryl's recent bout of pneumonia, but hey! We played Wii bowling in Darryl's basement while we were there. it was fun and competitive and we had a lot of laughs, but my 53 year old brother ended up pulling a muscle in his butt on the second game and had me in tears laughing as he hobbled around trying to play fake bowling. It is a new low in sports injuries, a pulled butt muscle in Wii bowling.

With that I will bid you all adieu and, until next week, keep traveling on the Lord's path and HE will direct your footsteps. Be well. Ciao.