You can see the house in the above shots and how the trees have grown so much in the 13 years we have owned the house. At times I think they are too big, but they provide tremendous shade for the house on hot Summer days on both the front and the sides of the house. The second picture of Samantha is my new favorite, she looks like such an angel and is in contrast to the first picture where she is mucking around in the cake batter while Mom makes a cake. We are definitely looking forward to our trip on April 20th.
The weather has definitely turned Spring-like and Darla is out in the garden as I write this planting a couple of flowering plants in the palm garden to replace a few that the sever winter killed off. I was out when i got back from golf and I mowed the lawns, fixed a couple of sprinkler heads and cleaned the pool. I also trimmed up some plants around the pool and picked up the leaves from a windy morning.
I did play golf today, my third game in four days and it was a bit windy and cold when we teed off. The forecast was for winds gusting to 25 MPH this morning tapering off to a breeze this afternoon. I didn't bring a coat and we teed off at 8:30, so I went into the pro shop and shopped through the lost and found bin for a wind shirt that I put on and wore for the round. It is a size 2X and I'm sure Bubba was probably looking for it when he finished his round (actually, Dale in the pro shop said it had been there for a week). I played golf with the guys at work on Thursday. We closed the month at a new Sacramento record of $235,000 in income and Matt, Anthony and Peter all had their best months ever, so we took a mid afternoon on our close and went and played golf. The course, Mather, which is near our office had just plugged their greens and it was not in the best of shape. It is not a good drainer and they had several holes where the fairways looked like Master's rough. We played the white tees and I managed a 41+42=83. In fact, I played in a tournament yesterday and shot 42+43=85 and today and shot 45+39=84 and came back from the course figuring that it was coming around. My drives are long and in the fairway, but I'm struggling with my sand wedge and putter right now.
Darla and I had dinner with our friends, Neil and Lilly on Saturday night after church. We went to the local Italian restaurant, Strings, and enjoyed two hours of food, drink and good times with good friends. They are both such good people. I told them about Cheryl's mom passing away Saturday morning and they asked me to pass on their sympathies to Darryl and Cheryl and the family. I also suggested to Neil that perhaps I could get Darryl and Cheryl to come out for our annual RGC trip to Carmel in October. Darryl, put October 15 and 16 on your calendar for coming out to California. We will leave Friday for Carmel and stay two nights and play Pacific Grove on Saturday and Poppy Hills on Sunday. Neil and Lilly will be there and some of our other golf friends. It is a shopping and lunching trip for the ladies and a golf trip for the guys. We all meet up in the evenings and have dinner and visit. It is a lot of fun. If you can make it, we'll see about getting a 2 bedroom condo in Pacific Grove for the weekend.
Work is going well, but we have triggered our option to take an early out on our lease on the office building in Rancho Cordova. I spent one afternoon this past week looking at office space and will have another tour in two weeks in Folsom, California looking at space. Our building is thirty years old and doesn't have the amenities available in the newer buildings (gym, relaxation room, upgraded interior moldings and interior doors and windows.) The economy has dropped prices on leases and the longer the lease the better the terms. We are looking at a five year lease and will save money over the space that we are in now and improve the surroundings. There are many class A five year old and younger buildings looking for tenants. I look forward to upgrading the space and then throwing an open house for the agents after we move in.
Our taxes are done and we had to write a couple of big checks again this year. Obama needs the money for illegal aliens that aren't willing to work that want a free handout. God forbid we kick them out of the country. I was astounded this last week when there was an INS raid on one of our local nursery companies. They found that over forty of the workers were illegal aliens. Many of them had worked for the nursery for over twenty years and were paying taxes, had children that had grown up and married after going to college. Those people are being deported. I know I harp on the illegal alien situation, but why is the INS going after the illegals that have jobs, paying taxes, and being positive members of society , yet they leave the illegals that are out of work, on welfare, sucking on the government's teat and being a drag on the taxpayers alone to continue to siphon money from hard working taxpayers? The ignominy of the situation galls me. Dad loves it when I go off on a rant, so this is for you, Dad.
I have our company owned inspection company coming out this week with our local rep and one of his vice presidents and they are taking me golfing on Friday. The VP is a 6 handicap, so I'm bringing Matt with me to round out the foresome. We were going to play at the local Country Club in Roseville, but they have a tournament on Friday. We will go up to Auburn and play The Ridge Golf Club instead.
Well Darla is making fried potatoes and has a London Broil that has been marinating since last night that she wants me to cook, so I need to fire up the barbecue and get to work. I hope you are all doing well. Pray for Darryl and Cheryl as they deal with the death and funeral of Cheryl's mom, Delores, this week. Pray especially for Ray, who has seen his life partner of 61 years fall ill and over the past couple of years and now, mercifully, pass on to heaven. It will be a big transition for him as he learns to live without his friend and wife. Ciao.
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