We're Not in Aztec Anymore

12-20-10

   I am on the bed in room #1672 on the Mariner of the Seas.  Room service is on its way.  We ordered some hot chocolate for Belinda and me, cheese pizza for James, and a chicken dish for Danielle.  Oh, and some chocolate chip cookies for all of us. 

   Cruising is great.  It’s surreal.  I went rock wall climbing today, and I barely made it to be able to ring that bell.  Eric did not make it the first time, so I had to make it on my first try.  His advice was to keep on going, so I did.  The hardest part was the last ten feet.  It angled back above my head, and it was hard to get a foothold.  The guy holding my rope supported my weight (was that cheating?) while I readjusted, and got it figured out, and then I pushed up and rang that bell.

   We played in a volleyball tournament today, also.  In order to play, our team had to have members that were 18 or older, so we quickly gathered together Eric, Amanda, Curt, Bev, Daryl, Belinda and me.  We took 2^nd place and we were given some nice medals, pretty fancy silver medals actually.  They are the insignia of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, but they look like they are in the shape of the Transformers symbol.  Either way, they are still special looking to me. 

   It’s great to have all the teenagers here.  We have Kyle, Becca, Erica, Emily, James, and Danielle.  This ship is made for teenagers.  They are having a fantastic time.  The activities (swimming, volleyball, ping-pong, the arcade, and many more still to come) along with all of the unlimited food at the Windjammer are making it all worthwhile for them.

   Okay, Belinda and I just had hot chocolate out on our patio while watching the moon through the translucent clouds.  The moon’s silvery reflections reached all the way out to the boat directly below our patio.  I realize this would happen no matter what patio we were on, but it makes it more romantic to say the reflections were directed right at us. 

   Tomorrow, it’s Cabo San Lucas and a sun and snorkeling excursion with the Edgertons.  Tonight, it’s a ventriloquist show.  I am tired.  I worked out this morning, and it was a pretty good one.  Until next time…

Bruce Almighty

12-18-10

     Bruce, C.J., and I got to play one more time this past Sunday.  I talked Bruce into coming out, because he hesitated.  Our weather has been fantastic the past few weeks with above normal temperatures.  The high was going to be 58˚.  I also had that $40.00 I wanted to spend for my second place finish in the first flight of the Club Championship.  I ended up buying a short sleeve, red, button up Hidden Valley shirt and one sleeve of Titleist NXT golf balls. The shirt was on sale for $30.00 and the golf balls cost $9.00, so Tom and I called it good. 

   Bruce only wanted to play nine, and I was okay with that.  This was the Sunday before the last week of school before Christmas break, so I had other things I should have been doing, too.  On the #1 tee, Dean joined us.  Dean owns a pawnshop, and I had played with him once before in a previous Club Championship.  He smokes cigars.  He’s small.  He talks to himself when he plays his shots.  He says things like, “Okay, Dean, let’s not mess up this birdie putt this time.”

   Every time I play, something happens that is worth writing about...

100,000 Miles and the Not so Magical Express

12-18-10

   We are just outside of Flagstaff, AZ.  We will stop for gas in Kingman.  Our van just passed 100,000 miles a few seconds ago.  Wow, 100,000 miles.  We stopped to take a picture of the odomoter.  I remember buying this van from a nice man at Webb Toyota.  His name was John.  He no longer works there.  We were about to take a long trip to Indiana, and it was down to keeping our Windstar and putting more money into that, or buying this Sienna.  The deal breaker was the tinted windows being thrown in for free.  I was walking out of the place, and he threw that in, so I took it.  And here we are 100,000 miles later.

Trouble in the Magic Kingdom, The Point of Infants, and Half of a Goat

11-20-10

   I am on my way back to Denver on United Flight 259.  I am tired.  I am sick.  It was a fine conference, but I got sick the second day after a big expensive meal at a restaurant called The Flying Fish.  What was it?  Was it the drink?  The crab cakes? The desserts that we all passed around?  Writing about it makes the saliva flow in my mouth, and not in the good way, more the “spits” kind of way, and I haven’t eaten much (a cup of chicken noodle soup, some crackers, and half a strawberry banana smoothie last night along with half a blueberry yogurt parfait this morning) since this all started that evening.  I have not been this sick with...

6th Excerpt From My Golf Diary

 In this excerpt, I play with my brother-in-law Curt at the Centennial Golf and Tennis Club in Colorado.  A former basketball high school teammate and friend, Troy, was the head pro there at the time, so we got to play for free.  This excerpt also includes the incredible "townhome shot story."

It also reminds me of how wimpy my swing was at the time.  Troy gave me some blunt feedback that hurt my feelings a bit, but he was right.  I must have taken the advice from the Extraordinary Golf book I had read a little too seriously.  It says that I should be swinging slowly enough to be aware of where my swing is.  Looking back, I completely disagree with this notion now.
I also get a nice compliment from Troy about my chipping, and I notice that my writing still has a few too many exclamations.  

Centennial Golf and Tennis Club-Hole 3

   I took two personal days to go visit my best friend Joe up in Denver.

End of Round and Season Summary

I was now ahead of Bruce 17 to 11.  C.J. was at 10.  On the next tee, they both decided to continue the game because they had a chance to catch me, a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.  I hung on for the win, though, even with a super final birdie by Bruce on hole #11.  He hit the green on the top of the hill.  The hole was on the backside this time.  He made one of the most unbelievably tough putts I have ever seen him make.  He had to get it going down the hill, but not too fast.  It could have gone off the green if he had overdone it.  I was so impressed I walked right over to him to give him a high five. 

   I went bogey, par on the final two holes, assuring that little damage was done.  The final score for our final round ended up being Pat-21, Bruce-17, and C.J. stayed at 10.  Our stroke play scores were 42, 45, and 46 respectively.

   When we were all done, we shook hands like we always do, and Bruce told me...

Schwoooomziiinngggg!

   On hole #2, I got a bogey, and so did Bruce.  C.J. earned the only par.  I still cannot picture Cody in my mind.  Wait!  I just figured it out.  He works there at Hidden Valley.  He said he did not have a handicap.  He’s a stocky young guy.  Phew!  Thought I was losing it there.

   I’ll skip ahead now to hole #9 where I earned another birdie.  Throughout the round I kept waiting for Bruce to get things going.  I thought for sure he would have another stellar round like the ones he has been having consistently this entire season.  His new set of golf clubs (Wishon) has really taken his game up to a new level, shooting low eighties and high seventies every time he tees it up, and I know a few times he was just a couple of strokes over par for the entire round (like the last time we played).  He never did get things going, though, until the last hole where he earned a birdie.  Before I get to hole #9, I want to also mention that I did earn a par on hole #3, and that is worth mentioning because that was another time I had played the first three holes at even par.  That was a goal C.J. had set and met for himself this season, too.

Hidden Valley-Hole #9-Birdie #26 of 2010 (probably my last one for this season, but maybe not)

   I used my 5-wood off the tee.  Bruce and Cody had honors after earning pars on the previous hole, but I teed off first since they were busy.  The score up to this point was Pat-12, Bruce-8, C.J.-9, and Cody: -3. 

  This tee shot was sweet!  If I could give it a sound, it would be...