My 14th Birthday Post

Written on 6-28-25. 

        Today is my 14th birthday.  Once again, I have much to be thankful for, especially after receiving 14 gifts of extra years to live here on this magnificent earth.  I pray every night before I go to bed, and one of the prayers I say is, “Thank you, God, for bringing me to the end of another day.”  

        I think back on what happened that day, both bad and good, but mostly always good.  Then I nod off to sleep hoping God will grant me yet another day.  I started doing that after I had my stroke (six years ago this August), and it has continued since.  I can hear my dad saying, “You’re a mess, kid.”

Aren’t we all?  Everyone has some sort of health issue (or issues).  It’s a part of the human condition.  

As I reflect on this past year, as always, I have so much to be thankful for.  Mostly, my thoughts go to...

The Gift of Pain/Health

Written on 6-27-25.

     Rocky and Kelly just drove away from the cabin at Vallecito, and it’s quiet time now.  They stayed one night, and we all went out on the lake this morning.  It was beautiful.  The conditions were calm and sunny, a perfect summer morning on a mountain lake.  Eric let me drive his brand new, more powerful boat, and I got to bring it in to the dock, too.  Thankfully, the conditions were conducive, and I put it back in the slip with expertise.  I even amazed myself.   Soon, we will have our family here for the 4th of July.

On to golf…

I am working out with Matt (last name) again, and I have had two sessions already.  I asked for that as a gift for Father’s Day, and then I got two rounds of ten workouts accidentally.  Belinda had already gone down there to pay for the first ten sessions, and then I charged ten more.  The lady didn’t tell me B had already paid for the first ten, so I just kept them all.  She told me I had money left over from the previous time, too, so I am set for a long time.  It feels great to...

My Return to Casa Bonita

Written on 6-24-25.

      It’s a Tuesday, and I am lying on “our” bed here in the Edgerton’s house.  I was sleeping at our house until it became too unreasonable.  With our kitchen taken over and no doors in our bedroom area, I decided to move completely over here.  I have grabbed multiple items from our house to make our stay over here easier.  Things like my haircut kit, vitamins, and allergy medicine are things apparently I can’t live without.  

Shane and crew are working on the kitchen now, but they are still two/three weeks out from being done.  Sigh.  B and I are tired of living out of our bags.  Every night, we go over to see the progress, and somehow we end up grabbing even more items we need.

Speaking of living out of our bags, we just came home after my...

ShyShay and I Share a Par

Continued from 6-16-25.

        I played with Guy, ShyShay, and Garth Sr. when we went out to Virginia.  I see the date I wrote on the scorecard was June 3rd, the day of ShyShay’s graduation.  We played at Algonkian again.  Guy and I played there before, and I remember seeing the deer on hole #10 and comparing it to heaven in this journal a long time ago (I just looked and it was from 2003!).  We were greeted with a delay due to an outage, though, and we used the extra time to go to the range.  After an hour late start, we were off.  It was difficult.  Guy and I both started with pars, but it went south pretty quickly after that.  The grounds were sopping wet in many places, and the rough was long, so we lost a few balls that should have been easily found.                                     Shylah and I both earned a par on the first par three.  She was playing from the senior tees with Garth until that hole.  She rented her clubs, and she chose the driver for her tee shot from the whites where Guy and I were playing.  Her shot ended up past a bunker on the right side of the hole.  She made a great chip to a few feet for her par.  I made a fine swing with my 5-iron/wood, but it landed well short.  It looked like it would end up on the middle of the green, but it surprisingly dropped well before it.  My pitch put my ball past and above the hole.  The putt was a longer, downhill, breaking from left to right putt which I made for my par.  We had a little bonding moment for our pars together there.                          Shylah had to leave to get ready for graduation, so she and Garth left together.  Guy and I played on alone, but we only got in four more holes.  It was glorious, but it was short-lived.  I was just happy to have that short time alone with Guy.  I scored a bogey for every hole for those four, and I played a bit better than I did for the first nine holes.  I say it was better only because I never lost a ball.  We chose to leave when we were close to the pro shop to make it back to shower and get handsome for the photos.  I was happy I brought my clubs to be able to play and have fun with them for this graduation trip.

The First Summer that Feels Like Work

Written on 6-12-25.

