74 degrees with high thin clouds

In other words Perfect Spring Weather. That little Summer front that passed through with high pressure over the area moved out about Wednesday of last week and after a day of light rain during both the morning and afternoon commute, we have happily settled into Spring. I could really go for April to be in the seventies, May in the eighties and June hit the nineties and then it could just stay there for the Summer. I was in Modesto on Tuesday and got home about 4:30 and Darla and I had our first "in pool" day of the year. It was 92 degrees and the pool water was 80 degrees. I splashed about for a bit and then got out the rafts and Darla and I lounged on the pool for about an hour. It was nice and foreshadowed some fun days on the pool in the near future. I had to start the pool for the Summer about three weeks ago and now have chemicals in the pool. That was the weekend that I cleaned the pool filter and cleaned out the pool sweep as well.

I spent part of yesterday and today on the pool deck. The lighter color over the darker from last year is a tough sell because if any of the stain flakes off, the rust color shows through pretty clearly. I took a wire brush and scrubbed several spots where the stain had flaked and re stained it yesterday and then followed up with another round of the Behr "wet look" sealant today. The lighter color really shows the dirt and needs to be sprayed down more often than the darker color. I also put another coat of the sealant on the river rock on the back of the pool and will turn the waterfalls back on this week. I had them turned off during the Winter as the hard water builds up in the caulking around the rocks pretty bad and nobody is out enjoying the pool when it is 40 degrees and raining.

Anthony, my top underwriter and formerly my assistant, just got back from a conference in Scottsdale, Arizona and Anthony was recognized there in a Burns and Wilcox only meeting as the number three producer in the company for new business in 2009. My office continues to hit our goals for production and profit every month and we are having a really good 2009. It is nice to be on the radar of the company for good reasons for a change. We are having a VERY GOOD April and hope to keep the momentum going.

I went out and played golf with Matt, the insurance intern from my office, Boyd and Phamas at Alister MacKenzie golf course in Sacramento on Saturday. MacKenzie is the course where the State Fair championship is contended every year and the Sacramento Amateur. I shot terrible on the front nine after starting double bogey-double bogey, but pulled it together on the back nine and took some money from my friends with a 45+39=84. The greens at MacKenzie are SLOW and I was leaving putts fifteen feet short. I three putted the first two holes. They had a Golf Expo going on and I wandered through the booths and tried a few putters and talked to some vendors afterward. I didn't buy anything as my whole set is relatively new, but would have bought some golf shorts if they had any of the sale shorts in my size (36). They didn't.

Darla has been a fiend this weekend with her Silpada. She had a home party on Friday night. She spent yesterday in Paradise at a street faire with one of her new recruits. This morning she was up early at a baby boutique at the Placer County fairgrounds and this afternoon is in Cameron Park at another house party for Silpada. She was up early on Saturday and out the door by 6:00 AM. Unbeknownst to me she had slipped in the garage when she was getting down a folding chair from the top of one of the built in cabinets. There are four chairs stacked up there, stored for the winter. Apparently, she used a small ice chest to stand on and it slipped out from under her when she was reaching for the chair and she fell and turned her foot. She called me at 7:00 AM to tell me the story. I was oblivious as I was still sleeping in. The last time she slipped was at Sherry and Al's house in Canada and I was in trouble that time. We heard the crash from downstairs and when I asked her if she was okay, she said, "I'm fine." Somehow that was code for "come up here and help me" and I missed the signal. This time I think I scooted by because I was asleep. Her foot is black and blue between the middle two toes and a little swollen. She iced it and took some Ibuprofen and she has soldiered on all weekend. She has twenty some girls working for her now and is constantly shuttling jewelry between one rep or another and it is all her jewelry. I don't know how she keeps up with it all.

I will be booking our rooms in Nuevo Vallarta this week for the Lyon family trip to Mexico in November. Jack Nicklaus and his design people are working on the final stages of the back nine at the Grand Mayan and it is slated to open in September. The Grand Mayan is offering golf at half price this year to all owners and their guests, so it will only cost us $25 a round to play on a course with a rack rate of $160 (the normal owner cost is $50). I look forward to the trip and to spending time with my brothers, my Dad and their wives. It will be a great family week.

I talked to Jennifer this week and she is doing great. She has adjusted her schedule and is taking Sam into day care at 5 AM now. There was talk of them moving to a different day care that is 24 hours a day as theirs just changed to a limited schedule, but that won't happen until it is in John's best interest. I don't know how she puts up with the situation, but she has decided the less contact with John the healthier it is for her. I truly hope that time heals some wounds for John as he ended up being a real shrew. Some of things he has said and done to Jennifer, I hope no man ever says or does to Samantha. On a bright note, Samantha is doing great. Her teeth are coming in one at a time as they are wont to do in toddlers and he she is a happy and healthy 17 month old.

That's it for now. I have the first weekend of a 54 hole individual championship next weekend. It is a chance for us to play a 54 hole stroke play event and see how we can do against the rest of the club. It is not our club championship, which is match play, but probably the number two tournament for bragging rights in the club. We play Saturday and Sunday next week and then the following Saturday before Mother's Day. I hope you are all well and the weather is Spring-like in your area and that you are all healthy and happy and following in the footsteps of our Saviour. Ciao.