It is Monday, which in my world relates to Blog Day. I guess I add to the blog on Monday because I can relate the events that transpired during the weekend with my family. If I blogged on Friday, I'd relate work events and suffer from IBS. This way I hang on to my three regular readers and stay regular. Nice.

We spent yesterday in Santa Cruz with Jennifer and her boyfriend, Ryan. The weather was ideal, reaching about 80 degrees. Good beach boardwalk weather and good beach weather. We left the house about 8:30 a.m., a half hour later than planned as Jenn and Ryan were running a little late. It worked out fine as we took Alicia's Durango, which seats seven, and still made it to Santa Cruz by 11:30. Even with a stop for gas and an extra stop for a potty break for Jennifer. Our Explorer only seats five as we don't have the extra seat. Jennifer and Ryan squeezed into the rear seat which is cramped and left the middle seat for David and Daniel. Ryan is 6'1" and weighs about 210 pounds, so with our boys, we had a load of beef in the car. It was nice getting to know Ryan a little bit and watching his interaction with Jennifer. He certainly cares about her and the feeling is mutual. The boys got a kick out of spending the day with Jenn and Ryan and they went through the park together, going on every "make you puke" ride in the park. Jennifer even talked me (shamed me) into going on the Fireball, a 12 person ride that lifts you up and turns you inside out. I begged off, citing my poor back, but Jenn and Ryan said that it just looked rough, that it was actually an easy ride, easier in fact than the wooden roller coaster that I went on with Darla, Daniel, Jennifer and Ryan. I belted in after storing my hat and glasses in a "cubby" provided for that purpose. Jennifer and Ryan seated next to me both turned to me and said "Sucker!" at the same time as the floor dropped below us and the instrument of torture began it's ascent into the sky. I felt some G forces that likely were not the best on my back, but the kids all got a good laugh at my expense, so what the hey.

Darla and I set up camp on the beach when the kids went on their way through the park and as I was lying in the sun, sipping a cold Dr. Pepper and contemplating life, it dawned on me that this theme park experience was one of the best I've had as an adult. Normally, the Disneyland experience is wrought with tired feet, hot asphalt, cranky kids and over-priced food. We brought a cooler, our beach chairs, umbrella and a blanket and Darla got to read her book and I napped under the sea air. It was, frankly, invigorating. Darla and I went and rode the log ride and got soaked and then relaxed some more at the beach. The boys got a kick out of Jennifer talking Ryan into riding the Typhoon, a two-armed 360 degree ride that I've always known as the hammer. Ryan apparently begged off and Jennifer pulled him on to the ride, with the words, "I don't date wimps!" The boys laughed and laughed again when relating the story to us. We left about 6 p.m. and stopped for pizza in Gilroy on the way home.

Darla and I had met Ryan for the first time at the football games on Friday night. He was understandably quiet as he didn't know what to make of me or Darla, who was her ebullient self. We certainly got to know him better on Sunday and he seems like a nice kid.

The football game was as difficult to watch as any I've sat through. The idea of starting one quarterback and shuttling in another in the second quarter and basing the decision on who would start the rest of the season on that performance was absurd. Breaking that promise within a half hour was unbelievable. David started the game, which was right as he had earned the position in the preseason. He played well, but wasn't able to score on his watch. Adam started the second quarter and played as well as I've seen him play, even leading the team to a touchdown which was scored on a running play. He fumbled the ball once and was stuffed on a running play where he tucked the ball and looked like a prisoner caught in the glare of a floodlight when he was hit. We went into the locker room down 12-6. I felt that the coach would use Adam's touchdown as an excuse to start Adam the rest of the way. David started at free safety and played the whole game on defense. When the teams came back on the field after halftime I caught David's eye and gave him the thumbs up/down sign. He gave me a big thumbs up and indeed started the half and looked relaxed as he guided the team down the field against the number ten ranked team in the Sacramento Metro area and scored a touchdown on a sweep. We were thrilled. The other team scored on it's next possesion and David ran the team again, giving the ball up after two first downs. Our defense was able to hold and the third quarter expired. I saw the coaches talking to David and then he stood way off to the side with his head down as Adam came into the game at quarterback and proceeded to immediately throw an interception and the other team scored to go up by 15 and the rout was on. We lost 40-25 and David was inconsolable. Both games ran long and the game finally ended at 11:30 after an interminable delay for a player who broke his leg. It took at least 45 minutes to secure his leg, cart him off the field and wait for another ambulance to come take the place of the first, which is league rules before play can resume.

David was so mad, that he met with the head coach and offensive coordinator for fifty minutes after the game. He finally called us at just after one to say he was on his way home. When he didn't show up by 1:45, Darla drove over to the school and found David, his Dad and the offensive coordinator huddling under the lights of one of their cars. Darla was livid and gave all three of them a tongue lashing. David's cell phone was off and she was afraid that he'd had an accident. I was in bed asleep by the time this all went down. The coaches' answer to David's complaints was that he put Adam back in the game in the fourth quarter because he wanted to "open the game up". David asked him how that went (or should have) as the result was an immediate interception. David told the coaches that the team is hungry for leadership and tired of the quarterback shuffle, that the coaches need to make a decision and stick with it. The coach told David not to worry, that they consider him the team leader and that this was a non-league game and a chance for the coaches to continue to evaluate the team. David told him that, as a senior, this may be one of the last ten games that he gets to play football and that he felt the way it was handled had cheated him and cheated the team of a chance to win that game. The coach looked at David and told him that was the type of fire and leadership that he was looking for in his quarterback. David said, "Then let me lead!".

David told me afterward, that if the coach picks Adam at this point then he knows the coach is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He was very frustrated and upset by the way he was treated in the game and the boos raining down on the coach from our sideline after the interception let him know how the fans viewed his decision. This guy has the instincts of Wiley Coyote. Adam used to be one of David's best friends, but he hasn't handled competition well and some of the things he has said and done behind David's back have put a wedge in the friendship. Adam walked off the field after the interception yelling at one of the receivers for running "a lazy route". The interception was RIGHT in the arms of the d.b. and there wasn't a receiver within five yards of the play. As a quarterback, Adam will make a good Clinton Democrat, always blaming someone else for his shortcomings. Oh well.

Daniel played as good a game as I've ever seen him play on Friday night. He played both sides of the ball and only came off the field for special teams. His team won 35-13 and looked sharp throughout. Daniel was opening huge holes on the offensive line for the running backs and plugging holes on the defensive line, once sacking the quarterback and twice stuffing runs for negative yardage. He is really growing in to a fine football player at 14 (15 next month). He is 6'1" and 225 pounds of manchild.

Jennifer will be leaving for her 26 hour trip to Kuwait on Saturday and will be gone by the time I write again. The only good news is she'll be that much closer to getting out and returning to civilian life. Dad: Jennifer will have dinner with us one night this week and we'll call you and Shirley and let her say her goodbyes. Anyone else who wants to wish her well, call her at (310) 927-6311 before Saturday. I'll write again at that time. Ciao.

Hey and hello. Back from the long weekend refreshed and relatively relaxed. I lost a big account last week midterm and the loss of premium on the return premium has my figures in the red so far this month. I'll have to work extra hard to get caught up. All that and my assistant, Anthony, ate too many deep fried twinkies at the California State Fair over the weekend and called in sick today.

On the bright side, Jennifer is back home for two weeks. She survived her drive home with her Mom from Georgia (just barely) and is trying to jam a year of fun and good times into a ten day period. She has checked out of her base in Georgia and most of her supplies and uniforms, etc. have been shipped ahead to Kuwait. She brought just a few personal items with her and some items to store until her return in 14 months. Her boyfriend, Ryan, arrived last night and Jennifer picked him up from the airport. Jenn was waiting for Darla and I when we returned from Almanor with her feet up and relaxing at our house. We have a remote entry for our garage door and all of the kids know the code, so she was able to get in. In fact, she stayed there Sunday night after partying in Chico with her friend, Jason. Jennifer asked Jason if he wanted to meet Ryan and he said NO. I think Jason still carries a BIG torch for Jennifer.

Almanor was great. The temps here were in the 100's and were in the upper 70's and low 80's in Almanor. We relaxed and read books, talked by the campfire at night and basically slept alot. We didn't even take the boat out until Monday morning when we took a tour of the lake and looked at several lakeside homes. Darla's parent's, Earl and Francis, are contemplating buying a home in Almanor. The ranch is wearing Earl down a little (he has to return in a couple of weeks to oversee the harvest of almonds) and Francis is ready to sell the ranch and move to Almanor. Earl's bout with prostate cancer and treatment scared the family and we would be thrilled to see them really retire to a resort area. Almanor does get snow in the winter, although a foot on the ground at any time is about the extent of it. Earl and Francis would travel with their 5th wheel during the worst of the winter and return in late Winter/early Spring. I hope they manage to find a nice home with some room for all of Earl's toys (boat, 5th wheel, etc.). The Lake Almanor area is an area that they both love and have had family vacations there dating back to when the kids were very young.

I enjoyed the trip as much as I possibly could. NOT being in a tent and being able to sleep in the 5th wheel, on the hide-a-bed was nice. The bed was not ideal, it had a bit of a hump in it and wasn't overly firm (which I need now with my bad back), but overall it beat tent camping. Alicia, Darla's sister, ended up in the tent outside and we got to hear in the morning how cold and uncomfortable she was each night. I took a conciliatory tone with her, but was glad it wasn't me as I likely would have been stuck prone after a night in the cold. Darla really enjoys the trips to Almanor and has very fond memories of family vacations past with her extended family in tow, much like my family's trips to the Okanogan in days gone by. I can still recall the red cream soda in pop bottles and the creamsicles that were orange sherbet filled with vanilla ice cream. I have yet to manage a week in Almanor with the family because of my job situation. Next year may be the last Westra family vacation to the Almanor Resort, but if Earl and Francis do buy a home, the vacations will simply shift to the family estate.

