40th and Final Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary!

     When I went to post this, I learned that this is the last excerpt from my original Golf Diary!  I didn't know that I cut it off at in June and started again with My Golf Diary-Part 2 until tonight.  Not sure why I stopped mid-year like that, but here it is.

Written on 6-5-02.

   I just read this whole diary.  I am exhausted.  It is almost 11:30, but at least school is out now for summer.  I proofread and changed some things in my writing, but I forgot how to spell bogey again!  I thought I was fixing them all correctly, but now I’m not sure.  I have to stop now because I am lightheaded and very tired, but here is what I need to write about next time…

   I got another birdie!  I was playing with Eric, Dori, and Craig when it happened.  That makes nineteen birdies and one eagle!  I hit two targets just goofing around that day that I would like to share, also.  I have hit some really long drives lately.  I will write about three of them.  I also got some decent scores playing with Eric at the Country Club.  I also need to tell you about Lake Powell Golf Club.  Until I am more awake…  Happy summer!

Written on 6-8-02.

   I completely printed the diary up to the point above this entry.  I can’t believe I have written 128 pages all about golf.  Let’s get on with even more writing.

  

Country Club-Hole 11

   This hole is usually Eric’s lucky hole.  He has birdied this hole twice. 

     

Jim Furyk and Sparking Joy

Written on 3-17-19.

     Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  I’ll start right away with an update on the summer institute.  I have decided to be the co-director with Frances after all, and we just had our first planning meeting on Friday.  We will meet again this Friday to continue, and I am very happy with my choice.  This institute will be very short, only two weeks/eight days.

     I am watching The Players.  It’s an exciting tournament with many players grouped up at the top of a crowded leaderboard at around 13 under, and Jim Furyk, a 48-year old, is competing really well with players half of his age like John Rahm, a 24-year old.  Some guy named Eddie Pepperell just finished at 14 under.  

I leave for Gallup today, but I am enjoying just relaxing, writing and watching right now, so I may not leave until the tournament’s over.  No hurry.  I’m mostly packed and ready to go.  

I haven’t written for a while, because I haven’t played.  For the entire month of February, I posted only excerpts from my original golf diary on my blog.  The reason I haven’t been playing is the weather.  We’ve had a record winter of moisture here in an area that’s suffered drought conditions for nearly a decade.  Belinda told me yesterday on our way to a funeral that Navajo Dam was 159% full.

     With the break from playing golf, I’ve gone a bit cuckoo with the Konmari Method.  I’ve used it to go through all of my clothes, and now I’ve also gone through my entire Star Wars collection.  Oh, I also spent one evening going through the stuff in my little bedside dresser.  Marie Kondo has joined Netflix with a season of “sparking joy” and tidying up others’ homes, and I thought why not use it myself; I’m not playing golf.  

     Sweet!  Jim Furyk just ended with a birdie on #18 to be the clubhouse leader.  Let’s see if it holds for him.

So, I thanked and then donated a large amount of clothes, and I also bought a few things to fill in some gaps when I was done.  My closet is complete, organized, and “joyful.”

     As for the Star Wars collection, I had never gone through it with a lens like the “sparking joy” lens before, and it really helped.  Why keep something if it doesn’t bring joy?  I’ve got a corner of our bedroom now filled with stuff that I am ready to thank and get rid of.  I’ve also organized the stuff I want to keep, and it’s mostly all back under the house in its new arrangement.  I say mostly, because the comic books are still out (on top of Kody’s crate that is not being used by him anymore) in a new comic book box, and I am reading some of them to reminisce.

     Well, the tournament is mostly over.  Rory is the winner at 16 under, but what a showing by Jim Furyk.  Jim just congratulated Rory as he was heading in to sign his scorecard.  Such a classy guy.  It’s 3:42, and I am mostly packed, so I will gather up the remaining things I need and hit the road.  

Until next time…

MLK Jr. Day in Mancos

Written on 1-19-19.

     We (A, B, E, and I) are back at the cabin home on a glorious Saturday morning.  It’s a winter wonderland here on this MLK Jr. Day weekend.  It snowed so much that one of the plow guys said we had more snow this month than all of last season.  Wow!  Eric is out driving his jeep with its blade to clear the roads some more.  He and the twins went out for a hike to the main intersection this morning, and the twins are about to go snowshoeing.  Now, Misty and I are alone in the living room (Kody was allowed to go with the girls, but it’s too much snow for the older Misty), the fire is going, and I can see water dripping off the roof.  The Beatles’ song While My Guitar Gently Weeps is playing on my MacBook Pro, and all is right and wonderful in our little world here.  Life is great while my keyboard gently writes.

