Back to work and tired today. It was actually a relaxing weekend up until last night. Unfortunately I got into it with the boys. Daniel has a tendency to let his mouth work before his head and he pulled a doozy last night. I was already irritated about the boys being on the computer all day and I told Daniel to wrap it up about ten-thirty. He told me he'd be done when he was done and all hell broke loose. I don't understand modern teachers pushing kids to use the internet and computers. The same project that took me an hour to finish by hand takes them twelve hours on the computer. I thought the computer was supposed to speed things up? There is no reward for trying to raise someone else's kids. I suppose being a step-parent is about as tough as being a step-kid. Enough said?

I talked to Jennifer last night and she is doing nothing short of GREAT. She has a new beau in the military, A PFC named Ryan who is 21 years of age. She is quite taken with him and will visit his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in June before coming home for two weeks. She said he is young and looks even younger. I wonder if the young man shaves? He is in his second year of a six-year hitch and has a similar MOS to Jennifer, in communications. Jennifer is still committed to getting out of the Army when her stretch ends next November. She leaves for Kuwait on September 21st and will be there on a 14-month tour of duty.

We had Darla's folks over on Saturday night and had one of those "Murphy's Law" kind of nights. Darla had planned a dinner of barbecued chicken breasts and all the fixens. The corn on the cob that she bought and served was not fresh. It tasted fine to me, but as Darla said, "You didn't grow up on a farm." The chicken breasts that she gave me were DD Dolly Parton chicken breasts, absolutely huge. I barbecued them for 45 minutes on the grill baking the outsides to a golden brown and slathering them with barbecue sauce. When we served them, there was a quick line that formed at the microwave as the breasts were basically "sushi-style" chicken. Although they looked wonderful on the outside, the insides were raw. The only thing I can think is that I cooked them on a lower heat because there were so many (8 breasts) and I would have had a fireball if I tried to cook them on high. Earl, Darla's Dad, said, "Well, Ken, you can't impress me every time."

David and I made a run to the dump yesterday and took a full load of old lawnmower, barbecue, fertilizer spreader, baseball net and stand, old metal shelving unit that was rusted and shot, and a passel of wood, much of it scraps from when Dad and I built the shed in 2000. The side of the house is back to a neat and orderly side yard instead of a staging area for discarded items.

I played golf with Jerry Tuel on Friday in a claims tournament here in Sacramento. I hadn't seen Jerry in quite awhile. Tammi is now a licensed real estate agent and every weekend is taken up with open houses and trips with prospective buyers to homes in their price range. She is doing very well and was number two in sales last month in her 45-agent office. I'm happy for her, but sad for us as the friendship has taken a back seat to her job. We invited them to go to Monterey with us last weekend, but they were too busy, which has been a theme each time we've tried to get together. Their daughter, Natalie, will graduate from high school next month and attend Sonoma State in the fall. Their son, Matt, is moving out of the house at the same time and moving in to a house with some buddies. Tammi and Jerry will be "empty-nesters", something that I strive to be in the very near future.

Work is going well. In fact, our office made a profit for the company for the first time in about 11 months. We have worked hard to pare the staff and get the people in place to make this a profitable endeavor. Of course, change isn't easy and one of the three remaining underwriters gave her notice last week and will be gone after Friday. This is another hiccup on the road to profitability. This will gravely impact my workload as we will have two underwriters essentially doing the work of five. Bill, my boss, has vowed to have a replacement underwriter in place by July 1st. As Gail, the only other underwriter in the office, takes a three-week vacation in July, I would say that it is nothing short of imperative that a replacement be found by then. Or simply put a staight jacket on me and send me to the Funny Farm.

Well, that's it for another episode of "Life with the Lyons". Be well and do something nice for someone you love today, just for the smell of it.

Back from a marathon weekend, actually an extended weekend. Our trip to Monterey was nothing short of fabulous. The weather was incredible with high blue skies and temperatures in the 70's. I even managed to get a sunburn on the sock portion of the golf tan that I sported prior to this trip. Darla applied suntan lotion liberally on my still winter white body, but missed the part of my leg where I wear sport socks when I'm golfing. The sun burned down on us as we relaxed at the beach in Carmel on Friday and by that evening, I had bright red socks on the back of my legs from a nasty sunburn. We wore SPF 30, which we have used ever since Mom succumbed to skin cancer in 1999. I used to wear SPF 2 or 4 and think that I had an olive complexion. Mom's ordeal taught me that I am nothing more or less than a white boy and I need to protect my skin when I'm out in the sun. I wish Dad would wear a more protective sunscreen. His "George Hamilton" tan looks good now, but I worry about him.

Darla and I enjoyed Mark and Mike's 40th birthday celebration. It was supposed to be a beach party, but high tide moved the party indoors to the fourth floor restaurant overlooking the ocean. The only detriment to the party, from my perspective, was the eight or ten kids that were running amok during the dinner. Mark's friends and family all seem to have kids in the 1-8 year range and the parents seemed oblivious to the kids running around the tables and doing chinups on the waitress station at the bar behind us. Mark and Mike picked up the tab for the dinner, but frankly the food was a little weak in quality. I had a chicken dish served in a garlic pastry and the chicken was bland and I only ate half of it. Mark has one friend, Victor, who stood up and gave about a fifteen minute speech that was rambling and he got emotional in the middle of it and cried. The bizarre part was that half the people continued to carry on conversations while he spoke. Darla and I kind of looked at each other and figured that there must be a history here as the group are all friends. Victor finished the speech and gave a copy of it to Mark and told him to keep it for ten years and then read it over. Victor's wife then handed him their daughter and told him to deal with her as his speech had woken her from a nap. I'm guessing that Victor is the guy who gets no respect.

The golf game at Poppy Hills was a disaster for me. Poppy is a difficult and challenging course and you need to bring your A game when you play. I left that and my B game somewhere in Sacramento. I shot a 52-42=94. I could complain about the poor start/strong finish, but 94 is firmly in the realm of hackerville. I shot three triple-bogeys over the course of the day, won no skins and paid Mark $5 as he managed a 44-44=88. I told him to consider it a birthday present. The course was in excellent shape and I did manage four pars on the course, but my game was in the toilet most of the day.

Darla and I went out to dinner on Friday night and planned our meal around the Kings basketball playoff game. We ate at a sports bar in Monterey, but the Nets-Pacers game went into double OT and we were able to eat, drive back to the hotel and we watched the second half in our room. We had some very marginal meals on this trip starting with a chinese food dinner on Wednesday night, encompassing the 40th birthday dinner, and including the fish and chips at the Sports bar. Darla and I drove home Saturday and she grocery shopped, I mowed the lawn and we then went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurtants in Roseville, Strings Italian, and the poor meals were washed away in a dash of garlic and marinara sauce and a bottle of Peironi Italian beer. Nothing like one of your favorite restaurants to save the day.

Yesterday was Darla's 40th birthday and we met the boys in the morning and then went to church. We met Alicia, who is apparently allergic to church services, at the restaurant for breakfast. One of her paramours was trying to line up tickets to the Kings Playoff game at Arco arena at 12:30 and her phone was on waiting for his call. We had no sooner got seated, ordered our meal and were waiting to be served than her phone rang, she spoke briefly to her gentleman friend and she was out of there. Alicia was born on the same day as Darla, and is five years her junior, so Alicia was able to celebrate her 35th birthday at the Kings-Timberwolves playoff game. The boys returned to their Dad's after lunch and Darla and I watched the game at home.

I had tickets for Darla and I to see the Christian band, Third Day at Recreation Hall at UC Davis Sunday night. The show was 7 pm and we didn't get home until ten thirty last night. It was a busy weekend.

I hope you all are well. Tonight is David's 17th birthday. We are giving him a Borders Gift certificate, a new wallet and a $100 bill. To be 17 and flush with cash. Can you imagine? Ciao.

Monday morning greeted me with a left rear tire that had lost air. I hooked up my mini-compressor to the tire and ten minutes later was at 35 pounds of pressure. I'll have to keep an eye on it. I couldn't find a nail or any obvious reason why air would have escaped the tire, but life's little mysteries sometimes are never answered. The sky was overcast and parts of Sacramento had periods of rain this morning. I missed the rain and I'm glad of it as I spent thirty minutes washing my car and detailing the wheels last night after dinner.