Alicia has a client with a vacation home in the Lake Almanor Country Club and we took a trip to see the home. It is older and dated in it's decor and amenities (the house has a Kelvinator refrigerator in it!), but it overlooks the lake and sits on about two parcels of land. It is a definite fixer-upper with a wood shake roof and only six-inch logs for insulation (it is a log cabin style home). The home is "A" frame and two stories so the roof doesn't get much wear. The linoleum will have to be replaced as well as the shag carpeting. It has a beautiful stone fireplace with a built-in heatilator and three bedrooms. We took the owner of the Almanor Resort, Frank, with us to look at the home. He is a licensed real estate broker and Alicia wanted to get an idea of the worth of the property for her client. Earl said that if he was ten years younger, he would buy the place and renovate it. Unsaid in all of that, is that if he were ten years younger, he'd still be working.

Earl and Francis have a neighbor who lives in the trailer adjacent to their site who is 94 years old. His wife is in her eighties and a spry thing. They have a cat that takes walks on a leash. It is hilarious to see this little old lady walking her cat around the resort. She leaves him on the grass in front of her trailer tied up to a leash and the cat catches squirrels. Kay, the lady, makes her cat give up the squirrels instead of eat them.

Jennifer will be busy this week. Her boyfriend, Ryan, is from Pittsburgh and has never visited California so they will go to San Francisco and he wants to see an Oakland A's game. Jennifer wants to take him up to Lake Tahoe and show him all around her hometown area of Sacramento-Folsom-Roseville. Darla and I will take them to either Great America ( a theme park in San Carlos) with the boys on Sunday or Santa Cruz, which has a beach boardwalk with rides and amusements. It should be a great visit.

David and Daniel will have their first football games this Friday. Daniel will play offensive and defensive line and David will play quarterback and free safety. David has completely outplayed his competition at qb, Adam, but Adam has threatened to quit if David is named the starter, so the coach is trying to mollify him. I'd kick him off the team. David will start the first quarter, Adam the second and the better player will play the second half. Huh? Make a choice and stick with it, coach. If Adam quits, he's not a team player. David was in an article in the local paper on Sunday and it's link is: http://www.thepresstribune.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=16&ArticleID=4967 . The article in the paper has a picture of David at quarterback. Too bad it's not in the online link.

Well, I will write more next week. Stay well, be nice to each other and buy or rent "The Passion of the Christ" now that it is available. You will never look at Communion in the same way again. Ciao.

We have just endured a weekend of temperatures over 100 degrees. I had my assistant, Anthony, and his girlfriend, Erin, meeting us at our house on Saturday afternoon. Darla and I were treating them to a concert at the local Placer County Fairgrounds and Anthony wanted to see the koi pond and our backyard. That, of course, motivated me to be up early on Saturday and work on trimming, re-filling the pond, cleaning and spraying down the entire backyard. It took me about four hours to tidy up and make the yard presentable, but the good part of all this is that I worked hard, yet was still standing when I was finished. The drugs that Kaiser provided worked their magic and my back is finally beginning to allow me to walk, talk and work like one of the homo sapiens again. The concert on Saturday night was a benefit put on by the local Roseville Active 20-30 club. Being that I'm nowhere near 20 or 30, I felt that we'd be safe to invite Anthony (27) and Erin (23) to the concert. We had a blast and my boss, Bill, and his wife, Storma, joined us at the concert for dinner and the show. The Trailer Park Troubadours, who are quickly becoming our favorite show band, were headlining and they brought down the house. They came on about 8 p.m. when the sun had mercifully dropped behind the National Guard building, which is on the fairgrounds site. We stayed until the end of the concert at 10:45 and Darla's name was called for a T-shirt and a Sizzler MVP card. They told her that they would mail the items to her. We are both curious what a Sizzler MVP is. Neither of us has been to a Sizzler restaurant since we were married, so unless they give her a crown and let her eat free, I doubt that it will command much attention in our household.

The boy's had their first open scrimmage of the year at the annual "Meet the Timberwolves" night at their school on Friday. They played an intersquad scrimmage and David totally outplayed his competition at quarterback. David threw for two touchdowns and directed drives that resulted in four touchdowns. His friend and fellow quarterback, Adam, threw three interceptions and was sacked three times. He was inconsolable after the game and David definitely looks like the opening game starter at this point. David is confident that he has outplayed Adam throughout the practice schedule and looks forward to the start of the season. The highlight of David's year so far was when he picked off Adam during practice (David plays offense and defense) and ran the ball back for a touchdown. Adam tried to tackle David at the goal line and David lowered his shoulder and took Adam out. The whole team was oohing and aahing at the colllision. Daniel did not come off the field during the JV scrimmage and played both offense and defense. Dan is 6'2" and 215 pounds now. The coaches know they can't afford him not being on the field. I noticed some real hussle in Daniel on Friday and he has really grown into a football player. David has always worked hard at sports and been the best he could be no matter what he played. Daniel always just went along with the flow, never doing anything more than he needed to in order to get by. That is changing gradually and Daniel will be a star this year.

Jennifer will leave for home on Thursday. Her Mom is flying to Augusta and they will drive her Explorer home. Jennifer has processed out of her home base of Fort Gordon and will be leaving Georgia for good on Thursday. She had some of her belongings shipped to Kuwait and will only bring what she can carry onto the plane to Kuwait. She will drop off the rest of her clothes and personal effects at the house. Her Explorer will be here waiting for her when she gets home. She will leave for Kuwait from Sacramento in mid-September. Jen turned 24 on Saturday

I talked to Dad and Shirley last night. They just got home from a week of vacation with Shirley's daughter, Sherry, and her family. They rented a 2800 square foot home on a lake in Canada and unfortunately it rained most of the week that they were gone. Dad and Shirley may not be able to join us in Kauai as they are taking a three week vacation to Hawaii in January. I didn't know that until he mentioned it last night. They are keeping the idea on the back burner for now and may decide to join us yet.

Darla and I will take the long Labor day weekend and visit her parents up at Lake Almanor. It's a long drive, but it will be nice to get away and enjoy some time at the lake. They have a fifth wheel with two slideouts and we will sleep in the double bed that makes up in the galley. The boys were at Almanor this weekend with Darla's sister, Alicia.

Well, work beckons with an unending flow of business just waiting for my attention. My post for next week will be a day late as we will be in Almanor for the long weekend. Ciao.

Monday night and I thought I'd get to this at home. After vacation last week and being in San Francisco today, I'll need ALL of my work time just to dig out of the pile of work waiting for me. On top of that, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow with Kaiser. This back thing is getting worse, not better and I think I need some medical attention. The chiropractor has been great, but I'm trying to treat a broken arm with a bandaid and an aspirin. Time to call in the professionals.

As mentioned, I spent today in San Francisco meeting with an agent, my main Navigators (Contractor market) underwriter (for lunch) and then in the San Francisco office to meet with and get some marketing and underwriting tips from their underwriters. I spent the majority of the drive in pain, alternately cramping up or waiting for another spasm to hit as I sat scrunched into the Mustang. I stopped for gas on the way home and had a particularly strong spasm that knocked my legs out from under me, I fell back into the car and landed on the horn, startling not only myself, but the other poor souls who were stopped for gas. They all kept their eyes on me as I dispensed gas into my car. This is really getting old and I'm ready to get the problem fixed. I also spasmed during lunch with the underwriter and fell onto my chair when I went to get up. We'd talked about my medical problems, but she got to see it firsthand. The waiter rushed over to see if he could help. I was straightened up in pain as my back just gives out and I had to hold up my hand until the pain passed and I could again communicate like the other humans.

Our trip to Tahoe was fantastic. We did NOT do the trip down to the castle as my back was giving me fits. The weather was incredible and Darla and I enjoyed our time together. It is, by the way, our eighth wedding anniversary today and our relationship just gets stronger and better every year. We went out to dinner and lunch several days and spent a little bit of time at the casino. Our luck was not as good as the first morning when I hit the $100 jackpot and we lost probably $50 over the course of the week. We had dinner again at the Lakeside Casino on Friday night, our last night in Tahoe. We both enjoyed another slab of the "Best Prime Rib at the lake". After dinner we decided to try our luck at the nickle slots. I lost twenty bucks in about half an hour and was ready to pack it in. I decided to play for a half hour more and if my luck didn't turn, I'd call it a night. Darla was treading water during my losing streak and was game for whatever I wanted to do. I moved to a new machine and decided to play "Triple Bonus" poker. The machine got hot and I hit four-aces four times over the course of the next three hours and we walked out of the casino at after midnight with over $300 in our pockets. The jackpots were all hand pay as they were 1200 nickles, so I got to know the casino employees. Darla and I were laughing at my luck, not because I was hitting four-of-a-kinds, but because they were all aces, which paid the most. My last set of aces came right near midnight and it was dealt to me. Unbelievable luck. We also left the casino with a new personal grooming set on our points. David has been walking in and taking my groomer and doing God knows what with it. I think he missed the point on what a personal grooming kit is. I gave him my old one and took the new one.

