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.

A Look Back at My Membership-Did I Get My Value?

Written on 2-22-25.

     It’s a Saturday afternoon, and Belinda and I are enjoying some quiet time.  Kody, too.  B is resting on our bed, and Kody is in the hallway sleeping.  I started to declutter our computer room closet, but I am taking a break to catch up on some writing.  It’s a pleasant distraction.  We have many things that need to be gone through, including more stuff from Mom and Dad.  We are syphoning off items to be sold in a garage sale.

I did a workout this morning, and then we ate burgers and fries on our deck (first time this season) from a new restaurant in town, Badlands Burgers and Brews.  It took over the spot where the Bistro was on Main.  The burgers were okay.  I would eat there again, but they were expensive; we spent over $30.00 for the two of us. 

I have a dermatology appointment on Monday.  This is the second one, and I am having more Milia removed from between my eyes.  I have a BIG one near my left eyebrow.  She wouldn’t touch it last time, but I hope she will this time.  We shall see.  Of course, I have an ingrown hair in my eyebrow right next to it, too, so that’s great, just great (wink, wink).  

We have parent-teacher conferences this coming week.  I only have to make it until Wednesday, and then conferences start on Thursday and continue on Friday.  I helped set up some I.E.P. meetings for those days.  I know I am not Neily, but I am doing my best.

James and Casey are on week 32 now!  Our Swopelet is growing and growing.  Belinda and I got to feel it kick when they were here.  What a wonderful feeling!  Thank you, Casey, for allowing us to do that.  They have a routine where they play music each night to get him to start moving and grooving.  It worked.

Danielle and Sarah both participated in that Spartan Sprint 5K in Phoenix, and they both did rather well.  Sarah got 14th place and Danielle finished 3rd.  That was made even more impressive when we learned that Sarah lost her glasses in the mud and stopped to try and find them and 347 women competed!  Holy moly!  Great job, ladies!  I believe they are going to do another one, and they sounded just giddy when we called them on their way back to Albuquerque.  They were giggling as they told us what happened, and they loved it all.

On to golf…

I played on Wednesday, and that was the last day of my membership.  I played with Herman (not his real name), Richard, and Val (not his real name either).  Herman recommended Val for our bathroom remodel, but we were mostly set with Nate by that time.

It was an awful, truly forgettable round.  I made a couple of bogeys, and I also lost four golf balls.  I could have stayed and played some more, but I left after nine holes.  Everybody understood, and nobody tried to convince me to stay.  I had low energy and brain fog.  I did learn from Luke that I managed to get 23 rounds in for my membership, which confirmed it was not enough to warrant buying it.  What a bummer and a waste of money.  I knew I was short of the mark, but I didn’t know by how much.  Looking back, I know it was one of the tougher years of my life with Dad passing and helping to take care of Mom, too.  Then Mom died.  Oh, and I had my pinky surgery, also.

The round was so bad that I didn’t save it on my Garmin, and I threw away the scorecard.  I was happy when it was over.  I chalked it up to a practice round.  I can now look forward to a new season and getting back to work on getting my swing and game in shape.  Man, do I wish I had Herman's game.  He scores birdies and pars and only occasional bogeys most every round.  Someday.  

Okay, back to decluttering.  

Until next time…

I Play at Sandia for the First Time

Continued from Valentine's Day...

     I managed only one more par on the par four #6.  I did enjoy playing with them, although he was pretty miserable after his nine holes.  I felt bad for him; he really struggled.  His wife and I played better, for sure.

Curt and I took on Troy and Michael at Sandia last weekend.  On the #1 tee, I simply suggested best ball match play, and Mike agreed.  Curt was nervous playing with strangers and with new clubs.  He did better than he thought he would, though.

We won in a rout.  Curt ended them on the back nine with a couple of better scores.  We were a good team, and we ended up winning 8 and 6.  I thought Troy would play better, but he was all over the place.  So was Michael.  I had no idea how good Michael was, but I found out pretty fast.

I really enjoyed the course.  I played much better on the front nine, shooting a 44 and winning most of the holes.  I started with a par, and Troy asked me, after my long birdie attempt, if I was sending a threat.  I joked that if I had made it, that would have sent the threat.  I nearly did hole it, too, and it was from around 40 feet away.

I also got the only par on the long (over 600 yards) par five that we can see from Tramway when we drive home.  That was earned with a putt from around 50 feet.  I hit my approach from a rocky/sandy wash with my 6-iron, but it ended up just short of the green.  The pin was near the back, and my pitch with my “Sandy Andy” ended up way short.  Thankfully, I made that putt to win the hole!  I think I was the only one who earned a legal score on that monster.  