Mother's Day was a success as the boys helped with breakfast after church and dishes after dinner. They also made their Mom a ham and grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. That was AFTER Darla announced that she was going to make lunch for the boys and I put the kybosh on that plan. The boys also gave their Mom a nice card and wrote in it that "their love for her was unexplainable". I suppose that was a compliment, eh?

Mother's Day is still hard for me five years after Mom's all-too premature death in 1999. I still miss her laugh and her caring attitude and our visits on the phone and in person. It seems that the void she left in my life isn't meant to be filled and I thank God that He allowed her to be such a big part of my life as long as He did. I see and feel echoes of Mom in my own wife and I smile to see the similarities in them. They are both strong-willed women, but have very strong family ties and work to keep their families together. As Mom had to put up with Dad's moods and his perfectionism, Darla has to do the same with me.

Jennifer had a Mother's day treat in the person of her Mom visiting her in Georgia. I have yet to hear the details of their visit, but I trust that they had fun and enjoyed their time together. I called Jennifer last night, but her phone rolled over to the answering machine. She may have been worn out and went to bed early. I don't know. Perhaps Diane was still there and flies back today.

Well, I'm sure this will come as a huge shock to my three regular readers, but I was able to arrange a golf game this weekend. Mark Konrad called on Wednesday night and invited me to play with his neighbor at Auburn Valley Country Club up in the foothills above Auburn, California off Highway 49 on the road to Nevada City and Grass Valley. We teed off at 6:45 a.m Saturday and I once again managed the slow start/strong finish routine that seems ingrained in my game right now as I shot 44-41=85. I had two birdies on the back side and finished with a "kick in" birdie on the signature 535-yard par-5 finshing hole. Mark struggled to a 95 and the other two guys shot 91 and 103 and I walked away with $31 in skin money and the $5 stroke play bet that Mark insists on paying me each time we play. Country club golf is like no other as Darryl can attest. Someday I will also join a club, but right now I'm like a single guy who's not yet ready to settle down with one gal. There's too many great golf courses out there left to play and I want to play the field for awhile yet.

Darla and I are off to Monterey on Wednesday night where we will stay until Saturday. I will play golf with Mark and his group at Poppy Hills In Pebble Beach on Thursday and we will then head to the beach for a beach party on Thursday night complete with barbecue and music. Mark and his brother, Mike, are hosting the party for their 40th birthdays and it is being catered by the Beach Resort Hotel where we are staying. We're not sure how warm it will be and have shorts as well as jeans and sweatshirts ready to be packed.

Darla and I will return home on Saturday night and I have tickets to see the Christian Band, Third Day, at UC Davis on Sunday night. My child bride turns 40 on Sunday and we will pick up the boys from their father's house and go to church and then breakfast on Sunday. As I told Darla, I won't be playing golf next weekend in honor of her birthday. She just gave me a look that spoke volumes. Hope everyone is well. We lost my uncle Norm last week and I wish comfort on his wife and their family. Norm was the original golfer in my life and I'm sure he's arranging tee times in heaven as I write this.

Hello again. A day late and a dollar short. I slept in yesterday morning and got to work a half hour later than normal and it threw my timing off kilter and I had to delay the blog update until today. I apologize to the three regular readers of this diatribe.

The weather over the weekend was hot and sticky with nary a breeze to cool off the denizens of Northern California. I had left my golfing passion up to a friend and he made a noon tee time on Saturday. I prefer to play early and have the day ahead of me when I finish. Also, the REAL golfers are generally on the course early and the later it gets the more young kids are out with their Dads or girlfriends out with their boyfriends who enjoy golf, but like the companionship of females more, so they forego the foursome of buddies and play with their uncoordinated sweethearts later in the day. All of that to say that it took a whopping 5.75 hours to complete our round. I shot 45-40=85 to continue the mystifying poor start/strong finish routine that I've developed of late. I parred the final three holes for the 40 on the back nine. I may actually take a weekend off from golf this weekend, but hey it's only Tuesday and there is plenty of time to arrange a game yet.

Darla and I have started a Spring makeover of our home. We have the wood blinds installed, Darla finished the window treatment in our bedroom, and I installed a new handleset and brass kickplate on the front door. I also restained the door and varnished the finished product with a high gloss varnish. True to form, the should-have-been hour-long project turned into a full day, as the brass kick plate was too large for the door and had to be cut down. My collection of "Barbie" tools proved inadequate and I ended up simply scoring the brass and bending it over to fit the bottom of the door. This required removing the door and the bottom sweep, installing the brass plate and then reinstalling the sweep. The inclusion of the brass plate at the bottom of the door caused the sweep to hit the bottom sash plate and I spent another hour sanding the sash down and tightening the sweep to the point that the door shuts snuggly. I just hope that the door doesn't swell during the winter months or we may be permanently locked into the house. The only item catching now is the rubber sweep at the bottom of the door and I'm hoping that wears down over time to the point that the door swings shut without the need for an extra push to shut it. The door looks great with the new brass hardware, dark walnut stain and high gloss finish. Darla isn't sold on the look of the brass kick plate, but I like it.

We are also having replacement windows built and installed for the front of the house. Our home faces West and the brunt of the sun hits the front and North facing sides of the house. the windows are energy efficient dual paned windows filled with Argon gas for insulation. David will especially appreciate the new windows as he has a broken seal on his window and the room is either stifling hot or so cold he has to have a space heater to warm the room. Several of the windows at the front of the house have broken seals and water has run into the dual panes and ruined the window. The new windows are expensive, but are lifetime guaranteed and we plan to stay in the house until we are wrinkled and old.

Darla and I slept in on Sunday morning, missing the snooze alarm and oversleeping through church. We both hate to miss church and feel like our weekend isn't complete without the addition of some spiritual intervention by our pastor. We used to have the option of a Sunday night service, but that has been discontinued with our new 3000 seat worship center.

Darla and I will be off next week to Monterey and a chance to celebrate Darla's 40th birthday. Yes, I have a child bride and I'm happy for that. I will, of course, abandon Darla during our vacation to play golf at Poppy Hills near Pebble Beach in Carmel. We are travelling with Mark Konrad and his family as Mark and his brother Mike both also turn 40 during the trip and they have arranged a golf tournament. We will go out to dinner on Thursday night and celebrate all of the birthdays. Everyone heads home on Friday, but Darla and I will stay over Friday night and have some alone time to enjoy each other before heading back Saturday night. I bought tickets to see the Christian band, Third Day, on Sunday night in Davis. Sunday will be Darla's birthday, a mere week after she is feted for being a Mother.

Well, that's it for another week. I talked to Jennifer and she is doing well. She had to have her Ford Explorer into the shop for a rebuilt transmission. Thankfully she was able to save money while she was in Iraq and came into some money on a settlement from Ford Motor Company on a car that she had financed some years ago at usury rates. Ford paid her over $4,000 to settle the class action lawsuit. As always, Jennifer lands on her feet..like a cat. Be well.

California..you gotta love it. Last week I was prattling on about rain and hoping that the sky would open and give us a much needed drenching. Well, we got our rain, although it was nothing more than a good shower. Today, the temperature is expected to hit 95 degrees and set a record for this date. Last week we were fifteen degrees under our normal and this week we are 20 degrees over it. Yesterday was 92 degrees and I have a bit of a sunburn on my back courtesy of some koi pond maintenance in my backyard. The temperature of the pond water has risen to the point that I had to reintroduce the filter to the water. In order to fit the pump and filter back into the water, I had to pull out the six water plants that I have arrayed in the pond and cut them back. I ended up in the pond moving blocks and placing the filter where I wanted it. The boys were inside watching all of the labor from a soft spot on the couch. We've been talking about having a pool put in next year and Daniel said to David that, "Ken thinks we have the pool already". Wise guy. I'm still debating on the pool. We have such a nice back yard and I hate to upend things with a pool contractor. We'd lose the pond and gain a pool, but I'm concerned that the stamped concrete would be damaged in the process. I will say this, IF we get a pool, it will be a small lagoon style pool, meant more for cooling off and relaxing than swimming. We'll see how my bonus shapes up before taking that on.