     To catch up from my last entry, I did finalize my official birdie and eagle count, and after nearly 20 years of golf, I have 511 birdies and 24 eagles.  Not bad.  I plan on stepping down from The First Tee this summer, so I should have even more time to play golf and earn even more.  

     I just saw Eric drive by, and I thought to myself that he is doing something I can’t do well, and I am doing something he can’t do well.  I would struggle to plow the roads without getting stuck, and he would struggle to just sit down and write by the fire.  

Frances (last name) has asked me to be the co-director for the upcoming summer institute, and I honestly don’t know if I’ll do it.  I just had my first invitational for Time to Teach, and despite having 17 participants, it went really well.  Some were forced to be there, or “voluntold,” but they all applauded at the end, and the evaluations were all very complimentary with high scores and kind words.  We shall now see if it will result in some other trainings, because the whole idea behind an invitational is to do paid advertising/marketing.  I know that there is no way I would have had 17 participants if I had not convinced Chris, the human resource guy from Farmington, to put it out to the entire staff of the Farmington School District. Thank you, Chris!  What I am trying to say is things are going really well, and it would be really nice to have a break this summer to just play.  It will be a gradual stepping away from The First Tee for me.

     My guilty side worries about not helping out with the summer invitational when I should, and that if I did help out, I would come full circle after the brain surgery.  Hmmm.  I asked Frances to give me some time to think about it, and she graciously agreed, of course.  I will continue to ponder this quandary.  

     Okay, everyone is back after a short time, so I am going to stop for now.  It wasn’t as much time to write as I hoped, but I’ll take it.

Until next time…

Late Start to the New Year-A Generous Gift

Written on 1-12-19.

     Well, here I go again.  It’s time for another golf journal, and this one has some significance.  It will be 20 years ago this coming September that I started playing and writing about golf.  It’s going to be a tremendous anniversary!  

     It is 10:43 PM on a Saturday night, and Danielle and B are already in bed, but Kody and I are staying up a bit longer here in the computer room.  He is lying down next to the trash can and the desk, and from my point of view, I can only see his body and not his head.  I hear some deep breaths come out of his body, though, so I know he’s alive.  

     It’s been a busy and eventful day for Belinda and me.  I remembered to ask for and recover the $600.00 from American Home Furnishings after the 5-year period of the warranty ended on our living room set.  Because we never took advantage of any repairs, we were able to receive that amount to spend in their store, so that’s what we did today.  We bought a new sea green bench for our front entry, and it really opened things up, making the entrance look and feel more welcoming, simple, and bright.  

     We also used some of that extra money on a new small end table with pearl white legs and a cloudy gray top that matches our new kitchen flooring for our new Opal Nugget Ice Maker.  It’s found a new home in the corner of our dining room.  No more buying bags of Sonic ice for this guy.  I really enjoy that ice.  

     One other thing we did today was pick out a frame and a matte background for the new painting, Quiet Time, the one we got from Tim Cox.  He’s an artist that Dale worked with and helped.  I wanted Belinda to pick out a print from his work, because she really admired the painting called “Trading Treasures” in Dale’s dining room.  I asked Anna if she wanted to give it to Belinda, but she didn’t want to part with it, so I was fine with that.  I did want to know the artist, though, so we could get our own.  After much deliberation, Belinda chose “Quiet Time.”  It was her Christmas gift from me this year.  

     After I ordered it online, I never received an e-mail confirmation of our order, so I called the next afternoon, and I spoke with Suzy, Tim’s wife.  When she looked up the order, she recognized our name and put it together with the message I had written about why we chose to buy from Tim Cox and how it related to Dale’s daughter, Belinda.  She immediately insisted that we would not pay a thing for it, and she would make sure we got a refund.  She said they regretted not being able to attend his life celebration, and that they greatly respected and liked the man.  

     I cried.  What a generous gift.  It would have only cost a little more than the new ice maker, but it was such a lovely gesture that it really touched both of us, of course.  After hearing the price for the frame, however, we were relieved that we didn’t have to pay for the canvas transfer as well.  The frame cost nearly as much as the transfer.  It’s going to be a fabulous addition to our home when it will be completed later this week.

     Okay, it was a goal to get this journal started, and now I’ve done it.  Now, it’s off to bed for Kody and me.

Until next time…