Our Overdue Visit at Mom and Dad's During the 4th Largest Storm in Denver's History

Written on 3-14-21.

        B and I came up to Lakewood to visit Mom and Dad for B’s spring break.  It turns out my schools are on spring break, too, so that works out.  This is our first trip here since the pandemic began in March last year, so we haven’t seen Mom and Dad up close and personal for about a year and a half, since our “Thanksmas" celebration at the Red Lobster.  Far too long to be away, and we are truly thankful to have this time together once more.  

I am sitting in the middle of the couch upstairs, and I am watching the Players Tournament on their big TV.  Bryson is at -9 at the turn, and Lee Westwood is at -12 and is leading the tournament.  Dad is napping after quizzing me on golf, the players, and the tournament (relentlessly).  B is figuring out if we would benefit from getting an HSA, Health Savings Account for the remainder of this year.  Mom is getting ready for the day somewhere.  We (Mom, Dad, and I) watched the church service on EWTN earlier.  Daylight Savings started last night, so we are springing forward.  Church was at 10:00, but it felt like 9:00.  This will be great for golf (lighter later), but not so much for waking up for a bit.

We got a lot of things done yesterday.  We took...

little videos of Dad explaining his filing system, so we would know where to find everything.  He showed us where funeral arrangements, investments, and medical files were, so it was a great thing to get done, and since we took video, there will be no doubt now.  I guess he could move them again, but I don’t think that will happen.  He just has to declutter many of the files to get rid of the older, unnecessary stuff.

Mom let us declutter and thoroughly clean her laundry room, too.  I remember her saying last time, when Dad allowed us to go through one of the sheds outside, that if she doesn’t do it with us now, we will end up doing it alone later.  I am not quite sure how I convinced her to allow it to even happen, but I am so glad I did.  I said things like how I would love to just spend time with her, and it would be wonderful to discover what is in there.  Whatever I said, it worked.  She has been the more reluctant of the two to consider going through things and get rid of stuff, but we did get started somehow yesterday.  What a success, actually!  We got rid of enough stuff to fill up the remainder of their dumpsters, and we got things ready to go to charities, too.  It looks so much better in there, and I feel relief knowing that it is cleaner and safer, also.

Of course, we had two cleaning moments that brought us to tears…and then laughter.  The first one came when she found a bag of Theresa’s old clothes.  It was during that crying moment when I said to Belinda that she wasn’t crying, because I stank.  I had worked out earlier and didn’t take the time to shower, since Mom was ready to get going.  That got us laughing, and I loved having one more moment of laughing and crying with my mom.

The other happened when I thanked her for allowing us to do this, and she said, “Bless you for doing it.”

I teared up when I said it had been far too long to be away from family, and I was grateful to be there in that moment, just hanging out with my Mom and having quality time together.  What made us laugh immediately after was when I said we could be scooping poop together, and I would be happy and joyful for it.

It has truly been a super weekend, and we will probably stay until Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the weather.  We got here before the big snowstorm (the fourth largest in Denver history), and we hope to leave once it is done.  We will see how the timing of our departure will work out best to get home safely.  If we stay longer, maybe we will get one more project done.  

I am down in the basement now, and the Players Tournament is over.  Justin Thomas won, Westwood took solo second with a birdie on the last hole, and my buddy, Bryson, ended up in a tie for third with Brian Harman (never heard of him before) after his final putt for birdie rolled around the hole and lipped out.  It was fun to watch!  Especially with the snow falling outside.  So cozy inside!

Written on 3-18-21.

I am sitting in our Alto just relaxing and writing by myself.  I received my second dose of the Covid-19 vaccination this morning, and we are back from our Lakewood trip.  I planned for a day where I could just relax if I had a reaction, but so far, no problems.  

We chose to come back yesterday, because it was the better weather day by far.  It was a beautiful drive with wispy fog, low pearl-white clouds, and bright blue skies.  The roads were wet off and on, but mostly dry.  In South Park, we encountered a few spots where blowing snow had fallen across the highway, and I had to pay close attention and slow down a tad there, but overall it was an uneventful road trip, which are the best kind.

I didn’t have much on my To Do List, so it’s been restful all day.  I sent off the usher schedule to Carmen, composed an e-mail to Alexis with my Zoom information, and talked to Zaira (she called to just check in to see how things were going), but other than those few things, it’s been a mellow day.  

On to golf…

I picked up my clubs from Don after we had unpacked yesterday, too.  They look and feel brand new with their new GGA Grips.  I look forward to playing with them, and I am pleased that all were replaced.  The last ones Don put on got slick and slippery after just a few months, especially the wedges, so I am hopeful these will remain tacky longer.  

I am in a spot where I am feeling “in between.”  I finished the 14 Day Perfect Practice Plan, and I e-mailed Chandler to ask what my next steps should be.  We will see what he says.  I have worked very hard on those drills, but I want to go play, and I just paid for another month of my Gold Membership.  What to do?  

I could work on those drills some more.  Clay gave me a new video to check out, and I haven’t worked on that one yet, so that is my immediate next step.  The weather is going to be fantastic tomorrow, though, so I really want to go play, especially after shooting that 44 on the back nine last time.

It was funny to see Clay’s humor come through in his latest feedback.  He saw Misty lying down in front of the “chopstick” drill I was doing, and he joked that he was worried about her.  I don’t think she moved the entire time, so he showed concern for her, though, of course not really.  He called her a him accidentally, but it was fun to hear some different, not so serious commentary.  I sent a reply, so he wouldn’t worry.  Ha!