Well, praise God and pass the smelling salts, Jennifer is back in the United States of America!! She flew back in on Thursday and was in Texas for all of a day, just long enough to get prodded and pricked (seven or eight shots and a blood sample), turn in her equipment and catch a flight Friday back to Augusta. She was on a plane Friday that stopped in Houston and then flew on to Augusta. She got her car out of hock and reopened her apartment (barracks) and got caught up with some of her friends and fellow soldiers at Fort Gordon. I talked to her Saturday morning and then again last night let the boys get caught up with their sister. Jennifer will be in Augusta until about November and then she will be deployed to her new duty station in Kuwait. She has about a month of vacation saved up and will come home to California for about three weeks in June or July. I am exceedingly proud of Jennifer's accomplishments with the Army and consider her my personal hero for her bravery and love for this country. Like Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan, Jennifer was profoundly affected by the events of September 11th, 2001 and she did something about it. She was in a position to react to the threat to the United States and rather than simply condemn the American haters, she joined our country's military and she served in Iraq, carrying a weapon at all times and fitting the Coalition Headquarters at Camp Victory with state of the art communications technology. My hat is off to her and my heart is filled with intense pride that my soldier put her life on the line to defend this country. No, she isn't in infantry, but the grenades were exploding around her just the same. God bless you, Jennifer, and all of the brave men and women in Iraq and in service to our country.

I played golf this weekend at Rio La Paz, a course near the Sacramento River in a little town called Nicolaus. I played with three of the true hackers in our club. Gary Krohn is an ex-president and he loves playing golf with me. I prefer to play golf with better golfers than I am. Gary is a 22, his friend is a 24 and the other guy in our foursome is a 19. I shot 87 and watched those three shoot a combined 317. The fact that I managed an 87 while the threesome was hacking and whiffing and shanking their way all over hell's half acre is amazing. I had asked Steve, our tournament director, to put me in with some golfers and I owe him a smack upside the head. It was a beautiful day in Sacramento and I watched numerous families park their cars along the levee and herd the children with inner tubes and blankets and coolers down to the river. I wished I could join them as I often waited interminably in the fairway for the wayward three to join me somewhere near the short grass.

We survived our weekend without Mom and Darla came home yesterday tired and suffering from flu-like symtoms. She was running a fever and slept most of the afternoon. I think she may take today off and get herself healthy. We ate McDonalds on Friday and pizza on Saturday and I barbecued a london broil last night. I took the boys to church yesterday morning. Rick, our pastor, was talking about conflict and how Christians should deal with it. He told the story of a couple who were fighting and just couldn't get along. The husband was fed up and said to his wife, "I was a fool when I married you!" The wife said, "I know, but I was too much in love to notice it at the time." ..........Think about it.

Give Jennifer a call and thank her for her bravery at 310-927-6311 or write to her as follows:

Specialist Lyon, Jennifer
518, 63rd Sig Bn
Box J3
Ft Gordon, GA 30905

It's Monday. The weatherman promises rain showers today, but he's been promising that for three days and the worst we've seen is a light overnight sprinkle that left the ground wet and the lawns wanting a bit more. I played golf on Saturday and when we finished, the sky turned dark and the temperature plummeted to the high fifties, but no rain came. Today the sky is a slate of granite with dark clouds and a forbidding presence...but, alas, there is a hint of blue sky on the horizon and the rain may miss us yet again. There were some isolated showers and some hail on Saturday, but Roseville missed the fun. It is supposed to be showery today and tomorrow and I hope to see some real rain out of this storm yet.

I played in a two-man best-ball qualifier tournament on Saturday with one of our better golfers, in fact he was club champion two years ago. Boyd and I shot 32-32=64 and finished fourth in the tournament. I shot 44-39=83 and I'm beginning to get a little concerned about my slow starts. I need to develop the same rythym and focus on the starting holes as I do on the back nine. The top two teams go on to the regionals locally. Mark Konrad and his partner shot a 61 to qualify. Mark is our webmaster at the Roseville Golf Club and hosted the Masters tournament last week. Mark and Darla turn 40 on the same week in May and we will join them for a trip to Monterey. Mark has a twin brother, Mike, who will also join us. Several friends and family are going to Monterey with Mark. 12 of us will play golf at Poppy Hills in Carmel and we will have a big birthday dinner on Thursday night, May 13th. Darla's birthday is May 16th, Sunday.

Darla and I spent yesterday updating our house with new vertical blinds in the family room and master bedroom and new blinds in the master bedroom. We now have matching white faux wood blinds in the master bedroom on all three windows. Darla will be working on new curtains for the windows over the next week or so. I guess they aren't really curtains, they're window accents or toppers or something like that. Darla's theme for the room is blue and white, which will shock anyone who knows Darla. J/K.

We will also have a new washer and dryer delivered today. Darla has been working with the same garage sale appliances since we got married. The washer and dryer that she had was even worse than mine, so we dumped hers way back when. I think I paid $75 for the pair back in 1990 when I got divorced and they have seen better days. The washer had been rocking so badly due to the spindle being out of balance that the top panel had come loose and Daniel had duct taped the panel back down. With two six-footers in the house who are both athletes, we put the washer and dryer through their paces. Darla will be thrilled to have some nice new appliances to do the job from now on.

I have not heard from our soldier since she called last week. I'm really looking forward to her getting back to the states and back to a ho-hum existence at Fort Gordon. I'm sure Jenn has mixed feelings as she loved the work, but the stress and pressure of Baghdad was a dark cloud over that experience. I hope to hear from her in the next week.

Darla is off to a women's retreat at church next weekend. Pray for me and the boys as we struggle along without Mom. I'm sure we'll thrive and the fast food restaurants will do a booming business this weekend. I have a golf game at Rio La Paz golf course on Saturday and will leave the boys to their own devices that day. Hopefully the house is in one piece when I get home.

I got some pictures from Darryl of a golf cart that he purchased in Dallas and hauled back to Austin. He is reconditioning the unit and doing body repairs, new brakes, tires, wheels, etc. I think Dad's work with his two project cars got Darryl in the mood to work on something. He'll trick out the golf cart and have the nicest set of wheels on the course. Somehow, that body work gene passed me by.

Well, that is another installment of the blog. I hope you are all hale and hearty. Be nice to each other. Ciao.

Just a quick update. Jennifer called me at work today. She was very matter-of-fact with her hello. She said, "Well, hi, Ken Lyon, how are you?" She and her unit were able to catch a flight out of Baghdad at 1:00 in the afternoon on Monday and flew into Kuwait City and Camp Doha. Jennifer will be there for nine days and fly back to Ft. Bliss in Texas for debriefing and to turn in her equipment. She is thrilled to be out of the green zone in Iraq. There was a fuel transport truck that was bombed over the weekend and the thick black smoke hung over the camp. She has fifteen rolls of film to develop when she gets back to Georgia and I'm sure we'll all see the pictures one way or another.

One of the reasons she is happy to be out of Baghdad (besides the obvious) is that she doesn't have to cart her weapon with her at all times now. The camp was on high alert and all soldiers were required to have a weapon with them at all times. The bombs and explosions are a distant memory for her now, but the explosions were quite real even up until the time that they flew out of the airport on Monday. I have trouble even imagining the stress and fear that the troops endure on a daily basis in Iraq.

By the way, anyone who'd like to debate the merits of our occupation in Iraq...just shut up.

Ken

Back to the salt mine after a week of conventions, parties, Easter and some family time on the weekend. A huge "PRAISE GOD!!" goes out today as Jennifer is on her way back stateside. She originally was supposed to stay in Baghdad until April 22nd, but with the increased hostilities and the marshalling of troops into the area, there are more flights available going back to Camp Doha in Kuwait. She was at the airport this morning with her unit trying to catch one of the flights out of Baghdad. Barring that, her unit would convoy out of Iraq on surface roads. I'm praying that she gets or got a flight out and is out of harm's way. I will be able to breathe again when she is back on American soil. She will be in Kuwait for a few days until she can get a charter back to the United States. Her unit will travel back to Fort Bliss in Texas for debriefing and then she will travel back to her home base in Augusta, Georgia. She will soon learn where her PDS (Permanent Duty Station) will be and Jennifer continues to lobby for Kuwait. We shall see. I hope to hear from her soon and I'll update the blog as soon as I hear from her. Thank you to everyone who kept Jennifer in their prayers. She has had more than a few sleepless nights lately as explosions rocked her base and shook her trailer. She admits to being scared and basically being told only what the Army wants her to know. She made the comment to her Mom that "you probably know more than I do, they don't tell us much".