     I am sitting on Amanda’s recliner in the Edgerton’s living room.  It’s 10:53 AM, and I just finished a workout.  It’s just Kody and me, but Lance is outside mowing and trimming their lawn.  The Edgertons are up at Vallecito.  Belinda just left to go have lunch with Kelly, and I will meet her afterwards to look at different paint color possibilities for the kitchen.

I am marketing Time to Teach consistently, and I just reached out to Phyllis (last name), former principal at McCoy.  They are looking at Title funds to pay for my training, so I reached out to Aaron to help answer her questions.  We will see what comes from all of this. 

We are spending our mornings and afternoons here, because they are still working on our walls by texturing and painting them at our home.  They are making their way into the living room, and then they will head to the kitchen and laundry room.  It’s looking fantastic, and I am so pleased with how it is turning out.

I have cooled off enough to go take a shower, so I will be right back.

Written on 6-16-25.

Okay, I did not just take a four day shower, but I did get distracted and not get back to writing on that day.  Typical. 

I am back at the Edgerton’s, though, and it’s a Monday morning.  I just worked on e-mails for...

ShyShay Graduates from High School

Written on 6-5-25.

     I am in Seat 30D on our United flight back to Albuquerque.  They just delivered drinks and snacks, but I have set them aside for later.  This flight is less crowded than the one coming.  B has moved to the window seat, and we are using the seat between us to hold our snacks, phones, and trash.  I am drowsy after all the hubbub from the last few days.  We were very well fed and taken care of by the VA Swopes.  It was an organized whirlwind, but here are some highlights.  

We went to the O Street Museum with Guy’s in-laws Garth and Anne.  ShyShay and her boyfriend, Adam, joined us there, too.  It was an eclectic place with a room where Rosa Parks lived for ten years.  They had all sorts of

Grant, Eric, and I Play Monticello-Part 2

Continued from 5-6-25.

1. I turned it around on the back and scored better: 48 to a 44.  I had the best score on the back nine.

2. I only had one score above a double bogey where they had multiple scores higher than that.  I just counted, and Eric had three and Grant had four, so I played more consistent golf. 

3. I outdrove Grant on the last hole!  He can hit it farther than Eric and I can usually.  He drove his golf ball past the Eric, me, and the fairway on the par five where he earned his birdie.

4. I played the extremely difficult par five #13 well.  I won that hole with a bogey, and that was very gratifying.  During that hole, I made a recovery shot from the deep grass well below the fairway to help me do that.

5. My driver worked very well, but I was forced to use it sparingly.  It was very strategic golf, and many holes didn’t require it.  When I did, however, it worked out well each time.

Okay, I think that is about it for the Monticello this time.  It’s 12:31, and the temperature is rising.  A is sitting out by our little table in the shade, and our spouses are napping.  Eric is his R.V. with the generator and the A.C. going while B is sweating through a nap in our Alto. I am going to cool off by eating some Ben & Jerry’s Mint Chocolate Cookie ice cream.

Until next time…

Grant, Eric, and I Play Monticello-Part 1

Written on 5-26-25.

     I am sitting in our Alto at the Wooden Shoe Group Site, and it’s cooling off at 7:40 in the evening.  Grant, Eric, and I played at the Hideout Golf Course in Monticello today, and it was so fun!  They had never played there before, so it was a kick to watch how they reacted to it with its mountain beauty, elevated tee boxes, and challenging layout.  Grant played better than I have ever seen him play before.  Usually, it comes down to Eric and me, but he mixed it up well this time.  

On to golf…

It’s fun to be able to type that, because I have not played since Troy and I played at UNM North.  How long ago was that?  Let me check.  It was on April 11th, so nearly two months ago.  Too long.

I didn’t get any birdies, but they each got one.   Eric got his on hole #10 with a close approach.  Grant got his on the par five #14 with a close approach, also.

Written on 5-27-25.

We all played well.  It was close, like I wrote yesterday.  After much deliberation, we went with the usual points game: 1 for a fairway, 2 for a G.I.R., 3 for winning a hole, and 2 for the bonuses of long drives on par fives and closer to the pins on par threes.  

I started off well by winning...

End of School 2025

Written on 5-23-25.

     I am back again, and my classroom is nearly ready for whomever the new Gifted teacher will be.  I only have to stack the tables and chairs and grab my pun calendar off the wall to check out of here.  Here comes summer!  

