Teachers Report; Belinda and I Do Not

8-22-15

     I have not written for far too long.  It’s a Saturday and Eric has just helped us get our swamp cooler up to speed.  It needed a new pump and new pads, and it also needed the spiders with the bearings on both sides of the thing so it would be smooth and quiet again.  It was getting squeaky.  It’s fixed now, but it wasn’t without a battle.  It’s a long story, but we eventually replaced the spiders, the pump, and the pads.  I had to return three of the spider bearing thingamajigs, one to Aztec Hardware and two to Lowe’s.  We had the worst time with the spider bearing on the west side; we needed to sand down the shaft to get it to work properly.  Either way, it’s done now.  I am feeling cool air as I sit in my living room to write this. 
    These past two weeks have been surreal.  Teachers had to report last Wednesday.  B and I did not.  Everyone had to attend the “pep assembly” on Friday.  Belinda and I did not.  This past Monday was Meet and Greet.  Teachers had to be “on” most of the day, meeting and greeting parents and new students to get them comfortable and ready for the the first day of school on Tuesday.  Belinda and I, once again, did not.  Instead, we did what we wanted.  We did some work, but it was work we wanted to do.  I played golf, of course.  I played nine holes last Wednesday, and I played nine holes this past Monday and Tuesday.  It felt surreal (and wonderful) to be able to play golf on those days, the days that are typically the most stressful and sweat-producing.
    I have two...

A Different Type of Summer and Four More Birdies

Written on 8-4-15.

    Summer is coming to a close quickly, but it doesn’t matter this year because Belinda and I are “rewired.”  We do not have to set up our classrooms, or attend meetings, or…freak out.  We won’t have to go get our keys early only to sit in our classrooms and stressfully space out, reconstructing in our minds the lengthy “to do” lists with items that must be done before that all-important first day of school. 
    Instead, we are working on our summer “to do” list, one that we generate on our own and rarely has an item that with a time limit.  Lately, to adjust to this new lifestyle, I’ve found it very beneficial to set aside three hours a day to get things done related to my new businesses.  9:00 to 12:00 works pretty well, but today it was 1:30 to 4:30 since we had other work to do this morning (weed work for Eric’s mobile home park).  I have two more days of Santa Fe technology trainings coming up early next week, and I am close and hopeful for possible Time to Teach trainings at either Ruidoso or San Juan College.  We’ll see how that all pans out by the end of this week.
    After the weeding, Belinda and I stopped to...

Rei Returns, Danielle Leaves, and Two Birdies

Written on 7-31-15.

    We chose to go inside soon after I wrote that because of the bugs and the colder air.  Today, we are driving Danielle back to Las Cruces.  Well, actually she’s the one driving right now, but we are all headed that way.  It’s 3:57 PM, usually my nap time, even though I hardly ever take naps; I just feel nappy at this time of the day…every day. I’m in the passenger seat, and we are just on the other side of Albuquerque.  We just passed Isleta Boulevard.      
    B is behind Danielle, and the rest of the vehicle is filled with Danielle’s stuff: make-up, bags of clothes, her bridesmaid dress for Daryl and Katie’s wedding, speakers, a bamboo plant that used to belong to Belinda, pillows, a sewing kit, a plastic dresser with three drawers, and a bunch of other stuff she’ll want and need this year, her sophomore year. 
    Oh, and my golf clubs are directly behind me buried under all of that stuff.  It was a bit of an issue/controversy whether I should bring them or not.  Belinda and Danielle chose to love and allow it, though.  We are making this trip more of a vacation compared to the last time we came and brought the bulkier items like the box springs, mattresses, dressers, and shelves.
    Reilly is back.  He and Bruce went to play nine holes today at 11:00.  He had a successful surgery to repair his collapsed lung.  When Belinda saw Diane yesterday at the hair place, Diane said that he is only on oxygen at night, so that’s an improvement.  I’m excited to play with them again now that he has returned.  If we weren’t going down south, I would have played with them today.
    I earned two more birdies when Bruce and I...

My Dad the Chauffeur and My First Eagle of the Year

Also written on 7-21-15.

My Dad, the Chauffeur, at Fox Meadows

     On Friday morning, dad and I went to Fox Meadows in Lakewood, so I could play nine holes, and he could hang with me and be my chauffeur.  I played the course titled The Links, and it was gorgeous.  It had no homes, and it was links style golf, matching its name well.  It went uphill and to the west towards Red Rocks and Bandimere Speedway.  Then it meandered slowly back downhill after hole #7.  The teeing ground on hole #7 had the best panoramic view of the entire course and area.  Beautiful!  The players in front of us, a couple, were slow, but every time we caught up or had to wait, I was thankful because it gave me another opportunity to catch up with dad, to just talk and be together. 
    I did not play...