The conference in Scottsdale was nothing short of a big party and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. There are some discussion groups and roundtable conferences, but they simply satisfy the IRS that the conference is a legitimate business expense. The party starts early and lasts late and included a full fledged casino, dance hall, stage review, countless bars, an internet cafe, four different restaurants, a cookout and a full fireworks display that was one of the best that I've seen. The golf was at a world class resort called McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale and it was worth the wait. The course has a lot of sand and water and is immaculate. I also got to rub elbows with a number of senior Burns and Wilcox professionals as well as a number of the top producers. I found that interaction as beneficial to me as the opportunities to meet and interact with the Scottsdale Underwriters. I came back a little sunburned and tired, but was glad for the experience.

I played golf this weekend on Saturday in our annual Master's tournament. This is a tournament hosted by one of the board members of the Roseville Golf Club. There were 14 of us this year and we met at the crack of dawn at The Lincoln Hills Golf Resort at Sun City Lincoln Hills. I started the round double bogey, double bogey, bogey and was 5 over after three holes. I then went on a par barrage and finally birdied number 12 to go four-over after 12 and finished with a 41-39=80. I got hooted by the group as the scores were pretty high at this championship course. I had a net 66 and the closest pursuer shot 71 and then 72. I was pleased with how I pulled the round together after a horrific start. My only disappointment was a double-bogey six on the last hole. I wanted to post a 79. As always, there is room for improvement.

The family was up early yesterday and off to Easter Sunday services at Darla's parent's church in Stockton. We left the house at 7:25 and were in the parking lot of the church at 8:30 for the 9:00 a.m. service. It was kind of nice to be at a smaller church with about 800 attenders rather than the 2500 that were expected at our church. The ease of entrance and exit from their church make our weekly ordeal seem that much more complicated. We then went over to Earl and Frances' home in Linden for a celebration of Easter. The boys were of course with us and Darla's sister and her brother and his wife, daughter and mother-in-law joined us for ham and family time. It was enjoyable.

Their pastor had a story about how human beings deal with death. It is inevitable, but most people tend to regard death as a dirty secret and it ends up being a dark cloud over our lives. Christians do (or at least should) have a diffent view of death as our time on Earth is a beginning and not an end. Anyhow, a man was diagnosed by his doctor as having a terminal disease and he was given six months to live. The man asked his doctor if there was ANYTHING he could do. The doctor told him to sell everything and give it away to charity. The man said, "No problem". The doctor told him to move into tenement housing with no running water or electricity. The patient agreed to do it. Was there anything else he could do? The doctor told him to marry a woman with eight children and move them into the tenement with him. Done. Was there anything else (and this is poetic license on my part)? Yes. Give up golf and all of his friends. "I'll do it said the man. Will this extend my life?" The doctor regarded him and said, "No, but it will be the longest six months of your life!"

Ciao friends. And once again, PRAISE GOD that Jennifer is getting out of Iraq.

I am sitting at home reading my mail and contemplating life with a cup of hot Hawaiian coffee at the ready and it dawns on me that I can update my blog now. I have a 10:30 flight to the land of the sun (Phoenix) and will be staying in Scottsdale for three days at a meeting hosted by Scttsdale Insurance Company. I'll be in meetings this afternoon and tomorrow morning. I will then play in the golf tournament at McCormick Ranch golf course. Wednesday, I'll spend the morning meeting with my underwriters at Colony Insurance and then be on a plane by three p.m. and be back in Sacramento in time for dinner.

We moved our offices from Howe Avenue out to Rancho Cordova on Friday and Saturday. I took Friday off as the tech guys were pulling computers at nine-thirty. I played golf with Gail, Anthony and Mel. We had a good time out at the old Mather Air Force Base golf course. I shot an 84 on the heavily sanded and aerated greens. It could have and should have been a much better round, but I four-putted one of the greens as the ball rolled and hopped all over the greens trying to find traction in the sand and through the waffle-like surface of the aerated greens. I played Mel straight up (he's an 11, I'm a 12). He shot 45-40 as he struggled to find a rythm putting as well. Gail surprised me with her game, which was honed on the links of Marin Country Club in the Bay Area. She shot an 88, which is 14 over on the women's par 74 (two of the par fours are par fives for women). She had two birdies on the par fives and has a straight, smooth swing. It was a good day on the links. Anthony struggled and shot 104 and only because we established a triple bogey maximum for him. Mel's wife Cora invited us all over for dinner at her house. Darla was not thrilled to have to drive across town after a long day at work and reminded me of that fact several times en route to the dinner. She enjoyed herself once she got there. Cora fixed a fondue of tri tip steak with four different sauces and we had a ball cooking up our own dinner. Darla made a nice strawberry salad and Gail brought wine and dessert.

Saturday, Darla and I ventured into the new office and I unpacked my desk and file cabinets. We have all new furniture in the new office and I was able to find spots for all of my various and sundry odds and ends. We have new double-sized four drawer file cabinets and storage space is not an issue as of yet. It was funny in that I had tossed a number of items while I was packing and tossed nearly as many as I was unpacking. A move does allow us the luxury of downsizing. I have to run for my flight, so I'll finish this when I get back from Phoenix.

It is another glorious Monday morning in California. The sun is up and bright, the sky is blue and it will hit about 82 degrees today, absolutely perfect early Spring weather here in Northern California.

I haven't had an opportunity to talk to Jennifer in about two weeks. She has been busy and hasn't been able to get a phone call in. I miss talking to her. We missed her call in Vegas as we were in a noisy casino and I didn't hear my cell phone ringing. We had set up for her to call us on Friday night when the family was meeting at PF Changs, but Jennifer overslept that morning and was almost late to work (it would be her Saturday morning as she is 11 hours ahead of us). She finally called on Sunday night (her Monday morning), but I missed the call. I have, however received numerous e-mails from her. She has a new e-mail address with the military that allows her to send and receive e-mail pretty easily. It is a little cumbersome to get into her MSN account.

Her e-mail address is: Jennifer.Lyon@vcmain.hq.c5.army.mil

It looks like Jennifer will be coming back to her base in Georgia on April 15th as planned. She so wants to stay in Iraq and will miss the civilian contractors who are staying until the communications center is complete. Jennifer's mission was to complete the fibre optics cable installation and then they are out of there. Praise God.

My office is moving this week. We had an efficiency expert, Dave Hossler, in our office last week from Home Office and he took me to dinner one night to pick my brain. He is impressed with the success that I've had and wants to know how to pass that on to some of the other underwriters in the office. I very frankly told him that if he could get them to put in 50 hours a week, they would probably miraculously find that they start to write more business. He has closed out a couple of lines of business that we were writing and he let two people go. It is a little bit nerve wracking in here right now as people fear for their jobs. Dave told me that my job is secure and that they want to build around a nucleus of people in this office and that I'm on the top of his list. That was certainly encouraging, but there are more changes to come and the boat will be a little rocky in the coming weeks.

I played poker on Friday night with the Roseville Golf Club group and then I played golf Saturday morning with two of the low handicappers in our club. I started poorly and shot a 46 on the front side. I was a bit embarassed playing with two of our better players, but I pulled my round together on the backside and shot a 36 to win the money and leave the guys shaking their heads over what happened to them. It was fun. The weather was ideal.

I got my car washed and waxed this weekend and the lawn trimmed. There is something powerful about Springtime. It is rebirth and the fresh blooms on all of the trees and bushes. The backyard is awash in fresh growth and the irises and the umbrella tree over the pond are in full bloom. The goldfish are active again and sunning themselves between the plants in the pond. I took out the hedge trimmer and cut back many of the bushes and hedges last night and everything looks so good. Living in California is a dream and I can't imagine ever leaving the Golden State.

The boys are active in their Spring sports. Daniel is playing baseball on his high school freshman team and David is active in track and field, doing high jump, long jump, triple jump and relays. He is staying active in order to train for football. Darla is still playing volleyball on Tuesday nights and she involves her boys whenever she can. Darla says that I'm the only one not involved in a sport. I can't seem to convince her that golfers are athletes. Craig Stadler has ruined it for all of us.

That's it for this week. I will come in Friday morning to pack my desk and then have an 11:00 a.m. tee time at Mather. I will play with Anthony, Gail and Mel. Anthony is the 27 year-old assistant underwriter in the office, Gail is one of the underwriters and Mel is the husband of our policy typist. I leave for Scottsdale on Monday morning for a convention with Scottsdale Insurance. Emery Jensen, my former boss at Republic Western, is one of the managers at Scottsdale Insurance and we will play golf together on Tuesday. The blog will be late next week for those of you paying attention. Ciao.