I read over my blog and see that I didn't share my stepson story with you. I've had this bad back for the better part of a month. A week ago last Sunday I decided to wash my car. My car is hard enough to get in and out of and our garage is small and made even smaller by a buildout of garage cabinets on the South wall. I asked David to pull my car out of the garage so I could wash it. Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I am extremely particular about my car. It always has a fresh coat of wax on it and the tires are dressed and the wheels are polished. For those of you in Canada, think Art Lyon. Enough said? David took my keys and I went to put on my shoes, which is an event worth watching with my back. I grunt and sigh and reach and moan, finally reaching my shoe laces. I see why old men always wear slip-ons. Anyhow I walked out and saw David leaning over the rear driver's side quarter panel of my car. He looked at me and said something like, "I think I screwed up." He had hit the fender while backing out and had a huge scrape on the fender. It was about six inches long and four inches wide and looked like it had scraped to the bare metal. I told him it was no big deal and to be careful and meanwhile I was screaming inside. I took the rubbing compound and was able to clean off the area, which was mostly white house paint from the trim piece on the garage door. There was no paint from the car that was scraped, but there is about a tablespoon sized ding in the fender, David was absolutely beside himself knowing what a nut I am about my car. Darla came outside and said Dave was beating himself up pretty good. I told her to have him come out and showed him the almost invisible ding in the car. He was mighty relieved as was I. In the midst of the panic, Darla came out and I was muttering about kids and incompetence and she said, "Honey, it's just a car." My response was, "Honey, he's just our son."

Darla and I are getting a new digital camera with our winnings from Tahoe. I haven't had a digital since I left Republic Western. (Oh, yeah, they fired my a#@!!) I like the digital imaging and like to see the picture right away. Darla much prefers the SLR camera, so I'll be the digital photographer and she'll get the photos.

Well, my daughter is taking a chip off the old block and has created her own blog. You can access her blog at JennDayz.blogspot.com. Hopefully she will keep up with it after she gets to Kuwait. The girl will be home in time for Labor Day. She is driving her Explorer home and will leave for Kuwait on September 20th or 18th or something like that. Check her blog for exact details. She will be bringing her soldier boyfriend home with her. This is the young man that she introduced to me by describing him as Young....21 years old, but he looks even younger. I guess I'll find out what that means. The only picture I've seen of him was from Baghdad and he was giving the finger to the camera. I take it he's a classy young man. Just kidding, Jenn.

Our vacation to Kawaii is growing as Darla's folks have signed on and now Darla's sister is coming as well. I still haven't talked to Dad to see if they were able to get accomodations. Hey, Lyon family, come on down, the more the merrier.

I did cause extra strain on my back on Sunday as I mowed, edged, trimmed and laid sod in the back yard. I decided to trim the large hedge that fronts the fence beside the shed on the side yard. I trim the top of the hedge from the roof of the shed as the hedge has grown to shed height. I climbed up onto the shed and when I pulled the cord on the hedge trimmer it caught the ladder and knocked it over. Darla was inside doing house work and I was stranded on the roof with a bad back and no ladder. Luckily when I was done trimming, she was done vacuuming and came running at my beck and call. She looked at the ladder laying on it's side and me perched on the roof of the shed and laughed. I didn't see the humor in the situation.

Well, that's it for this week. Say a prayer over my back problem as I turn myself over to the medical professionals. Ciao.

This is the kind of work week Monday morning that you look forward to. Today is Monday and tomorrow is Friday. I'll be back in Lake Tahoe Tuesday night thru Saturday and, frankly, I can't wait to get back. The resort is wonderful, the room is spacious and it even includes a Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom that has already worked it's wonders on my aching back. We had a great time with the boys. We were able to get in on Friday night, although we squeezed into a suite with Darla and I in the lone bed and the boys in sleeping bags on the sofa sleeper next to us. It was tight quarters, but saved us a late arrival on Saturday and a shortened weekend. Saturday, the weather was ideal, about 84 degrees with some light clouds in the sky that drifted over ocassionally and cooled us off. We spent the afternoon at the pool and then out on the beach. The boys played catch with the football and David caught a group of batchelorettes that were resting on the beach before their big night on the town. The best looking girl of the bunch approached him and asked if we would claim them as ours if someone from the resort asked them for proof that they were staying there. It is a private beach and they were using some of the resorts' chaise lounges. David seemed pleased to claim them as part of our family.

We went out to dinner at the Lakeside Inn, which is one of Darla and my hangouts in Lake Tahoe. It is a smaller casino that caters to the locals and we like it because of the service. The waitresses are plentiful when you are gambling and the food is inexpensive and very good. We all had Prime Rib and baked potatoes and really enjoyed our dinner together.

Sunday dawned overcast with a chance of thundershowers. We were up late and headed back to the Lakeside for breakfast. The wait was about forty minutes for a table, so we gave the boys $5 and sent them to the arcade, while Darla and I sought out the nickle video poker machines. I hit four Kings in my first four plays for $10 and then hit four aces-with-a-four for $100 about fifteen minutes later. It was a lucrative wait for breakfast. I even allowed the boys to order off the menu instead of just the $2.99 specials. I know, I'm a big spender. They both had a ham steak that was the size of their plate with eggs, hash browns and toast. Darla and I stuck with the specials, two eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns for me and two eggs, sausage and pancakes for Darla.

The weather unfortunately left us high and dry at the resort, although Darla and the boys played tennis. I stayed back and rested my aching back. The toilet in the master bathroom decided to act up and wouldn't flush. When Darla got back, I told her to try it again and it came rushing over the top and flooded not only the bathroom, but flowed out into the room. I was stuck with my aching back on the bed, laughing my fool head off. Darla was yelling at me about a set-up, me baiting her into flushing the toilet when I knew it would flood. David had to use a pen to wedge against the plunger handle to get it to stop flowing. I was alternately laughing and holding my back in pain. Somehow I have yet to grow up. Bathroom humor still gets me laughing. Darla was so mad and it just got me laughing that much more.

We left about four yesterday afternoon and drove back via Highway 89 and the west side of the lake. We stopped at the rest area and were able to see the island at Emerald Bay and the castle that a Scandinavian couple built in the 1920's from the vista site. The castle is open for tours, although you have to walk down the hill a mile to the castle site. Depending on my back, Darla and I might go by the castle later in the week.

I still am not over my back problems (obviously). The intense pain has subsided, but now I have muscle spasms periodically and I'm stiff and sore if I sit in one place for too long. Luckily at a desk job, I don't have to sit for long periods of time. Oh, wait, I do. Well, this won't work.

I have played in the Rose Cup golf tournament three of the four years that it has been played, but I will not even attempt to qualify this year because of my back. The qualifier is on Saturday. I'm really disappointed because it is one of my yearly goals in golf. I want to get to a single digit handicap, win the club championship in my flight and qualify for the Rose Cup team. Now I have two goals left. The Club Championship is in September and my handicap is currently at 10.8.

We had the brass in here last week, as the CEO and COB of the company, Alan Kaufman, flew in to see the new office and to speak to the staff. My boss, Bill, was just a tad uptight on the day of the visit. When I came in on Thursday morning at 7:00 a.m. he was in the file room staring at the walls. I chided him for not making coffee and he stormed into the kitchen and grabbed the pot. I said, "Hey, Bill, I was just kidding." He insisted on making the brew and when he spilled water all over the counter when he was trying to fill the coffee maker, he lost it and slammed the pot on the counter. When it inevitably smashed into pieces, he looked at me and said, "Can you believe that broke?" "Uh....yeah." I told him to relax and chill a little. He was way overamped and was able to cool his jets as he drove over to Wal-Mart to buy a new Mr. Coffee.

The visit was tense, but much needed as Alan was able to convey his opinions of the office and our under performance based on company standards. He talked about the tremendous potential of this office and that's what I took away from the meeting was the future. The past was not of my doing, but I am saddled with those results as we all are and can only look forward and perhaps learn from the past. Anthony and I were lucky in that we had booked the $156,000 account the week before and were able to skate a little on that accomplishment.

Well, it is work time. Tomorrow is my Friday, so I better get at it. Have a good week.

Better late than dead, eh? I missed work yesterday with what has become a recurring back problem. I've been treated by a chiropractor for the better part of a year, but things are getting worse. I drained the koi pond on Saturday and trimmed and cleaned up the plants in and surrounding the pond. I did manage to kill ALL of the resident gold fish (see last week's blog). I removed the filter and UV light and the pump. It was getting hot, so I took a thirty minute break to look at the golf on television and my back cooled off as I was lying in a twisted position and my back locked up. I spent Saturday night, Sunday and Monday suffering from intense muscle spasms. If I moved the wrong way, it was like shoving a knife into my spine. I slept on the couch Saturday night, because every time I tried to move to get up, my back would spasm and bring tears to my eyes. Finally, the call of nature got me at about two-thirty and I was able to roll onto my stomach and off the couch onto my knees. I made it to bed and spent a sleepless night turning and spasming. Sunday was more of the same. Darla abandoned me and went to a San Francisco Giant's game with a friend and I spent a pathetic day on the couch and on the bed.

Finally, Monday I was able to see the chiropractor and he told me about hurting myself laying down (Now, I know for a fact I'm getting old). I saw him in the morning for an adjustment and electro-therapy and then again late afternoon. Darla had to help dress me, put my socks on and help me with my shoes. She said that was good training for when I get old. I said, what training, you're doing it NOW? I feel well enough to be back at work today, but will see the chiropractor at 3:30 today and 5:30 tomorrow. Hopefully, he can get me lined back up and in good shape before our vacation this weekend. It took almost a week last week to calm my back down and I was well for all of three days before messing myself up again. As I've said before, I have a congenital defect in my spine, where one of the verterbrae did not fully develop in my spinal column. It has never been a problem when I was a helathy young buck, but now that my spine is shrinking with age, the defect is beginning to tell noticeably. I will likely have back problems the rest of my life and it is really threatening my golf game. I haven't picked up a club in three weeks and with the pain, have no intention of seeing the teebox at any time soon. If I can get healthy, the toughest thing I'll be lifting is a soda at the beach at Lake Tahoe.

