Mom's Birthday and Flattening the Curve

Written on 3-28-2020.

It’s my mom’s 79th birthday today!  Wow, my mom is nearly 80.  How did that happen?  We got to talk to her this morning on a FaceTime chat, and it was wonderful.  She was so appreciative.  I wanted to hug her.  I wished I could be there with her to hold her and kiss her, but with the coronavirus, that’s not possible.  Happy birthday anyway, Mom!  At least we could still see her and be able to visit with her, so it wasn’t a total sacrifice.  

Speaking of sacrifices, I didn’t get to play this past week at all, and that’s because our state has chosen to shut down until at least April 10th, but that could be extended.  Pinon Hills had to close down, as did all of the other golf courses in our state.  A stay-at-home order was put into effect for New Mexico, and that means no golf.  No boondocking either.  Basically, don’t go anywhere unless it’s absolutely necessary.  It’s a bummer, but I get it.  We need to flatten the curve.  Hope this does the trick.  From what I have seen from the areas that are saturated with cases (Italy, California, and New York to name three), I understand.  Thankfully, I can still to work from home, but it’s very limited.

Belinda and I finished our...

weeklong project of detailing the kitchen cupboards today.  Well, it is nearly done.  We have to clean out the cupboard with the trash can still, but the rest of it is done, and it looks and feels amazing.  It’s pretty ridiculous how splattered and cluttered the cupboards can get, but we straightened them out and got rid of some stuff along the way.

We also learned how much we will owe for our taxes this year today (our accountant, Tom Stamper, called), and it feels great to have finally gotten that whole mess straightened out, too.  It’s been a two-year process to adjust our withholdings and play the game to make it better for us.  I think he said that we won’t owe anything to New Mexico this year.  Finally.

B and I are spending another night in “Baker Street” tonight.  We did a fire pit and s’mores last night.  Ida even came over to have a s’more and spend some time with B, Danielle, Matt, and me.  Then Belinda and I watched the movie Radio while we snuggled in bed and did our best to stay warm.  It was cold.  The kind of cold where your exposed head is the only thing that can feel the chill.  It was 26º last night.  We are figuring out the heating system a little more tonight, and I think we just learned how to hit the boost with the heater.  Hopefully, we will figure it out to make it a bit more comfortable tonight, although I didn’t sleep too badly last night.

I asked Matt Prokop to send me a workout for yesterday.  He sent a text with a list of exercises, but I couldn’t figure out what some of them were, so I improvised and did three circuits.  I still broke a sweat multiple times.  It was hard.  I asked him if he used FaceTime, but he didn’t reply, so I don’t know it he doesn’t want to use it, can’t use it, or if he just got busy.  I will check back with him this week.  

Let’s see.  What else is happening?  Matt and Danielle worked on another set of steps to go from our deck down to what will eventually be my putting green.  It is very near our deck, so Belinda will be able to use it to go down and water some of her flowers and trees.  

I went down to the park again to work on my chipping again.  I set down a golf towel for a target, and I had some success.  For the last four chips from different distances, I didn’t hit the towel at all, but every shot landing right near the towel.  They were crisp and consistent, so I chose to make those four shots my last four.  

I have also continued to putt in the computer room with my S7K putter, and I consistently hit its putter head cover, which is the same width as a golf hole, from all different distances.  That’s fun!

Finally, I included some golf swings at the end of my workout yesterday (like a cool-down), and I used my new training aid.  It makes my backswing very consistent, and I did full swings in our living room again.  Don’t worry.  I used my golf glove this time, swung under control, and made sure my wife was not napping across the room this time.

Until next time…