Back to the blog after a wonderful and memorable family reunion in Vegas. Seeing my brothers, Dad and Shirley, Janelle and Aaron with Braden, Jesse, Josh, Jenny, Chris, Sherry and Al and the two Barbie twins, Laurie and Laura (Jesse and Josh's girlfriends) was absolutely wonderful. The only thing that could have made it better was seeing Jennifer there, but as we all know, she has a bit more on her plate in Iraq at the moment.

I feel like I got a good visit with both of my brothers and Dad as we played golf together at Eagle Crest golf course on Friday. Aaron tagged along and made it a fivesome, although Al bowed out as we had an odd number of players. In truth, we had an even number when he was in, but an odd number when he dropped out. Al was concerned about getting on the golf course as we only had a tee time for four of us and driving over in Randy's rental Century. We could have worked it out, but there will be a next time. This was just too much fun to do it once and forget it. It was the first time that all of the Lyon men had played golf together in our lives. Randy, Darryl and I have played several times and I've played with Dad and Shirley several times, but this was a first. True to the calling of men in general, none of us brought a camera to record the event.

We played the par 60 golf course with rental clubs and still played well. I shot 37-36 for 73. Darryl shot 78, Randy, Aaron and Dad were somewhere in the 80's. It wasn't about the score though, and I know we each had a great time and it is a special memory for me.

We met for dinner on Friday night and Shirley and Dad had a reservation for 19 at PF Chang's at the Alladdin. We were seated upstairs and were a boisterous crowd as we enjoyed lettuce wraps, pot stickers, crab won tons, sake, Sapporo and many flavorful and fragrant main dishes. Shirley asked for a menu and we all signed the menu with words of encouragement to Jennifer. We raised our glasses in a toast to her bravery and said a prayer that God keep her in his care while she is in harm's way. It was a party and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Dad and Shirley set up an informal hospitality suite in their room at the Polo Towers and we met each afternoon to socialize and spend some quality time together. Vegas is great, but it can be difficult to get a large group together in any of the casinos. Al, Darryl and I managed to get together at a blackjack table at the Boardwalk and we were soon joined by Jesse and Aaron as we took over the table and had a few laughs playing cards. I was the first one to sit down and the first to leave as my stack of chips grew from $40 to well over $100. I decided to cash in my winnings. I had a hot streak over two hours and hit about a dozen blackjacks, four of which I hit after putting a coin in the 15-1 payout for a blackjack spot, so $60 of my winnings came on that "sucker bet".

The crowd began to thin on Saturday. Randy fell ill and missed the blackjack party. He and his family as well as the boys and their girlfriends all left town late Saturday night with flights back to Dallas. Darryl, Cheryl, Al and Sherry joined Darla and I for dinner out on Saturday night. We all enjoyed Prime Rib and then went out to gamble.

Darryl and Al and Sherry flew out Sunday morning, while Cheryl and Janelle, Aaron and Braden went over to Cheryl's parents' home in Henderson, Nevada. Darla and I were able to visit with Dad and Shirley. We spent time at the pool and then went out to dinner again at PF Changs. We enjoyed it so much Friday night. I told Dad that Darla and I would buy dinner in honor of his birthday (which incidentally made my birthday possible) and he chose PF Changs. We then went over to Monte Carlo and gambled, where I hit a $100 jackpot on nickels (four Aces and a two) and while I was waiting to be paid, I hit four twos and an Ace for 800 coins on the adjacent machine.

We were on our way back to Sacramento Monday morning filled with some good memories and a hardcore tiredness that is just now beginning to wane. I guess I'm too old to stay up until 3 a.m. three nights in a row, eh? We will do this again and Jennifer will be in the middle of it next time. I hope all are well and happy and invested in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Ciao.

Jennifer sent her Mom an e-mail and she has met some young hunk in Baghdad. He is from Florida and supposedly in the Army as well. She seemed like she was having a good time and we are all so happy for her. To be 23 and free in Iraq? maybe not so great. Take care.

Wow! The weather here in California has been nothing short of glorious the last week and a half. This weekend saw shorts weather in the low-to-mid eighties all weekend. I think I may have to dress warmer for Vegas as the temps there have been a few degrees cooler than our temperatures. This blog is a little bit late as I had a dental cleaning this morning at 8 a.m. The dental hygienist was very nice, but it was early for her. She got the button stuck on the water and thought she'd turned it off when rinsing my mouth, but ended up squirting me all over my face, hair and shirt. She was mortified, but I had a good laugh. I told her that I'd already showered that morning, but thanks for the effort.

I talked to Jennifer this past weekend. She was in great spirits and had spent part of her day Sunday sitting in a lounge chair soaking up the sun and reading. Basically she was just relaxing and suntanning in the most war torn area on the planet. She has made some excellent contacts with IMG and General Dynamics and will interview with IMG when she gets out. I'm happy for her, but IMG is based in Virginia, near Washington DC and Jennifer would be travelling the world working on military installations. The only difference from then and now would be that she'd be civilian and making serious cash. She has received packages from her Mom, us, Cam and Kathy in Canada (she loved the cards from the boys!!) and from the sorority that several of the ladies here at Burns and Wilcox belong to that inundated her with three boxes of books, games, food and movies. The chocolate that they sent made it to her intact. So much for the military's ban on sending chocolates. Jennifer is doing very well, although she was very jealous of my family's trip Friday night to Benihana's restaurant for dinner. She is also feeling a bit left out of the Lyon family reunion. We plan to take lots of pictures and get a big card to have everyone sign for her.

Darryl called me over the weekend to wish me a happy birthday and told me that his trip to Vegas is on hold. Apparently the Nazis that run Fed-Ex won't let him take his previously approved vacation because of an audit that is being conducted. Darryl is pretty well fried with Fed-Ex and looking forward to getting out of there and soon. The company is well regarded as a family friendly place to work, but Darryl says they do not walk that talk as he was overtly threatened with termination if he left for Vegas. So far, he has the family going and he hopes to arrive by Friday night and spend the weekend. I feel for him. Work should be only a part of your life. Fed Ex wants it to be his life. Hopefully Fed Ex is an ex in his life and soon.

I am really excited about getting to Vegas and spending some time with the family. It will be here soon and go by all too quickly, but I will hang on to the feeling while we are there. Jennifer is going to try to call me on my cell phone on Friday night (her Saturday morning) while we are all at P.F. Changs for dinner and talk to everyone.

I played golf on Saturday afternoon and the equipment, the swing, and the stars all came into alignment and I shot a blistering 75. In fact, I was one-over par going into 17 and finished bogey-bogey for the 75. The new clubs are awesome and I'm ready to bring that game over to my competitive side and start winning some golf tournaments. I have the California Amatuer coming up in May and look forward to seeing if I can bring the focus and energy to that weekend. It was a fun round of golf and this game is really awesome when everything clicks.

We had Darla's Mom and Dad and sister over yesterday to celebrate my birthday and watch the King's game. Earl's recovery from prostate surgery is coming along. He will have to undergo radiation once he regains full use of his faculties and he is in our prayers as he recuperates. The surgery hasn't slowed him down as he just bought a new 5th wheel for traveling. He also had to buy a bigger truck and bought a brand new Ford F250 pickup with a diesel engine and trailering package. He has his motor home at a lot in French Camp to be sold. Earl and Frances are living my dream, which isn't camping, but spending the kid's inheritence while you are still healthy. They are both great people and much of what I love in Darla is reflected in them. I'm blessed to have married into such a great family. Say a prayer for Earl that the radiation treatment will eradicate all of the cancer cells in his body.

The blog will be a little late next week, as we fly out to Vegas on Thursday afternoon and return home on Monday morning.

I'll leave you with the story of Winston Churchill at a cocktail party when a woman who did not agree with his political agenda confronted him. She said to Winston, "If I was your wife, I would put poison in your tea". To which Winston famously replied, "Ma'am, if I was your husband I would cheerfully drink it!"