I have enjoyed this diversion.  It got me back into the schools to see what is really happening there, and I really liked working with my students.  It has been wonderful to earn some income this year, too, after Mom and Dad’s passing.  I asked Copilot if I should take the job back in December/January, and one of the best questions (with paraphrasing) it spit back at me was, “After it is over, will you have any regrets?”

The answer to that was...

Tim and Eric Bring Baby Theo Into the World!

Written on 5-22-25.

       I am sitting at my desk at Park Avenue Elementary, and it’s the second to last day of school.  Big things are happening.  Belinda is ‘rewiring’ again after 34 years at Park Avenue.  We ‘rewired’ together ten years ago.  My stint as the gifted teacher long-term substitute is coming to a close, too.  Bev and Curt are on their way to visit their newest grand baby, Theo.  He is Tim and Erica’s baby, and he was born on May 19th, and everyone is happy and healthy.  Bev just sent a picture of them visiting Rowan, James, and Casey.  They went out of their way to stop and see them and Danielle.  We head to Canyonlands and our Wooden Shoe Group Campsite again, but this time with the Banashes.  Kody won’t be coming this time, though, and I know it will be hard on him and us as we get the camper ready to go.  We are having the walls retextured at our house, also.  See? Many things are happening.

I have had two fifth grade groups today, and they took all of their stuff with them, so I only need to stack furniture and get a few more initials from people.

A Garage Sale, a Hidden Valley Reboot, and Belinda's Second "Rewirement"

Written on 5-17-25.

     I am sitting in the ever-reducing shade in our garage.  It’s just now 12:30, and Belinda and I are having a garage sale as part of our Kokopelli neighborhood yard sales.  One customer told me he had been to 17 in our little community here.  We have done fairly well.  Many early birds came when we were getting set up.  I am always amazed at what sells and what doesn’t.  We have not sold our armoire or our flat screen television.  We have sold some gauze and a Star Wars belt, though.  The Edgertons threw in their stuff, too, and we rallied to put it all together.  Things are winding now, and it’s getting a bit windy.  It’s been so wonderful to meet and visit with everyone, strangers and friends alike. 

Some lady just told me (breaking news) that they are trying to revive the Hidden Valley Golf Course, and her son was working out there to get it going again.  Wow!  I had heard rumors, but that information sounds reliable.

We have one week of school left, and Belinda is retiring after 34 years at Park Avenue.  What a legacy!  They held a small party for her and three others (one of them was Zoe Daney) this past week.  It’s hard to believe that 34 years of service can be quickly honored with a few words from the assistant principal during an hour celebration, but that’s the way it goes.  She served our community, her school, and most of all, her students, very well.  I am so proud of her.  She has been a steady presence, role model, and leader at Park Avenue.  She will be missed at Park, but I am looking forward to having her at home more often now.  Although, she has said she will be a substitute there next year, so she isn’t really going anywhere; she is just gaining more and more freedom.

Breakout Presentation and Preparing to Break Out of School

Written on 4-27-25.

     I am writing on a Sunday evening, which is out of the norm.  Usually, I write on a Sunday afternoon, but I watched Ep. 3 of Andor Season 2 with Guy (using FaceTime) and went to the store instead.  We had a busy weekend here at home getting stuff done (cleaning, shopping, doing laundry, etc.), so I when I found this moment to write and catch up a bit, I took it.

We have a month left of school now.  The last day is May 23rd, and it will be here very soon.  I have been spending multiple hours (off and on) getting ready for my breakout presentation on Time to Teach in Santa Fe on May 7th.  It’s shaping up to be a great hour.  I still have much to do, though.  I will make a list of what needs to get done here…

1. Get my books ready for sale and practice selling some.

2. Figure out how my Square app gives receipts.

3. Check to see if I can attach my MacBook with an HDMI cable, or do I have to use their computers with a flash drive.

4. See if I can even sell books there.

5. Practice, practice, practice.

6. If I can’t connect my Mac, get my presentation set up with whatever format they will have.

7. Decide if I will do a handout, and then get it ready.  Upload it to the google link they have provided by tomorrow.

8. Get my business cards and brochures ready for handing out.

That is all I can think of now, but my mind will churn until all of those are taken care of.  I just saw the info on the PDF that I should upload that handout by tomorrow, so I had better get on it.  I have never used one before.  Maybe I will skip it.

