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.