Well, what a difference a week makes. Last week at this time, the rain was pouring down and the cars outside were slipping and sliding along on their way to work or school. This week has seen the weather gradually improve as a high pressure system settled over the western coast of California and the temperatures slowly rose to the point where yesterday saw shorts and winter white legs in abundance at the park across the street from our house. We had a high temperature of 79 degrees and it is supposed to hit eighty today. I played golf on Saturday morning in shorts for the first time this year. It was a nice change from the bundled up winter wear that restricts a full body coil on your golf swing. It was about 74 degrees on Saturday and a wonderful weekend all told.

I had my new rims installed on Saturday afternoon. As mentioned in my last episode, I had ordered a set of aluminum alloy clear coated wheels, but the company had delivered the chrome wheels. The difference in price was $105 a wheel for the alloys and $195 for the chrome. The manager of the shop hadn't realized that the wrong wheels had been delivered until I showed up for my Saturday appointment. He had signed for the shipment but had not looked at the invoice. The wheels wholesale to him at $142 a wheel and he agreed to charge me his cost and deal with the supplier at a later date. So, I paid more than I had intended, but the wheels are so nice. Again, they are a five spoke diamond design and they really shine. I could have waited until next weekend to get my wheels, but that wouldn't have been any fun. As I told Darla, I didn't spend $37 a wheel more, but saved $53 a wheel off of retail.

Darla and I went to see The Passion of the Christ this weekend and the hype for this movie is more than deserved. Mel Gibson has made a true recreation of the last twelve hours of Jesus' life. It is a brutal replay of the scourging and crucifixion. While I was watching it horrified by the brutality, finally the scourging ended and Christ lay in his own blood in agony, when the Roman soldiers rolled him onto his back and began to whip him again. It made me wonder if my sins were so bad that Christ had to endure that pain for me. I highly recommend this movie. For the critic who ask , "Where is the love? If Christ was such a compassionate soul, why is the movie so violent?" The critics don't get it. The love is so powerful in that Jesus willingly was tortured and crucified so that I could be saved. What greater love is there?

I talked to Jennifer on Friday. I tend to sleep in on Fridays as the traffic is so light and happened to catch a call from her. She had received a couple of packages from home and was enjoying Freetos and Pringles and the simple foods that she can't get in Iraq. She also had many books, games, candy and DVDs to help while away the hours.

I had mentioned that Jennifer is working with General Dynamics on the wiring infrastructure of the palace communications network. General Dynamics is the general contractor and she is actually working with a group from IMG (Information Management Group), a wiring and communications contractor. She is making some good contacts and I suggested that she get business cards from some of the managers and ask to use them as references when she leaves the military. She liked that idea and was going to talk to several of them. The civilian contractors really like Jennifer and her work ethic. They are working from 8 a.m until 8 at night six days a week. It is tiring, but rewarding work for our soldier.

Did you see the story on television Friday night about the fire crew from Florida that left the station house abruptly to fight a fire and left the stove on and burned down the fire station? Now that pretty well defines irony.

We had a guest speaker at church on Sunday. He is a well known pastor from a church in Kentucky. He talked about friends of his who visited Kentucky from California. They said that they knew Kentucky was a little backwards, but didn't realize how much so until they went to the zoo. They said in California at each enclosure there is a sign that lists what the animal is and in parenthesis the name of the animal in Latin. In Kentucky, they have the name of the animal and then a recipe in parenthesis.

I hope all are well and living a Godly life.

It is a wet, cold, blustery Monday and the cars outside my office window swish through the water as they sail by. Most of the drivers by this time are in search of a hot lunch. I'm just happy to be safely hidden in my office away from the tangle of metal and mayhem on the streets. We hear about two or three accidents a week outside our window and watch as the participants trade information and most of them stand by their cars and wait for the CHP, only to be told by the uniformed patrolman to get their cars out of the street. Friday saw a pretty good fender-bender outside my window as a Home Depot truck collided with a Ford Escort and pushed her into the two cars in front of her. The Escort driver was about nineteen and reduced to tears by the trauma and sight of her little car banjoed in the rear. Her trunk popped open and the compartment was pushed into her back seat. I don't know what the Home Depot driver was doing to miss the red light, but he smacked her pretty good. I wanted to go out and tell the girl to relax. Thank God she got hit by a Home Depot truck. You know he has good insurance and her car will be put back in one piece.

I missed a call from our soldier on Saturday when I was out playing golf. She sounds a little homesick, but the bombings have slowed and the weather is mid-eighties, sunny and nice. She has volunteered to work with a civilian contingent from General Dynamics on the palace and she is really enjoying it. She reports to a civilian contractor rather than to a military person, so her day is more relaxed and the GD people really appreciate her help. She wouldn't be so happy if she knew what the General Dynamic people are being paid to work on the palace versus what she's making. It is great experience for her and will look good on her resume when she gets out of the Army. They are putting in long hours. In fact she was still at the palace when she called me this morning at seven-fifteen. She talked to Darla as I had already left for work. It was six-fifteen pm her time. She has not received any of our packages yet, but we were told that they take ten days to three weeks, depending on the frequency of supply drops to Iraq.

Darla had her jewelry show this weekend at Cal Expo. It went much better than the Christmas show that she attended in December. The difference was great weather and less jewelry vendors. They had poor weather and about 12 jewelry vendors at the last show. This show had four jewelry vendors and it was on a weekend that saw plenty of tank tops and shorts. The temperatures were only in the high sixties, but it was a bright blue sky without a breath of wind in the air.

I enjoyed the weekend with golf on Saturday morning (85 at Woodcreek and I won all bets) and plenty of yard care and car washing the rest of the weekend. All of that to see the rain come back in and a hint of Vancouver weather splatting about out there. My nice clean car is getting soaked. I did go over to several tire and wheel shops and picked out some new wheels for my Mustang. I have the stock Mustang wheels on the car and I'm having a set of American Racing Clear coat aluminum alloy wheels installed next weekend. This is what I wanted for my birthday. The wheels are a five spoke with a diamond design and are called the Casino. The website for american racing let me pull up my Mustang in green and see what the wheels looked like installed on the car. The internet is an amazing resource in this day and age.

David's basketball team made the playoffs and played a valiant game against one of the top schools in the area. His team played stellar defense and took a 7-0 lead after one quarter, frustrating their opponents at every turn. Unfortunately they outscored us in each successive quarter and beat us on a last second shot 38-36. It was a fun season, but a frustrating one for David. He went from starting and playing a majority of the game to not starting about midway through the year, but being the top bench player. He finished the year deep on the bench and not seeing any action the last three games. He will apply himself this Summer and be ready to start as a Senior.

Daniel has been a little bored lately. He missed the cut on his basketball team and was on the bubble for his freshman baseball team. He made the cut and will play third base. Darla was thrilled as Daniel needs the structure of team sports in his life. He's a bit of a couch potato and has put on some weight. The baseball training has sharpened his skills and begun to work on the extra pudge that he's developed since football. David, of course, will transition right into track. He is a total athlete and would either take Athletic PE after school or be involved in a sport. He chose track.

Darla and I did not get out to see the Passion of the Christ this weekend. I wanted to go this week, but she promised to take the boys. Church was a bit extra crowded on Sunday, so the film is having an effect on our society. I'm happy for Mel Gibson. I'm sad that his father is such an anti-semite. Unfortunately Mel is being painted with that same brush...the old, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" argument. Mel is his own man and his film is having critical and box office success. I knew it would, as their are far more Christians in the world than critics.

Our pastor did, as usual, have a good joke on Sunday. A minister in the midwest was eating dinner with his wife. Times were tough and their budget was stretched to the limit. He noticed his wife in a brand new dress and asked her where she got it. She was embarrassed and said she knew money was tight, but the devil made her buy it. She was in the store and found herself trying on the dress. The devil told her it looked great on her. The pastor said, "Well, dear, you know what the good book says about temptation from Satan. You need to point at him and command him to get behind you." "Well, dear, I did that and then the devil told me the dress looked even better from the back!"

I hope you are all well. I look forward to the Lyon family reunion in Vegas in two weeks.

Back at the blog, albeit a little late. I was out of the office on marketing calls on Friday and came back to the requisite paperwork and oddball things that come up when you are in absentia. I spent the day on Friday up in Chico, California visiting agents and simply recharging my batteries. I have been hard at this job since starting in November and a day out doing marketing calls was just what the doctor ordered. I brought back seven applications, so it was a very fruitful day out.