I talked to Dad on Sunday and he and Shirley are seriously looking into joining the family in Kauai next year. We will be in Kauai from June 12th -23rd of 2005. We will spend a week in our timeshare at the Makai Club Cottages, although we upgraded from a one bedroom to a two bedroom. We will then move for three days to the Kauia Beach Resort near the airport, where the boys can snorkel and perhaps even take surfing lessons. It should be a fun trip and one of our last family vacations with David graduating from high school. We have also invited Darla's Mom and Dad to join us in Hawaii next year, so it should be fun.

The boys started school yesterday and are back in football practice and all that entails. David was up with the roosters and at school by 5 a.m. for a senior tradition of watching the sunrise on the first day of school. They ate muffins and drank orange juice and coffee. Sounds like something out of the Lord of the Flies. The Seniors always seem to have odd traditions.

We will be on vacation in Lake Tahoe this coming weekend, but it will be a mishmash vacation as we have to return the boys for school on Monday. Because of my limited vacation, I will work Monday and Tuesday and then Darla and I will return to Tahoe to see the week out. The resort is breathtaking, right on the beach at Lake Tahoe and within a mile of the casinos at Stateline, Nevada.

Hot August Nights ended it's run this past weekend in Reno. It is the largest car show in the Western United States and unless I miss my bet, I expect to see Dad and Shirley there next year. The other big one in California is the Fortuna Car show in Fortuna, California on the coast. It is more of a 40's-50's style car show, but they have all classes of cars. Dad's two rides are both sharp and expensive. I'm looking forward to hearing his stories as soon as he begins to show his cars.

Well, this is short and sweet this week. I have tons of work to do , having missed Monday, so I better roll up my sleeves (I'm wearing a golf shirt with short sleeves) and get to it. God bless.

It is another Monday morning. Today has an overcast sky and it is cool. We have had mornings like this for the last week. It is very similar to weather that you see at the coast with a morning overcast that burns off by noon. Our sky has been clearing by about 9:30 and we have temperatures that are unseasonably cool with highs only reaching into the mid-eighties. It is tremendous weather.

Darla and I took advantage of the fine weather and took a trip up to Nevada City after church yesterday. The boys surprised their Mom and were at church when we arrived yesterday. We saw David's Mustang parked in my spot at church and Darla got excited. She feels tremendously blessed when the boys show that their relationship with Jesus is not something that is an obligation of being part of our family, but something that is a part of them. David decided to go to church and Daniel was right there with him. Daniel left even more of an impression on his Mom as his name tag from church was plastered on her back when we went to breakfast in Auburn. The cook at the restaurant asked Darla if she taught Sunday school. She looked at him funny and he said that she had a name tag of "Daniel" on her back.

We drove up Highway 89 after church and decided to go visit the Empire Mine, a state historic site in Grass Valley. The mine was the largest solid rock gold mine in California and was bought out by the Newmont Mining Corporation in 1925 from the owner, William Bourn. Bourn was the son of an industrialist from New York who moved to San Francisco in 1870 following the California Gold rush. Although Bourn did not come to California to prospect Gold and came simply to provide all of the necessities of the prospectors, clothes, supplies, etc., eventually he bought the Empire Mine as part of his holdings. He lived in a mansion in San Francisco. He died in 1878 and his 17 year-old son was forced to take over the mine and run his father's various businesses. In 1895 he built a 4600 square foot cottage on the grounds for his use when he was visiting from San Francisco. He sent one of his spinster maids to the Empire site to live in the cottage and run the household.

The mine itself closed two months before I was born after producing almost 6 million ounces of gold, which would be worth over $2.5 billion at today's prices. The most amazing thing is that geologists have determined that the mine stripped only about 20% of the total gold out of the mine and 80% of the gold remains. Most of the mine shafts are now flooded and all of them are closed.

The grounds are tremendous with restored gardens, clubhouse, pools, ponds and the mine itself. Darla and I walked down into the main mine shaft about two stories into the ground and I leaned over and asked Darla what would happen if we had an earthquake right then. She gave me a look. The tightness of the mine shaft was so narrow that the miners could not stand up, but had to lay down to move down the shaft.

My back decided to lock up again last week and I'm still stiff and sore. The pain was so bad on Thursday that I had to leave work and seek solace in some pain medication and a chiropractic ice bag. The problem was that I had a huge account that was due to close that afternoon. It is a brokerage account meaning that the company underwrites the account and I act as broker on the file. I tried to stick in there, but was getting physically ill from the pain in my back. I couldn't stand up straight and it hurt to breathe. Three months ago I would have been sunk if I left, but now with Anthony as my assistant, I was able to turn the account over to him and he was able to work with the underwriter and the retailer to get them a quote. Long story short, we closed the account on Friday when I was back to work and we sold a $156,000 account. My average month has been about $250,000 in premium, so you can see how this will affect my August. I am starting the month with almost $200,000 in premium already booked and close to $12,000 in income to the company. My old assistant would have wet her pants and gone home with a migraine. One of the reasons that I'm willing to share my bonus with Anthony.

Well, I managed to do a good impression of Heinrich Himmler this weekend as I instituted death for most of my goldfish by adding too much PH decreaser (another word for acid) to the pond. Several of the fish immediately began to float sideways and bite the big one. I reread the instructions on the bottle and it said not to change the chemistry of the water by more than two points or it would cause stress to the fish. I dropped it about 12 points in a fell swoop. I lost about fifteen of the sixty fish yesterday. Darla called this morning to say that the top of the water looks like a fish graveyard with some thirty fish floating on the top of the pond. We have had too many fish for too long, but I had not planned to commit goldfish genocide. I'll see how many fish (if any) remain. A pond of our size should hold no more than about 25 fish. The problem is the little buggers use the pond as their own little sex lair and the fish population continues to expand.

I talked to both Darryl and Randy last night. We all have free nights and weekends on our cell phones, yet rarely do we talk to one another. It was nice getting caught up with both of them. Randy has bought some property at a country club about an hour outside of Euless, Texas. He took a week last week and vacationed at a condo on the country club. He played golf several days and it strikes me that I am the golfer in the family and now Dad, Darryl and Randy are all country club members and I'm not. Something seems off in this equation.

Well, I have to get to work. We have an audit starting this week with two people in from home office. Ciao.

Another weekend is in the books and it is back to business. It is supposed to be 104 degrees today and then the weather will begin to cool to the point that they are forecasting temperatures in the 80's by the weekend. What a nice change that will be.

Darla and the boys made it back on Saturday and I really missed them. It's difficult to live in a perfectly vacuumed, neat as a pin house. I felt like I was single again. The boys came in and dumped their clothes and things all over the place and it started to feel like home again. And people accuse me of being sarcastic.

I haven't been able to reach Jennifer recently. I tried calling her last night to see how things are going on base after the accident last week, but her phone was off. I assume that the Army will have a ceremony of some sort to celebrate the life of Specialist Lal, but who knows? I'm sure they went through with the change of command ceremony. It is the Army way to forge ahead in the face of disaster. It is how they survive during wartime.

I trimmed my moustache on Saturday night and inhaled a hair. It somehow got stuck in my throat and all manner of coughing, chocking, gargling and retching was unable to dislodge it. I woke up Sunday morning with an infection in my throat and a voice reminiscent of Barry White. The human body is an amazing creation, but an agonizingly imperfect one at that. This is why my blog is titled as it is by the way.

The three club tournament this weekend was an effort in survival. My choice of driver, six-iron, putter seemed at times wholly inept, such as when I found myself in a greenside bunker with a large lip and little room to land the ball on the green. After chunking the first attempt and skulling the second, leading to a double-bogey, I was glad that I get 14 clubs in all of my other tournaments. The winners shot net 70 and  had a net 76 after shooting 45-43=88. I did win $22 in sklins, however thanks to one birdie and three pars. It was a tough tournament.

Darla, David and I went out to the lake yesterday. Daniel opted out, being tired and having missed television all week. He was in his element lolling about the house and watching B grade movies all day. The lake has lost at least 40% of its volume since the start of the Summer and it has become something of a muddy little hole. We drove down to the beach and spent about three-and-a-half hours relaxing. Darla and David went along with me, but both spent most of the day under the umbrella, having spent the entire week in the sun. Darla and I decided that will be our last trip to Folsom Lake this year. They increased the entry fee on July 1st and the lake is just not very nice right now, with tree limbs sticking up out of the water and no sand on the beaches as the water has receded to the mud of the lake bottom. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Work has been a boon lately and I'm having my biggest month since I joined Burns and Wilcox. So far this month I've booked over $200,000 in premium and over $30,000 in net income. My goal with a week to go is $275,000 in premium and $40,000 in income. I knew this would be a good renewal month, but I've also kept my new business up and I'm putting a great start on the new bonus period. I am sharing 10% of my bonus from the first half of the year with my assistant. Again, this is not something that has been done in this office before and I'm being a rabble rouser. The harder I work, the harder I force my assistant to work, so I am not only team building, but I am incentifying (is that a word?) my assistant and having him share in the rewards that come from hard work. Anthony and I earned the highest bonus in the branch last period and we plan to do the same this period. 

Darla and I will sit down this week and plan out our trip to Hawaii for next year. We may visit two islands, but we're afraid that may counter our plan to relax with a twelve-day visit to the islands. Darla and I found that with a 7 day trip last year, it was too short. Two of the days are spent travelling, so if we take twelve days, we'll be able to relax for ten. If we move from one island to the other, it may seem that we are taking three days to travel. We'll decide this week and get it booked and get the dates out to Dad and Shirley and Earl and Frances to see if they will be able to join us.

Well, work awaits and it is calling my name. Have a good week. Ciao.

