SOARing into 2010

SOAR is the name of the incentive trip that Darla wins each year. No one could tell me what the acronym SOAR stands for so I decided it is Sales Oriented Achievement Reward. We left Wednesday morning at 6 AM, flew to Dallas and then on to Cancun, arriving about 4 PM. We collected our bags and were met by a van driver who drove us the 50 minutes to the resort, which is past Playa Del Carmen and about 10 minutes from Tulum. We were very impressed with the architecture and grounds. There are over 3000 rooms on the property. The amazing thing to us is that our room had a two person Jacuzzi, a bar and a fully stocked refrigerator. The resort is all-inclusive and Darla and I gave them a good run for the money. We would meet the members of Darla's team for drinks each night before dinner and sample mudslides and Brandy Alexanders and Colorado Bulldogs and other exotic drinks. We were able to get a table for sixteen in La Huerta the second night of our stay. The hostess said that she would seat us at four different tables for four and I talked the Manager into taking care of us, picking out a spot away from the other guests for our party and putting all 16 of us at a single table setting. The manager even had his bartender prepare Mayan coffee for us, which is a blend of coffee, honey liqueur and ice cream served in a sugar crusted glass rim and prepared in a flaming liqueur that is poured from the glass back into a pitcher and back into the glass with the lights turned down and the show in full effect.

Darla and I would meet other nights for drinks, but then steal off on our own to try different restaurants. They had twelve restaurants from a steak house to Italian, Mexican, Sushi, Mediterranean, and Polynesian. Our favorite restaurant was the steakhouse with a choice of rib eye, top sirloin, New York, Filet Mignon, kebabs, etc. They cooked the meat over coals and it was excellent. The Mexican was good and we enjoyed the Italian as well. There are certain things the Mexican people do well: meats, pastries, juices, peppers, etc and some they do bad: chocolate, milk, butter, cheeses, and breads. The restaurants were largely buffet at breakfast and lunch and sit down for dinner. Darla and I would get fresh omelette's, pancakes, waffles, etc for breakfast cooked on the grill. The buffet food was largely tasteless and unappetizing. For lunch we would do salads, tortillas and burritos as well as hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and steak sandwiches cooked to order. We would ignore most of the buffets again due to a sameness and unappetizing display.

Darla and I did take an ATV tour in Playa Del Carmen that took us on a two hour ride through the jungle and to the beach. When we took the ATV tour in Hawaii, we had a half hour riding lesson where the instructors "certified" us ready to ride. In Mexico, they had us get on, showed us how to put the bike in neutral, start it and off we went. We were put with a group of Canadians, a family of 8 from Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver Island that had met in Cancun for vacation. They had 14 in total, but only eight on the ATV tour. They had 80 year old parents that had gone para sailing the day before, so this family was tough. We went through a cave in the jungle that had stalactite and stalagmites, fruit bats, a huge roots of the trees of the jungle on the cave floor, one of them an anaconda root, which is thick and long like the snake. It was very interesting. As we exited the cave on the opposite side of where we entered the guide told us to be careful of pumas and that he'd point out their tracks. Several of the ladies got a bit concerned and he admitted that there were also Nike tracks, Adidas tracks, even Converse tracks. The trail was very rocky and I had to stand on the four wheeler ( A Grizzly 350) as the pounding on my back was too much. We finally got out of the hills and down to the beach and the trail became sandy and smooth. After two stops to swim, we took off for the compound which was two miles away. The lead guide was flying and I was right behind him spinning and sliding through the turns as we drove upwards of 50 MPH. Finally, we stopped to wait on the group behind us and they were a good 5 minutes behind. I have to hand it to Darla, she was right there on my tail the whole way. It was alot of fun and we decided to ATV rather than go on the visit to the Mayan Ruins.

Darla decided to go rogue Saturday night and skip the closing ceremonies. It rained Saturday and we were confined to our room with trips to the bar and meals in between. We met the gang for drinks and then headed back to the room to watch the Dallas playoff game. I had told Darla that this was her trip and that I'd gladly miss the game, but she wanted me to be able to see it and it was a great win for the Cowboys Saturday night. We went to the steakhouse Saturday at half time and then ordered room service dessert.

Darla definitely has issues with direction and she was completely turned around at the resort. There are two sides, the Spa side (adults only) and the Palace side for families. We would usually hit the beach on the Palace side and eat lunch there at Manducas. She would blindly follow me and admit she had no idea where we were at any time. On Friday night we decided to go to The Hacienda Mexican restaurant. I was ready before her and wanted to get some air so told her I'd meet her outside. Unfortunately, I walked to the ocean side and listened to the waves and looked at the lights on the water. She came out to meet me and turned in the other direction and walked to the front of the resort ( a pretty good hike). I walked back to the room wondering what was taking so long and she was gone. I knew then I was in trouble. She came back seething, telling me that "my game of hiding when she didn't know where the Hell she was wasn't funny". Her reaction was unfortunately funny to me which didn't help the situation at all.