Oh, I was asked to attend the Aztec Honor Graduate Banquet by Kyle Vandruff.  That is coming up on May 5th at 6:00.  What an honor!  I didn’t intend to make a pun there, but I like it.  This will probably be the last one I will attend, because my final class graduates this year.  Sigh.

On to golf…

What is that?  I haven’t had time to play or even think about golf since I played with Troy.  I have been sick with allergies, though.  That hit super hard two weeks ago.  This past week, I also had a small cyst removed from my left eyebrow.  It is healing nicely, but that has interrupted golf, too.  

I know I have golf coming up soon, though, and that is exciting.  Grant, Eric and I will play in Moab or Monticello right after school gets out.  We will be camping at Wooden Shoe again.  Then I will bring my clubs to Virginia to play with Guy and his father-in-law, Garth Sr.  I will dream about playing those two times as I am getting ready for the end of school and my impending presentation.

UNM North Golf Course with Troy

Written on 4-12-25.

     We are back at home on a Saturday, and I am watching the Masters with our Chromecast.  Rory just eagled #15 to get to 12 under.  He is leading by four strokes.  It’s been fun to watch, because Guy and I have been there, just on a different Saturday, though.  That’s “moving day,” and Rory has clawed his way to the lead after yesterday’s 66, helping him to surpass Justin Rose today.

It’s been a wonderful week, but reality is coming back.  I can feel it.  Somehow, we had three spring breaks this year.  The first was the “outage” that occurred.  The second was our actual spring break, and this week we took off every day except Monday because of the birth of our grandson, Rowan.

We are in new territory.  Belinda and I are jumping off the proverbial cliff again.  We did it ten years ago when we “rewired,” and it’s time to do it again, especially with Rowan’s arrival.  

On to golf…

Troy and I had fun yesterday.  We only played nine holes,  but that’s okay.  It was getting hotter when we stopped, and I know I was feeling tired.  Troy said as much, also.  He said he wasn’t in shape enough to walk 18 holes.  We went to The Canteen, a brewery near Danielle’s home after playing.  That was super, also.  I treated him to a beer for arranging the golf and to toast our families’ newest addition.  He was a grandpa already with his son’s two children, however.

Watching the Masters right now makes me want to play more and more.  The pros have such crisp contact.  Their ball flights are high, and their golf balls land softly.  Bryson just had back to back birdies to get to 9 under.  He is three off the lead now.

Yesterday was fun, like I wrote above.  I played decently, enough to score better than Troy.  I hit a boomer of a drive on #1, and that was with no warm-up; the UNM North Course doesn’t have a driving range.  Poor Troy struggled to a nine on that hole, but it got a bit better for him as the round went on.  We had matching pars on the par four #7.  Our drives were right near each other with his a bit ahead of mine.  I hit the green with my gap wedge and two-putted.  His approach went long, and he duffed his chip to the first cut of the green.  Then he rolled it in from there for an incredible par save.

I ended with three pars and three bogeys and a final score of 46.  Troy never told me his score, but we never said we were competing this time.

Welcome to the World, Rowan!

Written on 4-10–25.

        I am sitting across from my son at his dining table.  My son welcomed his son to the world on April 7th, so we are visiting and helping.  Rowan James Swope was born on April 7th at 4:56 PM.  What stood out to me was the time.  I remember Dad’s death occurring at 12:34, so Rowan just picked up on that and continued it.  It’s weird how numbers work out at times.  

Belinda and I are grandparents now, and we have met Rowan face to face.  His name is pronounced...

Rio Mimbres Yields Two Birdies

Written on 3-20-25.

     B and I are heading back to Aztec today.  She is driving now after we switched at the new Allsup’s in Cuba.  Lots of concrete there.  I am betting it will take a lot of the business that comes through Cuba, though; it’s so new and shiny and clean.  

It’s been a fantastic spring break, the last one for our careers.  We had dinner at James and Casey’s last night, and Danielle joined us, too.  Danielle left early to go to bed before her shift at Station #3 today.  We stayed and played a game of UpWords.  Casey was the judge and scorekeeper.  She had to switch chairs twice, each one becoming more comfortable than the last.  Her back is hurting more and more, and B said her belly felt tight when Casey asked her to feel for movements.  Next time we see them, it will be for the birth of our grandson.  That feels surreal to write that sentence.

Back to golf…

I came up with the game when Eric and I played in Deming.  The course there is called Rio Mimbres, and it was

Herman...is Human

Written on 3-19-25.