 

This is an URGENT call to prayer. Jennifer phoned this morning and there was an accident at her base in Augusta, Georgia. One of Jennifer's friends and a fellow soldier in her unit, Melissa, was killed this morning in a freak accident at one of the fields on base. She was working on a 30' ceremonial tower and it collapsed. Two other soldiers were injured, but Melissa Lal died of traumatic injuries to her body and head injuries. She was airlifted to the local hospital where she was on life support for harvesting of her organs, but brain dead.
 
The unit is in a state of shock and Jennifer is extremely shaken and upset. She has been up and down the same tower over a dozen times and has dismantled it and re-built it as well. Please pray for Melissa, her family and her military unit. Each of those soldiers will have but one thing on their minds when they climb the next tower. Pray that God grant each of them peace and comfort in their time of extreme sorrow. God bless our soldiers who put their lives on the line every day so that we can live in peace and freedom. Amen. The link to the Augusta Chronicle story on this tragedy is : http://www.augustachronicle.com/stories/072104/lat_tower.shtml

Jennifer has returned back to her base in Georgia. She left last Thursday after a whirlwind two weeks that saw her really enjoy herself with her Mom, her brothers, Darla and I and especially her friends. It was sad to see her leave, but she is that much closer to her final days in the Army and a return to civilian life. As I've said before, Jennifer will not be tempted by any monetary inducements to stay in the Army. She has enjoyed her stay, her training and the people that she has met along the way, but she is ready to put the military behind her when the time comes to make that decision. Jennifer had been leaning toward going to work for one of the civilian contractors or in the fibre optics field, but she is now indicating an interest in going into teaching. The nice thing for her is that she is young and has those options. If she does choose to go into teaching, she will have to finish her schooling first and the California GI bill and the GI Bill will provide her $50,000 to finish college. It will be interesting to see which path she chooses when she gets out.
 
She spent a week working with grade school kids in the Augusta school system. The base at Fort Gordon has a program whereby they provide several of the Army Specialists and Sargeants and they meet with the kids and discuss their jobs in the Army and tell the kids about their experiences. Jennifer thoroughly enjoyed her interaction with the students and got her thinking about teaching as a profession. I told her that learning how to starve as a soldier would provide good training toward starving as a grade school teacher.
 
Darla and the boys are up in Almanor this week in a two-bedroom cabin. I drove up Saturday morning and spent two days at the lake. The boys are wakeboarding and knee boarding and Earl (Darla's Dad) has decided that David needs to learn how to drive the boat and he is learning how to pull his brother, how to circle around and pick him up after he falls and all of the other ins and outs of piloting a boat. I watched him pull the boat in yesterday afternoon and park it between two other boats at the dock and he did great. David is a responsible kid, but more than that, he wants to excel at whatever he does. He knows enough to ask questions and really learn whatever he is trying to master. He's quite a kid. They will be up there all this week and return home on Saturday night.
 
The house was mercifully quiet when I returned home last night and I have plans to get quite a bit accomplished this week that it is hard to do when the family is there. I will wax my car, do yardwork trimming and perhaps even some new plantings. I have some sprinkler heads that need to be replaced and I want to work on a couple of spots on the carpet that need cleaning. I talked to Dad last night and he said that I'd be a little lonely by the end of the week. I'm sure I will, but I do have a loner mentality and I enjoy being alone. It will be a nice change and allow me the time and the ability to get some things done.
 
I copied a number of Jennifer's CDs while she was here. The interesting thing is that she would not have had a CD three years ago that I would have been remotely interested in. She had some of the more current music from some of my favorite artists including John Mayer, Melissa Ethridge, Norah Jones and Annie Lennox. Jennifer said that her interest in music is more mainstream Rock and Roll, but these artists are almost Easy Listening. I don't know who this bothers more, me or her, but I saved about $50 in music purchases and really enjoyed the three hour drive up and back to Almanor because of the music. She even introduced me to a new artist, Dido, who has nice mellow music. Three years ago, her music was all Rap and every CD had a Parent's warning on it for vulgar language. Nice to see your children grow up. Now we need to work on David, who has the rap music in his car. What is it with this genre? I'd think the angry young rapper music would have faded into banality by now.
 
I've had some reflection recently on my commitment to the golf club. The board has some concerns that my job is interfering with my responsibilities as the Vice President of the club. (Does that sound kind of goofy to anyone else?) I've missed three board meetings so far this year and the last one I missed was set for July 5th. I was with Jennifer and wasn't about to cut my day short to sit through a board meeting of the golf club. The guys are concerned and I talked to the President about it....or perhaps more to the point, he talked to me. When he asked me to be VP, I worked for Republic Western, I worked out of the house and my time was mine. Now, I'm working fifty-hour weeks and I don't have a lot of extra time to donate to the club. I was very frank with him and told him that as far as I was concerned, the golf club is leisure time and Family comes first, Work second and everything else brings up the rear. He asked if as President, I could make ALL of the meetings next year and I told him that I wasn't sure. If work demanded that I be in Phoenix or Michigan, I'd be gone. I don't think he liked my answer and it could be that I won't take over as President next year. Either way, I'm okay with it. I'm involved in the golf club because I want to give something back to a group that has given me a lot of joy, but I'm not married to it. Not even close.
 
I talked to Dad last night and invited he and Shirley with us to Hawaii next year. We will take the boys to Kauai in early June for about 12 days as a Graduation present to David. We will upgrade our condo to a two-bedroom and hopefully Dad and Shirley will be able to trade into the same complex in Princeville. Many people enjoy Honolulu or Maui more, but I prefer the solitude and beauty of Kauai. We will spend a lot of time in Poipu at the beach, but will spend our down time at the Makai Village in Princeville and dinners in Hanalei. I look forward to it already. We are also inviting Darla's parents to join us. I hadn't planned on bringing my golf clubs, but if Dad and Shirley are there, I'd have to accompany them on the course. It'd only be right.
 
I have an insurance golf tournament on Thursday at the Woodcreek golf course in Roseville. We will have a barbecue dinner afterward. The tournament is for the Insurance Professionals Association, formerly Insurance Womens. It's a fun tournament with a female in every foursome. Gail, one of the other underwriters in my office will be in our foursome and she is quite a golfer. I think we will give them a run for their money this year. Saturday, I play in the Roseville Golf Club annual three-club tournament. We have to choose three clubs and play the whole round with those three. I will use a driver, six iron and putter this year. Last year I used driver, six iron and sand wedge and putted with the sand wedge. I had way too many putts and will remedy that this year. It is a fun tournament and I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Well think of me this week, getting caught up on my chores, unashamedly watching Sportscenter and baseball games and fixing my own dinners and lunches. I will survive. Ciao.

The heat hit us last week, but someone decided that warm was not good enough. It is expected to be over 100 degrees for the rest of this week. Thank God the air conditioning in my office was fixed last week.

Jennifer and the boys will spend the day at the local waterpark in Roseville. She had promised the boys that she would take them and they kept missing the mark. They decided that today would work best for them and it is supposed to top out at 103 degrees today, so I can't imagine a better scenario for the kids. In fact, I envy them. After a nice three day weekend and a great trip to Reno/Lake Tahoe, the work is dammed up in my office and waiting for me to unclog the works.

Our trip was really fantastic. The accomodations at the Atlantis Casino were first rate. We drove up after church on Sunday. Jennifer was her regular zombie self after a night on the town with friends Saturday night. She was a trooper and kept her eyes open during the service and chattered away on the drive up to Reno through Interstate 80. We stopped in Auburn for fuel and breakfast and she began to look a little more human. Our plan was to spend part of the day at the beach in Lake Tahoe and then drive on to Reno in the late afternoon. It was idyllic weather at the lake and the beach was overflowing and closed to anymore cars. We stopped along the road, Jennifer took pictures and we decided to drive on to Reno rather than hike into the beach. We took our Subway sandwiches and drinks out to the pool after we checked in and enjoyed a picnic on the sundeck.

Jennifer decided to get her nails repaired at the nail salon of the hotel before dinner and Darla told her to bill it to the room. She had broken a nail and needed it repaired. Jennifer and I walked down to the Players Club where she signed up for a card and I inquired about a comp for dinner. They gave us $120 at the Atlantis Steak and Seafood restaurant on the second floor.

We had a wonderful dinner. Jennifer ordered the petite filet mignon and shrimp scampi with a Ceasar salad. They prepared the salad at the table beginning with the anchovies and mixing the dressing. They dried the lettuce and tossed it right there. Darla had the mushroom soup and I had a tossed green salad. After the soup and salad they came and served us champagne poured over a small dollop of sorbet. It was a classy meal and we really enjoyed it. I had a 16 ounce prime rib that was like butter, it was so tender. Darla had prime rib and coconut shrimp. The dinner proved to be one of the best that I can remember and Jennifer said that it was by far the best that she had ever had. She sat mesmerized watching them prepare her salad. I joked that they were going to have a small boy come out and feed it to her between bites of grapes as two men stood by fanning her with large fans. It was a lot of fun.

Jennifer's name was put into a drawing for $2500 as a new Players Club member and they drew for $50, $100, $250, $500, $1000 and finally $2,500. Her number was close on a couple of occasions. It would not have surprised me to hear her name called at all.

After dinner we sat and played video poker from ten o'clock until two a.m. I quit after hitting four Aces with a 2 on a triple bonus game and winning a $100 jackpot on a nickle machine. Jennifer could not catch a cold the entire weekend and Darla and I would have been way up for the weekend if we weren't feeding her habit. We figure between us we gave her about $100 in gambling money. Darla and I ended up down about $50, so figure we were up $50 for the weekend. We were up about $125 Sunday night, but made a deposit at the casino in Tahoe on Monday.