I earned another par on a shorter par five to win yet another hole.  It was fun to win and to have Curt as a partner.  He did his part on the back nine, for sure.  

After we won, I was competing against him in my head, and I know he wanted to beat me, too.  I shot a 44, 51 for a 95.  He shot a 51, 49 for an even 100, but he did beat me on the back nine.  My 95 was the low score of the group, and that’s a bit embarrassing to write.

I hope to play one more time this coming week.  The weather doesn’t look promising, though.  Weather Bug is telling me the high for Wednesday will be 48º.  Brrrrrr.  I will see how I feel when the day is here.

Until next time…

My First Birdie of 2025!

Written on 2-15-25.

     It’s the day after Valentine’s Day, and it’s a Saturday.  James and Casey recently arrived home after spending the first part of the weekend here.  They spent one night at our home and the other two up at Vallecito.  Very soon, their lives will change…for the better, of course.  I am glad they could have a getaway before it all begins.

Belinda and I are excited for the long weekend due to Presidents’ Day.  We have already done some light cleaning and started gathering tax documents from last year.  Danielle is going to Phoenix for a Spartan Race.  Benny had RSV yesterday, and she recently shared the air with him, but she still decided to go.  Hopefully, it will all be okay.  Benny is already feeling better, I have heard, and his temperature is down after being as high as 106º, though!  Matt is racing, too, and they brought Benny with them.

On to golf…

I just cleaned my clubs after my last two rounds, the one at Pinon Hills and the other at Sandia, like I wrote about above.  I have removed the Arccos sensors and cancelled my subscription.  I know I need more distance on my drives, and I know I can always improve my approaches from 125-150 yards.  It was a super experiment, but I feel I know my game well.  It was super to see the improvement I made at the end of the last season when I did score better.  It was gratifying to see the data.  You have improved by 1.3 strokes in blank, etc.  I didn’t want to pay $155.00 for an entire year again, though.  It was all or nothing.  I couldn't pay monthly, so I let it go.

My membership at Pinon Hills ends on Wednesday, the 19th, too.  I don’t plan on renewing that either.  I didn’t get enough rounds in this past year to justify doing it again.  Eric plans to pay each time, so that's what I will do, too.

I wanted to finish writing about my new baseball glove I bought at Dick’s (I switched to baseball gloves quite a while ago because I feel they are more durable, but maybe they aren't).  I used the gift certificate that Asurion sent me after the last one failed, so I was able to take advantage of that protection plan.  The one for my new glove, however, cost between $7.00 and $8.00, up from between $4.00 and $5.00.  I decided to do it anyway, but that is quite the price jump.  Hopefully, I won’t need to take advantage of it.  It’s a bit of a pain to file a claim.

I also didn’t finish the story about the round with that couple at Pinon Hills, and I have a birdie to write about from those nine holes.

Like I said, the husband was not very good, and his name is Joe.  We did have similar markings on our golf balls like I wrote before, too, and he hit my ball by accident from the #1 fairway.  He apologized, and I told him it was not a big deal.  I dropped close to where it just was and finished with a par, the first par of my round.  Actually, the first par of the year, too.

Then he hit my ball again on the next hole.  He shanked it, but it was my ball.  Once again, he was very remorseful, but I told him not to worry.  Then he did it a third time!  That was impressive.  If I had played the hole better, that wouldn't have happened, but I scored a double.

Without his help, I scored my first birdie of the year on the next hole.

Pinon Hills-Hole #3-Birdie #1 of 2025

My drive was not good.  It went left (so did Joe’s), but it did go far enough to get over the first large hill over there.  It ended up in the rough near the bottom of the next hill.  I was sure to remind Joe that our golf balls look very similar, so I was able to stop him from hitting my ball for a fourth time.

I had a blind approach due to the hill.  I walked up to see which line would be best.  I saw the flagstick on the front right side, so I picked a line just right of that.  I used my 5-iron/wood and swung a beauty from 159 yards.  The ball launched toward the hole, and I knew it would be satisfactory.  It was more than that, though.  It ended up right of the hole, only three feet away.

Joe’s wife putted for her par first, but she missed.  She doesn’t like putting on winter greens due to the inconsistency, she said.  They were crusty and mottled.  Thankfully, I was able to roll mine on a true path for my first birdie of the year!  Yay!