     We are at the City of Rocks Campground between Deming and Silver City, New Mexico. We spent two nights here, and we just had a yummy breakfast over at the Edgertons’ RV (bacon, over-easy eggs, and cinnamon rolls).  We fed them breakfast yesterday (waffles and sausage).  Danielle came over for the first night, and then we went to Silver City for lunch before she headed back to Albuquerque.

I texted Herman (not his real name) when we were there and sent him some pictures of the campground, because he was...

Spring Break Together-Heading to the City of Rocks

Written on 3-15-25.

     I am at the Big-O in Aztec, and we are having the tires checked out on our Alto.  I just got an update, and it sounds as if we will only need to replace the tires.  The spare tire and the ball bearings are doing fine, but we might want to look at them again at the end of this upcoming season.  We are heading to Albuquerque tomorrow and then off to the City of Rocks Campground near Deming on Monday.  It will feel good to get the tires (wheels in the Canadian owner’s manual) replaced, because we haven’t replaced them since we first bought the Alto in August of 2019.  We are also de-winterizing today.

We started our spring break yesterday, and it’s fun to have a spring break together.  This school year will come to a close quickly after this week.  It usually does.

Casey is moving along with her pregnancy, and they are in their 35th week.  The baby Swopelet is due a month from today.  Excitement is in the air!  

We spoke to Kyle today and sang the happy birthday song to him.  His birthday is on the 12th, though.  He is 30 now.  Gee whiz!  He recently came home after a business trip in Alabama.  The sale of his home is getting closer and closer.  He bought something from Home Depot to help him clean the grout, so he said he saved a large amount of money ($1,000.00?) by doing that himself.

He and Danielle are working on a deal for him to move temporarily into her house once he gets to Albuquerque.  He will have his dogs, but that would help her out by helping pay her mortgage.  Sounds like a win-win to me.  It should not be longer than 90 days, according to Kyle.

On to golf…

I played with Herman and Val (his brother-in-law and not their real names) on Wednesday.  The weather was the best of the week, and I gave a Math Olympiad test that morning, so I got out of school early.

Life at Park Avenue

Written on 2-25-25.

     That’s a fun date.  I am back at Park Avenue, and I am in my room.  We didn’t have school yesterday due to an incident.  Today, Tuesday, we don’t have students again, but teachers were required to come in.  We have a staff meeting at 8:30, so I have a small bit of time to write.

Jessica, our principal, just made an announcement to bring our laptops and something to write with.  She was the first principal to hire me for a Time to Teach training.  Belinda and I have great respect for her.  

This is all so weird and new.  This "incident" has affected our entire district.  Sensors for door entries aren’t working either, so that is a big safety concern.  Yesterday, B and I were able to come to the school and attempt to log in with a new password.  That worked, but this morning we were logged out again somehow, and now nobody has been able to log in. 

Written on 3-10-25.

I am writing on a Monday night, and it’s the second day of Daylight Savings for springtime.  I will write for a bit and then get ready for bed.  I am not a morning person, and this exacerbates my tiredness.  I survived today, though.

I got all of my IEP meetings set up for school, and that feels super.  We only have four days left, and then it will be our spring break.  Yahoo!  I am glad I chose this job, and it has worked out so well.  I can be at school with B while she finishes up her career, and I told her a while ago that I would be willing to get up earlier with her to help her mood.  I would have gone back to bed after she left, but…  

I didn’t know that this would be the way I would be doing it, though, but that’s okay.  Of course, I enjoy the students, and I look forward to coming up with challenging activities, too.  Also, I have looked forward to taking the Math Olympiad tests I give the students.  We made that into a challenge for the kids.  Every correct answer earns $2.00.  Matt, Casey, James, and Kyle participated.  I finally got all five answers correct on the fourth test.  My scores went 0, 3, and 5 correct.  Shaking the dust and rust off of my brain takes a long time apparently.

Greg texted me to go play at Kirtland today, but they used the day to clean up boughs from the last storm and there was a lot of run-off, too.  We ended up getting around four to five inches on Saturday morning.  I was bummed, because I wanted to play.  He also asked me if I wanted to play the Across the Borders Extravaganza this year.  I had to tell him no, because we are reserving those weekends for baby Swopelet.  He understood.

The incident at the schools is mostly over.  We went back to school the very next week, but we did enjoy a “pre-spring” break due to the outage.