We have arranged a week's vacation through RCI (the time share group) in Tahoe for August 14-21st at the Tahoe Beach and Ski Club on the Lake at Stateline on the California side. We stopped by to see the facility and were thrilled with the sandy beach, tennis courts and pool on site. The facility is very nice and makes the older time share that we stayed at near Heavenly Valley ski resort last year pale in comparison. The location is excellent in the redevlopment area of Lake Tahoe. It is across the street from the Heavenly Valley gondolas and has a Marie Callenders on site. I'm excited for our vacation next month already. The boys will go up with us and then head home on the weekend. I'll work Monday and Tuesday and then Darla and I will go back up for the balance of the week.

Darla and the boys leave for their vacation at Lake Almanor on Saturday. I'll drive up with them and drive back down on Sunday night. I don't have much vacation and we have to use some of the bonus points this year that we got from RCI when we bought the time share in Hawaii. Darla gets extra vacation time, so will enjoy Almanor and then the week in Tahoe next month. I already took some time off for the trip to Vegas and for the Reno trip yesterday. I only have four days left.

We had a scare on the drive back from Tahoe yesterday afternoon. We were on Highway 50 on the road out of Tahoe on the Highway 89 bypass and had a woman pull out in front of us from the side road. I think she was following someone and when he pulled out, she drifted out behind him. There was a car coming in the opposite direction and no room for her to get by me. I slammed on the brakes of the Explorer and we fishtailed. The woman somehow managed to whip her car into a U-turn and we just avoided her. My only comment as this was happening was, "Unbelievable!!" when she began to drift in front of us. If she had continued, we would have T-boned her and likely knocked her into the oncoming car. Darla spilled a Diet Pepsi that she was drinking all over herself. Jennifer's comment in the back was, "You're not big on using your horn are you, Dad?" The Lord was looking out for us and for the numbskull in the compact car.

We stopped in El Dorado Hills and had dinner at one of my new favorite restaurants, an Italian outfit called "Strings". It was a marvelous little vacation and we got some good quality time with Jennifer. She professed to having a great time and I'm sure she did.

I am grateful to all of my family and friends that prayed for Jennifer's safety while she was in Iraq. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Ciao.

The heat is on here in Sacramento. This past weekend was a scorcher just in time for July 4th. Jennifer made her return to California and she is certainly enjoying herself. She flew in on Thursday afternoon and she has already been water skiing, out to see a band at a local venue, to several parties, out with friends and out to dinner with me last Friday night. Jennifer looks great and is back to 105 pounds of soldier, after losing 13 pounds in Iraq. Jennifer did get as high as 122 pounds during basic training, but her musculature around her neck and arms has softened as she has evolved in the Army from a workout monster to a soldier. Jennifer continues to rack up Personal Training marks and is one of the few soldiers in her unit to max out her PT test. The maximum score is 300 and she had hit 299 in Basic, but re-tested just before her vacation and maxed the test with 300 points. She got a day off work and has a four-day pass waiting for her when she returns.

Jennifer had a really nice visit to Pittsburgh with her friend, Ryan. They stayed at Ryan's parents house in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and visited with Ryan's friends and buddies while they were there.

Darla and I will treat Jennifer to a trip up to Lake Tahoe and Reno this weekend. Jennifer's Mom is having a party for her at their home in Folsom on Saturday. Jennifer will stay with us on Saturday night and then we are off to Lake Tahoe after church on Sunday. We'll spend the day at the beach over on the Incline Village side of the lake and then drive over to Reno, where we will stay at one of the luxury rooms at the Atlantis casino. The Atlantis has spent over a half million dollars renovating their 13 year-old casino and they now have rooms with all cherrywood furniture, granite and marble in the bathrooms and flat screen televisions in the rooms. The rooms are a little higher than the normal rack rate in Reno, but I think Jennifer deserves it.

Darla and the boys spent the weekend up in Lake Almanor with her folks. The boys skiied and swam to their hearts content. Jennifer and I joined them Sunday morning and spent the day on the boat. Jennifer was whipped from the night before where she saw the band with the lead singer who was formerly with the Smashing Pumpkins and Hole. I guess she had a blast, but got back to my place about 3 a.m. I rousted her at six a.m. and poured her in the Mustang for the three hour drive to Lake Almanor. Jennifer was chatting up a storm early in the drive, but was soon fast asleep. I woke her about 7:30 and we had breakfast in Oroville. She proceeded to tell me every story that she told me at six a.m. She swears she didn't remember being awake and told the family that she was dead to the world until I woke her up for breakfast. She slept part of the rest of the trip to Almanor after breakfast.

Jennifer is full of stories from Baghdad and Augusta. It's a good thing as a golfing buddy of mine is friends with a reporter from the local Roseville paper and she wants to interview Jennifer for a story in the paper. She wants to see Jennifer's pictures from Iraq and do a story that will put a local spin on the war in Iraq. Jennifer isn't thrilled about meeting the reporter, but I'm guessing that she will warm to the idea when they meet later this week. I'll try to get a link to the paper's website and add it to my blog if and when the story runs.

The boys made it back from their football camps. David had a blast with the Stanford coaching staff and worked out with one of the top quarterback recruits in the country. He is a quarterback from Florida where he won the high school state championship. He was at the camp as a guest of the Stanford coaching staff (I thought that was illegal???). He is a recruit for Stanford as well and will make up his mind on a college this Spring. David said the kid has a rocket for an arm. David learned alot from not only the coaches, but from the other quarterbacks in camp as well. He learned proper footwork and how to read defenses and setup drills, etc. He said it was well worth his time and our money.

The temperatures are supposed to remain near 100 for a few days and then cool off. I'm hoping it warms back up next weekend as Tahoe is especially nice when it is 100 degrees in the valley. I hope all are well. Jennifer is in town until July 15th and it is a blast to spend time with her and hear her stories. I'm really enjoying myself. The blog will be late again next week as we'll be in Nevada with Jennifer. Take care.

A great weekend is in the books and it is back to work and the process of earning a living. Our new underwriter starts today and she was here bright and early at 7:30 this morning. It was a good sign as generally I'm the only underwriter in attendance until about 8:45. Our core hours are 8:30 - 5:00, but anyone in production knows that those are the staff hours. Our true hours are whatever it takes to get the job done. Gwen told us during interviews that she likes to get to work early, so we will have another body to make the first pot of coffee in the morning, a critical element to the success of any organization.

Darla and I went to the Placer County Fair on Saturday night. We strolled the grounds looking at the pies and clothing, photography, cookware booths, food booths and wondered what we'd paid $7 a head to see. We both enjoyed the hypnotist, a highlight of which was watching as she hypnotized an obviously inebriated Charlie Manson look-alike in the crowd. He was not part of the show, but what part of his alcohol-warped brain was still working was open to the power of suggestion and he dropped prone on the ground in the middle of the crowd. A small dog climbed on his face and was licking him for all his worth. Finally, when one of the volunteers woke up out of the hypnotic phase, she invited Charlie onto the stage and he became part of the show. It was hilarious.

I had a Sunday golf game, so Darla and I went to church Saturday night before the fair. It is definitely a different crowd on Saturday night at church. Darla was concerned about wearing shorts to church, which (by the way) I do every Sunday. She needn't have worried as most of the churchgoers were in shorts and sandals at 5:00 p.m. on a hot Saturday afternoon.

I did play golf at the break of dawn on Sunday. We teed off at 6:04 and I woke up about 7:00 a.m. I started my round 6 (double-bogey)-6 (double-bogey)- 8 (triple-bogey). I'm an 11 handicap and I was 7 over after three holes!! I was able to wake up and completely turn around my game with birdie-par-par-bogey-birdie-par to finish the front nine at 42, six-over par after being seven over after three holes. I shot 41 on the back side for 83, 11-over par. I was proud of my comeback in the round and even happier to collect the $42 in skins and stroke bet money from my playing partners. I think they all thought early on that this was a day that they would fleece me royally.

I was off the course by 10:15 and Darla and I packed up and headed to the beach. We were on the beach by noon as we stopped for sandwiches on the way. The crowd at the beach was thinner than usual, although the temperatures climbed into the middle-nineties. Two people got their cars stuck in the sand and one guy in an older Ford Bronco pulled both of them out. I told him that he should charge for the service and he said that the first guy gave him $20 and that made up for the second girl whose Honda Civic was hopelessly sunk into the sand. He pulled her out after she continued to spin her wheels until her front bumper (she had front wheel drive) was covered by sand. He hooked up to her rear bumper and yanked her out. She simply waved her thanks and drove away. I've learned to stick with the hard packed sand of the roadway and stay out of any soft sand.

It is amazing to me the collection of stuff people bring to the beach. The array of screen rooms, canopies, umbrellas, barbecues, rafts, tents, boats, wave runners, air mattresses, dogs, kids, fatties, skinnies, hard bodies and albinos on the beach is almost overwhelming. Darla and I spend hours people-watching on the beach, which is fine until one of the string bikinied hardbodies walks by. Then I usually catch an elbow in the ribs. Some things are timeless I guess. This week, Darla was particularly annoyed with the dog people as the aroma near our blanket was a bit over-whelming. Most dog walkers in the neighborhood carry a bag and a scoop of some kind and pick up after their dog. The beach dog people are famous for simply covering the offending fecal matter with sand. The problem is the beach ends up looking like a field of brown-sugared sausages. We hunted for the offending cigar, but couldn't find it. The wind blowing in off the lake carried the scent to us without fail. It was kind of a "crappy" day at the beach.

Jennifer will make her triumphant return home this week. She flies in on Thursday night and will be here until July 15th. We plan to take her up to Lake Almanor to water ski and jet ski over the 4th and then Darla and I will take her up to Lake Tahoe and Reno on the 11th-12th. She will get together with the boys and go to the local water park at some point. Her Mom has plans with her and she has plans with her friends, so it will be a whirlwind visit. Jennifer is in Pittsburgh as I write this with Ryan, a friend of hers, staying with his parents. They are having a blast visiting the sights in Pittsburgh (what steel mills and factories?). She got there last Thursday and will fly home this Thursday. I really look forward to seeing her. She really is my hero for her bravery and her dedication to defending our country. She will go back to Augusta and then fly home for a week before leaving for her 14-month tour in Kuwait City.