The job is going great, in fact, I am leading the charge here in the office as far as written premium. My bonus program, which is at the heart of my income, is on track for a great first year. I blew through my quota for January and I'm on track for the production goals for February, but my income numbers are well ahead of the goals developed. Unfortunately, the office as a whole is not producing as it should and my boss is on the hot seat. He is actually going to take on some brokerage responsibilities, which he has not done in the past. I don't think that it is his choice to go into production, but a dictate from home office. Our personal lines is very low and the other underwriters in the office don't put in enough hours to write enough business.

I talked to Jennifer last night. They had another attack on her base last night (her Sunday night...she talked to me on her Monday morning). It is pretty tense and the sound of explosions and the smell of the explosions in the air are omnipresent. She doesn't know if there were any casualties or injuries, but the explosions were loud and scary. The insurgents are really increasing their opposition bombings and attacks mostly on civilian population in Iraq. Our military may need to step up counter attacks and begin to once again go door to door and weed out the trouble makers. In the meantime, Jennifer continues her mission at the palace and is working daily pulling fibre optics cable and wiring.

Jennifer had some discussions with her General Manager at Fort Gordon. There is scuttlebutt (and we've already discussed how accurate that can be) that Jennifer's PDS (Permanent Duty Station) will be changed in September and that she will be deployed to Korea. She has volunteered to work at Camp Doha in Kuwait City. She enjoyed her brief visit there and her thinking is that she would spend too much money in Korea. Clothes are cheap and perfume, jewelry, etc., not to mention the nightlife and bars, etc in the cities. In Kuwait, the soldiers are confined to base only and cannot leave. Her thinking is that she would be able to bank most of her paycheck for the last year of service and get out with a significant nest egg when she transitions back into civilian life. Even that discussion with Jennifer shows how much she has grown and matured in the Army. She no longer looks at the future as next weekend, but longer term. I'm not thrilled about seeing her spend a year in Kuwait, but it is in a large city and she would be relatively safe on base.

I've talked to several of you and know that some are planning to send care packages to Jennifer. For those of you in Canada, the address must include USA as the package will go to Iraq via military transport out of the United States. For those in the states, just fill out the address as shown in an earlier post and the zip code will get the package or letter to a military base for shipment. I appreciate everyone who is supporting Jennifer through cards and letters. It is a HUGE deal to actually get something at mail call for a soldier in the field.

I played golf yesterday in an on again/off again rainstorm. The course was muddy and the wind was blowing. I had a good round at Mather Golf Course. It is a former Air Force Golf course and plays long, but has wide, inviting fairways. I drove the ball well and was crisp all day. Unfortuantely I had one BAD hole, a 9 on a par 5. It was the ninth hole and I was two over par going into the hole. I drove the ball well, but put my second shot in the water hazard and then played trees all the way in. I threw a little sand trap play in for good measure. And how did I manage a nine? I one-putted. I shot 42-42= 84 and had to post the score as an 82 due to the equitable score control procedure. I was very encouraged by my day on the links and the new clubs are beginning to show their value on the score card. I'm hitting some great drives and some really pin point iron shots. Golf is getting exciting again.

Darla is off to another crafts show on the weekend and will once again share a booth and sell her jewelry. I am in charge of the boys this weekend and pray both for me and for them if they fail to behave. I hope all is well in your little neck of the woods. Be well and keep Jennifer in your thoughts and prayers.

Ciao.

It is President's Day here in the states of America. We are hard at work again on a day when most of the surrounding population is sleeping late and relaxing on a national holiday that has passed us by at Burns and Wilcox. It seems to me that I pick companies to work for that abhor time off and crack the whip on their employees. It is a quiet day with many chances to get caught up on business without the phone ringing and company insurance personnel actually working and sending faxes and making phone calls. It is a blessing to be working while the bulk of Americans rest and relax. Also on the bright side, it is pouring rain today and I couldn't golf if I wanted to.

We have heard from Jennifer several times this last week. The one unsettling coversation regarded an attack on her camp last week with rocket propelled grenades. Three soldiers were injured and two vehicles destroyed in the nightime attack. One or more Iraqi insurgents lobbed RPGs onto the base camp from several hundred meters away and Jennifer said one of the grenades landed close enough to her that her entire trailer shook on it's foundation. It is war and I can't stress enough the dangers that Jennifer faces every day and night.

I sent a copy of an e-mail to some of you that I received from Jennifer that described one of the sand storms that blew through Baghdad. She said that day turned into night and the sky was a brownish black. In those situations, you simply cover your nose and mouth and wait it out. Jennifer has been able to get some computer access and you can reach her at lyon80@msn.com.

Our weekend was relaxing. I tended the yard on Saturday and put some crabgrass control on the lawn. Saturday night David had his first official date and he did it right, inviting one of the cheerleaders to dinner and then to the dance at school. He went with two of the seniors and their dates and they had a great time. He had to go out after one of his basketball games last week and meet the girl's mother. She wouldn't let her daughter go out with David unless she met him first. Sounds like she's from a good family. I asked how that meeting went and David said, "she bought me a chocolate sundae". The kid is full of details. It is another big step in his life and I'm proud of him. David always handles things with aplomb.

Sunday I cleaned out the pond. The aquatic plants had really taken off and covered about two thirds of the pond surface. Darla was complaining that she couldn't see the fish and that the plants which were mostly dormant looked terrible. I thinned out the plants and tossed about half of the hyacinth and the pond is back to being a serene and more attractive highlight to our back yard.

Darla's Dad, Earl, had surgery on Wednesday for prostate cancer. They removed the growth and he is expected to have a complete recovery. Darla and Alicia are taking their day off today and visiting with him. They wanted to go yesterday with the kids, but he is sleeping most of the day and recovering from invasive surgery. We ended up NOT going and I think it is best for Earl. The last thing he needs right now is to entertain a large group of people. I know Dad went through the same surgery and like Earl, neither of them have ever spent any significant time in the hospital and recuperating is hard on them. Shirley had to sit on Dad to get him to relax and Frances will have to do the same with Earl. Their heater went out just before he went into the hospital and he will be itching to get up and get to Home Depot to buy a new one and get it installed.

Finally, Mel Gibson's new movie, The Passion of the Christ, is due out next week. I urge each of you to not only see it, but to invite one of your non-Christian friends to the movie and use it as an evangelistic tool. The movie is changing lives and really affecting Christians and non-Christians alike. Darla and I will line up to see the movie and look forward to buying it on DVD when it is available.

Our pastor had a good joke on Sunday. A young boy was failing at Math. No matter what the parents tried, tutors, after school counseling, internet classes, etc, would help. Finally, they enrolled him in a Catholic school. He came home every day and studied hard, doing all of his homework and extra credit assignments. He barely watched television and constantly had his math text with him. Finally, when the grades came out, he had an A+. His parents asked him what was the difference, was it the school or the teachers or his fellow students? He said, "No. I realized that this school was really serious about math when I walked in the first day and saw the guy hung up on the plus sign over the chalk board."

It is another Monday. The sun is streaming into my office and I had to manipulate the blinds to get the glare off of my computer screen this morning. We are in the midst of some of the best weather we've seen in a while with bright blue skies, sunshine and temperatures in the sixties. Not bad for February.

Jennifer has called us from Baghdad. She has arrived at Camp Victory in Baghdad. It is on the grounds of one of Sadaam Hussein's former palaces. Jennifer is lucky enough to be housed in a trailer on the grounds, rather than in tents. The trailer will better protect them from the frequent dust storms that blow through the area and coat everything with a thin film of sand and dust. The trailers sleep four to six people, but Jennifer is one of three female soldiers in her unit, so the gals have a trailer built for four and there are only three of them. Oh, the luxuries of the military. Jennifer has frequent phone usage and can call anytime she wants. I spoke to her two nights in a row. The first was on Saturday night (Sunday morning for her) when she called to let us know she made it to Iraq. They flew in a C130 from Camp Doha into Baghdad airport and then hopped in two Ford F150s and a Toyota van and caravaned to the Camp. It was late at night and dark when they arrived. Jennifer said that the main freeway into and out of the airport has three checkpoints that cars have to pass through to get onto or off of the highway. Camp Victory is very secure with complete insulation from the Iraqi people. The palace was built with security in mind, in fact there is a lake that surrounds the palace and only one bridge over the lake into the palace grounds. Jennifer also called last night to give me her address. Again, it was Monday morning Iraq time and she and her unit were leaving on foot patrol to go and tour the palace grounds and get briefed on their mission.