We got home at 11:00 PM last night and I'm tired today as we were on central time in Cancun. I made it through the day of work and look forward to a good night's sleep in my own bed tonight.

Darla and I are off to Napa this weekend leaving Friday morning for my retreat at Silverado Country Club and Spa with the insurance board that I serve on. Alicia will be married Saturday and we will stay over at the Marriott in Napa Saturday night. I'm sure I'll watch the Dallas game Sunday morning in the sports bar.

I hope you are all well. It is good to be home, if only for a few days, See I am like my father. Be safe and healthy in the New Year and God Bless. Ciao.

2010, A New Year!

It is a New Year. We made it through another night of Dick Clark mumbling through his monologue and counting down the last seconds of the year like a downs syndrome sufferer. Don't get me wrong, I have great sympathy for what Dick Clark went through with his stroke and recovery, but his agents and handlers need to force him out of the limelight. I still remember Ronald Reagan for the strength and character of his Presidential years and the reason is that Nancy loved him enough to keep him out of the public eye when his Alzheimer's symptoms began to impede his memory and his actions. Dick Clark is a multi-millionaire and he should retire into a non-public life and let his memory not be tarnished in his later years. We had five couple over on New Year's Day and we played games (billiards, dice, cards, Wii), watched bowl games, ate appetizers and finally enjoyed a repast of prime rib that Darla cooked. She had bought an 18 pound prime rib and it was exactly the size of the pan that she cooked it in.

Saturday, Darla was hosting a wedding shower for her sister, Alicia, so I invited my soon to be brother-in-law, Don, to play some golf with Boyd, Bob and I on a road trip up to Valley Springs. I met Bob and Boyd at the Starbucks up the street at 7:40 AM and we drove to Elk Grove to pick Don up at a small golf course. Don lives in Folsom and it was out of our way. We got to the course early and did some chipping and putting. Don showed up and we piled him into the truck and went to La Contenta up in Valley Springs, about an hour drive from Elk Grove. Don played much better than I had expected on a tough course and shot 45+54 for 99. I shot 86, Boyd struggled to an 86 and Bob shot 87. Boyd and I had played the course before and it is really a tough track with alot of blind shots and very unique holes. Bob looks forward to another shot at it when he knows what's coming. The weather was great when we got there, sunny and nice, but the clouds and high fog moved in on the back nine and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. The back side is tougher than the front ( I shot 40+46) with some severe greens and a stimp meter on the green of almost 12. Don can really hit the ball a long way and both Bob and Boyd said that he could be very good if he played regularly. He has a nice touch on his short irons, but tends to occasionally spray the ball of the tee. When he hits a pure drive, he hits it about 280 yards and leaves me in the dust.

I drove home that afternoon and Darla's Dad, Earl, was there enjoying the leftover food from the shower, including the cake. David came over and snacked a bit, picked up his gear and was off to Cal Poly where school starts back up tomorrow. As a matter of fact you can see David in the pictures from New Year's Day playing dice with us. He came by for some prime rib late in the day and I had him playing pool with the guys and he sat in on the dice game.

I bought Darla a four-hour house cleaning as a Christmas present and she had the crew in on Tuesday to clean the house. They did a good job and it turned out that one of the crew had gone to school with Daniel and was in many of his classes. She left Daniel a note to call her to catch up on old times, but Daniel could barely remember her and he is pretty loyal to Becky. We teased him a bit about it. Darla and I may have them come in once a month to do the floors and bathrooms, kitchen, dusting, etc.

The Dallas Cowboys completed their season ending makeover with a 24-0 shellacking of the Philadelphia Eagles today. I enjoy the games, but admit that I fell asleep late in the fourth quarter. Dallas absolutely dominated the Eagles. They play them in Dallas again next weekend in the first round of the playoffs.

Darla and I are off to the Mayan Riviera on Wednesday morning and will be home next Sunday. The following weekend is Alicia and Don's wedding and we'll be in Napa. I will likely get to the blog with details of our Silpada trip early next week. We stay at the all-inclusive Adventura spa and Resort in Mexico and all meals, spa treatments, etc are paid for. We look forward to getting away, but don't like the Christmas extra weight we are carrying.

I hope everyone's new year is special and that you all make a commitment to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in 2010. Ciao.

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.