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