Well that's it for another week. Be well. I'll add to this after Independence day.

A glance at the calendar tells me that Summer begins today. I suppose in some parts of the country you need to look at a calendar to tell the changing of the seasons. Sacramento is one of those areas with very distinct weather in different seasons. It's just that the climate doesn't pay attention to the calendar. It's been in the nineties for the better part of a month here, although we just had our first official day over 100 degrees last week. I talked to Dad last night to pay homage to Father's Day and recognize the fact that without his involvement, I wouldn't be living this life today. He said that the Surrey area had about 94 degrees yesterday and he and Shirley spent the day at a car show locally. The official high temperature for Vancouver was 82 degrees, but like San Francisco, when the city temperature climbs over 80 degrees, you can usually add 10-15 degrees to the cities in the suburbs. That is HOT for the Vancouver area, especially this time of year. I called him at about nine p.m. and talked briefly to Al, as they had their phone on call forwarding, and they were just putting the meat on the barbecue for dinner. I guess appetizers and refreshments ran a bit long at the Nowakowski household.

The boys made it off yesterday morning for their football camp in Oregon. The camp is being held at Southern Oregon University and the boys had to catch their bus yesterday morning at six a.m. David packed up his Mustang and off they went at about five-thirty Sunday morning. At least that's the word according to Darla. I was fast asleep. We picked up David's Mustang later that morning and brought it back to the house. Darla and I will drop it back off at Woodcreek on Thursday morning as they will be returning then. David rightfully didn't want to leave his car at the school for five days. They called last night and made it to camp by shortly after noon and had already been in full pads and done some weight training. They will be doing three-a-days during camp and are thankful for the cooler weather of Oregon.

David will turn around on Friday and Darla will drive him to camp at Stanford. The Oregon camp is a Woodcreek camp with all of the coaching staff there and this is a chance to put their offense and defensive game plans together. David received his wristband of plays in a special meeting with the head coach on Saturday night. They are serious about having David compete for the starting quarterback position for Varsity, although David has told them in no uncertain terms that if he has to choose between quarterback and free safety, that he chooses defense. Apparently, they are okay with him playing both ways this year. We'll see. The Stanford camp is a specialty camp for quarterbacks and receivers and they will work with the Stanford coaching staff on drills and techniques. That camp is four days and cost $440. He will have the opportunity to spend some time with a quality Division I college coaching staff and it should be invaluable in his growth as a football player.

David has already received about a dozen letters from smaller schools in the country about having him play for them. The coaches put several names out for scholarship consideration and David scored well on his SATs and carries close to a 4.0 average, so he is a good catch for a smaller school. David wants to pursue a career as a CAD architect (Computer Assisted Drawing) and will only consider schools that have an Engineering and Architecture curriculum. If he had his choice, he would go to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which is one of the premiere Architecture schools on the West Coast. In fact he and his Dad visited Cal Poly on their vacation and David made a few contacts while he was there and brought back a scad of information. Our friend, Rob McKone, who played college basketball transferred to Cal Poly from Weber State and still has some contacts at the school, so we hope to interest them in David's athletic prowess. David has two things going for him...he is an excellent student and he plays two sports, football and basketball. The smaller schools have less scholarships and prefer their atheletes to play more than one sport. Keep your fingers crossed. A scholarship would save us a bundle.

Golf. Of course I played this weekend. We were supposed to have a tournament at Ancil Hoffman Golf Course, but the course cancelled our tee times when we didn't hit our guaranteed number of players. Several of our golfers dropped out to play in the Buick Scramble qualifier. I snuck out and played on Diamond Oaks early on Saturday and shot a 41+42=83 and finally snuffed the poor start/good finish problem, although I started double bogey-bogey-bogey and then ran off five straight pars. Perhaps I'm refining the poor start pattern even further and continuing the trend in a microcostic manner. I enjoyed the round and hit crisp, straight drives and rolled in some good putts, even chipping in for birdie from off the green on the back side.

The US Open was a delight this weekend. I taped the final round as Darla and I were at the beach on Sunday. I was a bit amused at the infighting between Tiger Woods and his former coach, Butch Harmon. He was critical of Tiger's play and how he is practicing and said that Tiger is in denial on the state of his game. Tiger was not pleased. Butch Harmon comes from a long line of golfers. His brother, Bill, once blew up in a junior tournament and threw his entire set of clubs into the pond. When he got home, he told his father, Claude, what he had done and told him that he was quitting golf and joining the Army. His father thought about that and then asked him why he didn't join the Navy, then at least he could get his clubs back. A great story.

Jennifer has been out on manuevers the last week. She showed up to work on Tuesday and they sent her unit into the field and they had to stay out in tents and set up camp. She expects to stay in the field until she leaves on her vacation June 24th. She got twelve hours off on Saturday to get some rest at her bunk. She called to wish me a Happy Father's Day, but we were at the beach. She said she'd try to call one night this week. I told her to call me at the office.

I kidded last week about Dad's obsession with his lawn, but then mowed my lawn on Thursday night and then again last night. It's growing so fast, I may have to cancel our vacation. J/K.

Hope all are well. God Bless and have a great week.

Back to the blog. I'm a day late, but I did it for the kids. Our golf club sponsors an annual junior golf tournament and being one of the leaders of the association, I had to take the day and help run the tournament. We had about 85 golfers from age 7 -17 and there was some pretty stellar golf to watch and enjoy from these kids. The winning score for the boys was 71, shot by both a 17 year-old and a 15 year-old. The playoff only lasted one hole with the 15 year-old scoring birdie to the 17 year-old's bogey. The girl's winner shot a 76, which included a one-under 36 on the front side. I really enjoyed myself, which is good given the fact that I'll have to run the tournament next year. We provided each of the players a bucket of balls, a divot tool and ball marker combo with the tournament logo on it and a lunch of two hot dogs, chips and soda. We also had plenty of snacks, water and volunteers. I was impressed with the spirit of sportsmanship displayed by the kids. They were respectful of each other and especially respectful and appreciative of the volunteers that helped put on the tournament. I helped to hand out the trophies and had at least twenty-five kids approach me, shake my hand and thank me for putting on the tournament.

For all of the bad in society and the disrespect and the unhappiness displayed by the younger generation, the athletes and participants in sports tend to be a more positive and well disciplined group of kids. It is encouraging to see that the best of our future can often be found on the ballfields and basketball courts, gyms and golf courses in this country.

David and Daniel leave Sunday for their Summer football camp in Oregon. They will return on Thursday and David will turn around and leave for his quarterback camp at Stanford in Palo Alto. The boys are excited to get on with their football lives this Summer.

The windows were put in last week and we are thrilled with the results. Darla took the opportunity to paint David's room while we had his bed apart and furniture moved. David was a little hesitant to have us paint...I'm sure it was a privacy thing...but he greeted his Mom with a big hug yesterday and thanked us both for fixing up his room. We put in a new stereo stand and got rid of some extra junk he had laying around. Darla wants to tackle Daniel's room next. He said he only wants white paint and we are trying to talk him into some sort of pigment in the paint.

Darla and I went out to the beach on Sunday. We've discovered a small beach at the rear of Folsom lake, called Oak Beach. It is not a large beach and the only way to get to it is driving down onto the sand and parking just yards away from the shore. We drove down and had some bozo in front of us who decided to stop in heavy sand and back up. He had 4-wheel drive and we didn't. I had a few choice words for him as we sunk into the sand and our wheels spun without traction. I was able to rock us back to moving by going from reverse to drive and back again. The next SUV I buy will have 4-wheel drive. We were able to watch one yahoo from the beach who backed his truck up and over an outcropping of rock and then watched as his truck dug the left rear into the sand and he sunk like a stone. His car ended up canted to the left and he was hopelessly stuck in the sand. The park ranger came and completely ignored his pleas for help. Finally, about eight big bruisers helped him jack up the truck, fill the hole in the sand with rocks and dirt and help him back out and around his predicament. He drove past the park ranger and told him he was a %#*%^$$#.

Dad and Shirley are off for a few days to the Okanogan in Canada for some sun and relaxation. Dad sent us an e-mail to let us know that he'd be gone for a few days and said that they can't be gone long, because he needs to mow his lawn every three days. I just wonder where I got this obsessive-compulsive streak? Does anyone have any ideas? I'm open to discussion on this item.

My golf game this weekend was a mosh pit of inaccuracy, inconsistency and ineptitude. I shot 43-42=85 and went from poor start-good finish to vanilla pudding. I had two double bogeys, two triple-bogeys and two birdies amongst a host of pars and bogeys. I lost both bets that I had with the gamblers in the club, but I won $28 in skin money for the two birdies. I played the four par-threes in 2 under par. If I'd been playing a pitch and putt, I would have won the tournament.

Well, work has piled up in my absence. Funny, how nobody seems to step up and do your work when you are in absentia. I need to roll up my sleeves and get to work. Tough duty as I'm wearing a short sleeve polo shirt, but I'll do my best. Ciao.

