My Birthday/Brain Surgery Anniversary Post

Written on 6-28-24.

      It’s my birthday again!  I am 13 years old.Ack!  I'm a teenager.  Ack!  I'm a teenager.  Today, Belinda slept in with me, which was a rare treat.  She is normally a morning person, and I am…not.  Then I got ready to play golf.  It’s a glorious Friday here, and we got our chores done yesterday, so off I went.

When I arrived, I saw the parking lot was full due to a tournament, so I decided to practice until it opened after the tournament ended.  As I worked on my putting, I noticed my fly was wide open.  I attempted to zip up, but this pair of shorts had the zipper stuck closed for years…or so I thought.  I kept them in circulation, because I could shimmy into them by pulling them up over my hips.  Afterwards, I would tighten my belt, and I was set.

I relay this story, because I think it’s hilarious and it’s a great way to celebrate life.  Life can be embarrassing.  I went into the bathroom to wrestle with the zipper, but to no avail.  I couldn’t find the spots to put the zipper ends into to get them threaded together again.  Also, I didn’t have my readers.  I put them back on, and I pulled my belt tight to keep up the appearance that they were zipped, but it was still a risk.

I tried on five pairs of shorts, but none of them were right.  The cost was high, too!  My frugal self thought, “Why spend $80 plus tax for a new pair of shorts when I could simply drive home and put on a pair I already own?” 

So, I did.  I came back, and I played nine holes on my birthday.  Hooray!

It’s been another...

We Have a Name!

Written on 5-9-24.

      I have learned the name of Becca and Matt’s baby today.  His name is Benjamin Eric Frings, and they waited to tell us, because they wanted to tell Eric and Amanda in person when they drove there yesterday.  Now, I know why they wouldn’t tell us yet.  Great name.

Back to golf…

It was a best ball format for the first nine holes.  I had solid pars on holes 1, 4, and 8.  Greg helped our team the most with a super birdie on the “sometimes” intimidating hole #5.  He got some bogeys to help our cause on a couple of holes when I didn’t score well.  Those came on holes 7 and 9.  Our opponents did really well, especially with Kevin’s par streak, and they were beating us by 4 strokes with our net scores of 33 and 29 after that portion.

The back nine was a scramble, and we did better.  We...

The New Swoperton Baby is Born!

Written on 5-8-24.

     Becca had her baby boy today!  Her water broke at 3:30 AM, and she and Matt called me on FaceTime after he had been born.  He was sleeping on her shoulder while we talked.  So cute!  I asked how they were doing, and they said they were all doing fine.  He struggled a bit to cry at first, but that was the only worrisome part.  I’m so happy!  Becca and Matt have had their first baby!  I also get to type Becca’s name in this journal again, so she will be thrilled with that.

It’s truly official now.  I am done with work for the ’23-’24 school year.  I turned in my final travel reimbursement and invoices this week, and we only have a couple of superficial meetings left.  It feels good to have...

An Extravaganza Practice Round

Written on 5-2-24.

      I am at Newcomb on my final day of work this year.  I have a break before I go support a teacher teaching a lesson, and I am finishing up my lunch.  

On to golf…

We have our big Across the Border Golf Extravaganza in two days.  Greg and I are teaming up for that one, and I am soooo looking forward to it.

I played on Monday with Greg, Marc, and Mike Goen.  Herman (not his real name) showed up, and we made it a group of five, but Mike told me on hole #2 that (in the future) he would prefer to have no more than four.  Arggggh!  I didn’t know what to do.  It was unusually silent, and I hoped Herman didn’t feel like he didn’t belong.  I didn’t invite Herman, but I didn’t mind if he joined us.  What can I say?  I’m an includer.  

It worked out fine.  I told them right from the start that we wouldn’t have to wait on Herman, because he is the best player out of all of us. He was hurting, though.  His back had been strained, and he wanted to go walk it out on the course instead of staying at home and getting stiff.  He even shanked a couple of shots!  

He played with us until the turn, and then he left us to go get a beer.  I explained to Mike what had happened after Herman left, and he understood.

I didn’t play well on the front nine, but then we switched to a scramble on the back nine to get ready for that portion of the tournament.  The first nine holes will be a scramble.  Actually, we should have done the scramble on the front thinking back, but it was still good to get a feel for how it would go.  Greg and I took on Mike and Marc, and we did well.

We got a birdie on the 11th hole.  Greg got us to a point just off the front of the green, and I finished with a putt from there.  It was about a 30-foot putt.

We stayed at one under for a while, and then we got it to two under when I made my own birdie on hole #15, the par three.

Pinon Hills Golf Course-Hole #15-Birdie #4 of 2024  

I have been burned by this hole before by pulling it left towards the hill on the left side.  My ball has gone long, and I end up with a high number.  It’s been a while since I have not gotten off the tee here, but that’s another way things can go wrong, so it was great to have a simple birdie here on this day.

I chose my 9-iron and made a functional swing.  My ball did not bounce down from the hill, but landed on the green.  I had less than three feet to clean it up, and this hole helped us get to two under for our little competition against Mike and Marc.  Because I did it all by myself, I can count it as a birdie for this journal.  

We ended up getting bogeys on #16 and #18.  Mike commented that we were human after the first bogey.  We played well together with this format, and it got me excited for the upcoming tournament.  We were able to beat Mike and Marc during our practice round.