Her unit will be installing fibre optics and phone lines, video conferencing lines and other communications infrastructure in the palace. The palace is now one of the main coalition military headquarters in Iraq and it is being repaired from the heavy bombing that it sustained during the early stages of Operation Iraqi freedom.

Jennifer's address is as follows:

Army Specialist Lyon, Jennifer
ITT-TAC-SWA
Building #7
APO AE 09342

I'll update as I hear more from our soldier.

This weekend was a Guy weekend. I hosted poker on Friday night and made a few bucks, $20 or $30. Saturday and Sunday were both golf days as I played in a two day qualifier for Spyglass. My partner, Don, and I played great golf on the front side shooting 32 and 30, but we fell apart on the back shooting 38 and 37 both days and it cost us the tournament. The qualifing teams shot 64-63 and 64-65. We shot 70 and 67. I enjoyed the golf. The weather was great.

I hope all of you are well. Keep praying and life will fall into place for you.

I just got off the phone with Jennifer. She was calling from an Army installation at Camp Doha in Kuwait. Her plane, a Continental 777 flew into Kuwait City yesterday and she drove the 30 minutes to Camp Doha. She said that Kuwait City is just like any other large city in the world, except for the Arabic writing on all of the signs.

She will fly by military plane, probably a C-5 into Baghdad on Friday and will be assigned to one of the former military palaces of Saddam Hussein. Her unit will be installing a communications network for a miltary commander who will occupy the palace. She will be allowed to take pictures sitting on Saddam's throne and will be working in a secure area that is heavily fortified and well armed.

She will call as soon as she gets to Baghdad and is situated, hopefully by the weekend. I will get her address and she will be able to call home pretty routinely. Her MOS in communications has some perks that the ground units don't and having telephone rights is one of them. She had to call the Sacramento Army National Guard and then have them give her an outside line. She sounds in great spirits. Kuwait is 11 hours ahead of us, so she was getting ready to go to bed. She arrived yesterday morning in Kuwait City. I will update the blog as soon as I hear anything more.

It is a dreary, windy and altogether blustery Monday morning as a Pacific storm wends its way through the Sacramento terrain, leaving slick roads and downed trees in its wake.

Darla and I were awakened at 5 a.m. this morning with a call from Jennifer. She was turning in her linens and thought that would be a good time to call and say her goodbyes. She is on bag duty this morning, charged with collecting and loading the baggage of the troops being deployed. I guess they looked around and saw a 5 foot, 120 pound soldier and said, "there's the perfect candidate to bust these heavy bags up and onto the plane".

Her unit was moved Sunday into a huge 120-person tent on the outskirts of Fort Bliss. The tent had double bunks and was close to the airport. She was up early this morning and was ready to load the bags into several vans leaving for the airport. Once there, it is her duty to get the bags loaded on the airplane and they are then leaving at ten-thirty for Kuwait. It is about a twenty-two-hour flight to Kuwait and with the time change they willl arrive early Wednesday morning. They will then convoy into Iraq and arrive in about two days. The convoys are large and slow as they include ground forces, air support and minesweepers. Jennifer has her flak jacket and M-16, but also the prayers of hundreds of friends and family and the armor of our Lord and Saviour as her shield. I am tremendously proud of her courage and commitment to the cause of our nation's protection. She and others like her are true American heroes.

Darla had one of her coworkers spouting off about America sticking it's nose in other people's business and how this is a war without a cause. Darla resonded that the families who lost loved ones in the tragedy of 9-11 would know what this war is about. I simply would have slapped the woman and walked away. Ignorance is not a pretty sight and Darla sees a lot of it in her chosen profession, social work, which is a calling for many bleeding heart liberals. She is a conservative Republican Christian in the midst of a liberal, Atheistic democracy. Free speech is a right, but so is self-respect.

Andy Rooney about got himself kicked off "60 minutes" for his recent diatribe about the human condition. He said that the most racist groups he knows are the NAACP, BET and the United Negro College Fund. He said that there would be an uproar in this country if someone were to found the NAAWP, WET or the United White Peoples College Fund. He also correctly pointed out that if a community is 70% Black and 70% of the people in jail are Black, that that is the law of probability and not racial profiling.

I talked to Dad and Shirley over the weekend and we have the Lyon Family Reunion on track for the weekend of March 19th in Las Vegas. Darla and I went ahead and booked our flights. We are arriving Thursday night and will stay over until Monday morning. I look forward to seeing everyone. When I told Jennifer, she said that she will have to pass, that she has something else going on that weekend. She, of course, will be in Iraq doing communications infrastructure work and defending our freedom and right to spend a weekend in Las Vegas.

Jennifer said that she should be in contact with us by Thursday and she will give me her address in Iraq. I will post that on the blog and send a letter to all of my family and friends. A letter, package, or an encouraging word would, I'm sure, be welcome.

Stay well and say a prayer for Jennifer and all of the brave soldiers defending our freedoms. Ciao.

P.S. I had a call from Jennifer at 1:45 this PM. She was in Newark, NJ where they were changing crew on th flight and will be non-stop to Kuwait from there. Jen told me that she had volunteered for the bag duty and as a result she was sitting in First Class of the Boeing 777. Anyone who has flown overseas in coach knows the painful process involved. Apparently there is some grumbling among the troops that are stuck in coach. Sometimes it pays to raise your hand. I can just imagine her little five-foot petite body curled up in one of those leather club chairs while some 220-pound soldier is stuck in a middle seat in coach. He should have offered to help with the bags, eh? She is in great spirits and looking forward to her duty.

I talked to Jennifer last night. She has arrived at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas for further processing and training prior to her deployment in Iraq. They ended up with 11 of the communications specialists from Fort Gordon leaving on the trip. One of the original group couldn't pass his clearance and they are trying to replace him and that person may arrive this week. The group of 11 includes 3 sargeants and 8 specialists. Jennifer said that Fort Bliss has processed over 200,000 personnel leaving for Iraq and the base is one of the major processing stations for military personnel going to Iraq. Jennifer also said that unlike the norm in the Army, she and her unit are being treated exceedingly well by personnel at Fort Bliss and she is being shown a degree of deference that she hasn't seen in two and a half years in our nation's service. She will be at Fort Bliss for a week of training and processing. Her training will include Guerilla warfare and her gear includes helmet, M-16, flak jacket, boots, gas mask and tent and sleeping bag.

Darla has a coworker whose brother is an Army reservist and has been called up as a convoy driver in Kuwait. He and his group shepherd the troops from Kuwait to Iraq. He has Jennifer's name and will look for her on the manifest and introduce himself to her. It's a small world.

Two of the women in my office belong to a professional sorority and they have "adopted" Jennifer during her tour in Iraq. The group will send Jennifer care packages consisting of audio books, cds, letters, food, hygiene products, etc. The women in the group range in age from 21-28 and are anxious to support one of their age group in the war effort. I was touched when they approached me and asked if they could adopt Jennifer. I gave them her cell phone number and will follow up with how they can reach her in Iraq once she is stationed.

There is widespread support for our troops within this country. Perhaps not in Canada, but currently Canada is too much like the French, their politics are soft in the head and especially soft in the backbone. As I've said before, if Canada was ever a target of terrorism, Cretien would come crawling to the United States and beg for our help. And, of course, he would get it. We don't hold grudges, we simply call a coward a coward and move on. Are my politics too transparent? With a child heading into harm's way, I don't have time for the idiots that want to debate whether we should be in Iraq or not. When Howard Dean said "I've never supported the war in Iraq and I never will", I immediately labelled him "UnAmerican" and was thrilled to see him make an ASS of himself on tv after the Iowa primary. What a prime example of a politician. Hey, Howard, we have sons and daughters, mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers being killed in Iraq. Shut the Hell up and support our troops! Their blood may not be on your hands, but a true American supports the men and women who fight for our country and politics has nothing to do with it. Figure it out...or move to Canada or France with the rest of the world's ostrich population.

Jennifer said that the military is chartering a commercial airliner to move the troops from Fort Bliss to Iraq. The military does not have airliners capable of moving hundreds of troops at a time and uses the commercial airliners to handle large troop deployments. She will leave sometime between Friday and Sunday. If you haven't called her, get off your hands and wish her well.

Again, I can't discuss the mundane in this epistle and will leave it at this. I'm concerned for my daughter's safety and again ask for you to pray for her wellbeing. Ken