It is once again a new day and a new week. I have a short day today as I will be playing in the Sacramento Insurance Agents Association Golf Day. It is that time of year when each of the area insurance agent's associations sponsor a golf day. It is a good excuse to get out of the office and enjoy the sunshine while justifying the time, the expense and the smile on your face as an exercise in Marketing. I enjoyed the tournament last week although the weather in Eureka was overcast and cool. I guess it was a respite from the relentless sunshine and perfect weather that we suffer here in the Sacramento area. Eureka is located on the coast of northwestern California and has a good deal of overcast caused by the marine layer that hangs over the coast. I specifically enjoyed the golf tournament as they played both a scramble format (where each member of the foursome tees off and you chooose the best ball and all hit from there) and a stroke format (where you get to play your own ball). Three guesses as to which format I played. I shot 47-39=86, again perpetuating the poor start-strong finish routine that I am mired in currently. Today's tournament will be a scramble and I'm playing with three other strong golfers. The drive up to Eureka via Interstate 5 and Highway 299 along the Trinity River was awesome. The Mustang was fun to drive on the winding roads and I had Creedence and The Fabulous Thunderbirds turned up on the CD player as I made my way on the 5 1/2 hour drive. I drove back down Highway 101 to Highway 20 through Clearlake. It was not as scenic a drive, but proved a bit faster.

I talked in detail about my chiropractic nightmare last week. I'm doing great and the magic of chiropractic medicine is still in my good graces. However, I almost undid all of the good last Tuesday night. I mentioned that I had re-stained the spa and steps. Darla and I stayed out of the spa on Sunday and entered the spa from behind on Monday in order to allow the steps to dry. Tuesday night we christened the steps and entered the spa in the traditional way. As I got out, my feet went right out from under me on the newly slick surface and I landed on the small of my back and on my right elbow. One moment I was talking to Darla, who was still in the spa, and the next I was in a heap laying across the steps. Luckily, my elbow broke my fall and I didn't cause myself any further damage. Darla and I are being a bit careful entering and exiting the spa these days. Darla and I, even when the weather is warm, go in the spa nearly every night. We both enjoy a good soak, but it is also a chance for us to visit together after a busy day and it is both something that we can look forward to and count on. I also think the spa has done wonders for my back. I often get into the spa when I get off the golf course and my back loosens up amazingly.

The boys are off to Southern California for a week of vacation with their Dad. This is the first vacation that I can remember the boys taking with their Dad in years. Most of their vacations have been trips to Montana or Oklahoma to visit family. This trip is to go to the beach and also for David to visit Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. David wants to take Computer Assisted Drawing (CAD) and Architecture courses and Cal Poly is one of the best technical schools in California for the craft. Now he just needs to work on getting a scholarship and all will be right in his world.

Both David and Daniel will be off to football camp in Oregon next month. David will return and immediately leave for quarterback camp at Stanford in Palo Alto. The coaching staff has decided that they need a true field general this year at quarterback and are giving David every opportunity to earn the starting position. Last year, the Defensive Coordinator convinced the Head Coach that David was more valuable on defense than offense. With the influx of the players from the Junior Varsity, the Head Coach sees David's defensive position being filled by a Junior and David playing quarterback. We've decided that if they are going to give him a chance that David's Dad and Darla and I will pay for a quarterback camp and we'll give him every opportunity to win the position.

In the meantime, both David and Daniel are playing Summer basketball with the Woodcreek High School teams and will both be doing summer workouts with the football teams prior to camp. Both David and Daniel earned their way to football camp by earning $375 in their lift-a-thon at school. They both walked the neighborhood and got pledges from our neighbors to earn the money for camp. About half of the players have their parents pay their way, but we believe that if they have to work for it, they will appreciate it that much more. Sort of the same reason that David and Jennifer had to BUY their cars from me.

I talked to Jennifer last night and she is doing nothing short of fabulously. I asked how her little guy, Ryan, was doing. She said, "Dad, he's young, not little. He's six-foot one and buff." The young man is about my size, eh? Give or take 3 or 4 inches and maybe thirty pounds. Oh, well. Jennifer is looking forward to coming home and we talked about maybe going water skiing up at Lake Almanor and maybe taking a trip to Lake Tahoe when she is home. We will also take Jennifer and the boys to the local Water Park where Jen and the boys can blow off some steam together. Darla and her work all pitched in and put together a huge package for Jennifer of snacks and goodies and sent it to Baghdad. Jennifer left before it arrived and three weeks later it was returned to sender. Darla repackaged it and sent it to Jennifer in Georgia and the package has now made it all over the world and cost about $70 in postage. Hopefully there is something left inside that is actually edible.

Darla and I will have our windows installed this Wednesday at the house. These are the replacement windows that we ordered early last month. We are having the entire front of the house redone with new lifetime windows from Sears. I look forward to getting rid of the water spotted mess that we have now and benefitting from the insulated dual pane windows as far as energy is concerned. David should enjoy it especially as his room is the hottest and coldest in the house because of a broken seal on his window.

Well, that's it for another week. I can place a check mark next to my obsessive-compulsive streak regarding the blog. Be well.

It is a magnificent day with a high blue sky and a promise of warm temperatures, although the many trees that surround our office building are gently swaying to a light breeze that filters through the leaves. I realize often the hours that I put in when the same sprinklers that were working as I arrive at work are on when I leave the building at night. The parking lot right now is a trail of rivulets and water from the sprinklers as they dry in the early morning sun.

This is a short work week for me in more ways than just the Memorial Day holiday. I leave tomorrow afternoon for Arcata up in Humboldt County for an insurance golf day being put on by the local agents association. I have several agents that use Burns and Wilcox to write their Rodeo and special events coverage in the area and I have yet to meet those agents, so here is my chance. The timing isn't ideal as Marci's last day was last Friday and we are now one underwriter short. The office had five commercial underwriters when I joined and we now have just two, Gail and myself. We are interviewing a candidate at lunch today. Bill, our office manager, has already met with her twice and wants Gail and I to do a chemistry test with her over lunch. I will have her lick a piece of litmus paper and see if it turns purple.

I have been suffering with a strained back for over a week now. I filled a 5-gallon tank of propane for the barbecue last Monday and lifted it wrong and knocked my spine out of alignment. In spite of the fact that I have a chiropractor, it took three visits until he could pop my spine back into alignment. In the meantime, I was a figure "S" as the pain and swelling in the right side of my back forced my posture to tilt to the left. My back was so swollen that Dr Elsea could not "crack" my back the first two visits. He had me on ice and walking. The problem was, he had me ice it for ten minutes and walk the hallways for five minutes. I kept banging off the wall because I was turning left. My doctor was excellent and met with me one night at eight o'clock and then again yesterday on Memorial Day at eight in the morning. He finally was able to crack my back on Friday morning and by Friday night I was feeling fine.

That left me with a dilemma in that I had a golf tournament on Saturday morning. I had e-mailed the tournament director, Steve, on Thursday night and cancelled due to my bad back. Steve said to see how I was feeling and if I could make it, he'd fit me in. I talked to Darla on Friday night and was secretly hoping that she would forbid me from playing, but she said it was up to me. She also said that it wouldn't be smart, but it was my decision. Now adult decisions (buying houses, cars, loans, child discipline, etc.) are easy decisions to make, but when it involves golf, I'm like a little kid. All of my buddies were playing and I'd missed the last tournament when we went to Monterey. I finally decided NOT to play, but the decision was simply based on FEAR. IF I played and hurt myself further, Darla would KILL me. It's tough being an adult, but thankfully we can still rely on emotions like Fear and concerns like Consequences to make our decisions for us.

I ended up laying sod in the back yard, re-staining the spa and steps, and cutting the kick plate and then rehanging the front door instead of golf. All three of those activities were probably tougher on my back than golf. I survived, although I still have a little residual soreness. I ended up staining a park bench that we have in the front alcove of the house just off the front door. It was a little weather beaten and it is amazing how nice it looks after I stained it. I also re-stained the air conditioner enclosure and the lattice work on both gates in the back yard. Funny, when you have an open can of stain and a brush what you can find to stain. The stain is Flood's UV resistant redwood stain and it is the best product that I've found to put on wood in California. Dad suggested it as he used it on his deck in Texas and the product is amazing. It really does resist fading and is a water repellant as well. Excellent for use around a spa.

Darla and I went out to dinner on Saturday night at a new Italian restaurant in Lincoln. Lincoln is the little town next to Roseville and Rocklin that is going through a huge building boom. There is a new senior community in Lincoln, a new Indian casino, and some affordable housing. The Sacramento area has grown to the point that anything under $300,000 is considered affordable and Lincoln has homes starting in the mid-$200,000 range. The restaurant is located in an old historical building in Lincoln. Lincoln was known for it's foundry, where they forged clay and terrazo pots in the early 1900's. The downtown area is still a maze of old buildings and restaurants are popping up as the town grows. The food was excellent and we will return.

Darla and I also were able to sneak off for a day at the beach on Sunday. We went out to Folsom Lake and drove the Explorer right out onto the beach on the back side of the lake. We spent a relaxing day reading and relaxing in the sun and under our umbrella. We tried to return yesterday afternoon after I finished staining the spa, but the park was full and we had to turn around and drive back home. I ended up dozing in the back yard.

The only problem with this weekend is that we missed church on Sunday. Darla and I both slept through the alarm after staying up late on Saturday night to watch a movie called "Deliver Us From Eva", which is a remake of "Taming of the Shrew". Our weekend just seems incomplete when we miss church.

Darla's sister, Alicia, travelled up to Lake Almanor to spend the weekend with her parents. Earl continues to take radiation treatments for his prostate cancer and has been amazingly resilient after the four-times-a-week treatments. They have their 5th wheel up at Lake Almanor again this year and will travel up weekends until his treatment is finished. We all Praise God for the prognosis and health that he has blessed Earl with.

I talked to Jennifer on Sunday and she is doing great. She is looking forward to her trip to Pennsylvania and then back home later this month. She will be in California July 1st through the 15th and then will again fly home for about ten days before she leaves for Kuwait in September. Well that's it for this week's epistle. I hope you all are well and keeping your faith in the One who sustains us in everything we do. God bless.

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.