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!

James and Casey's Swopelet Shower

Written on 2-12-25.

     I am back in my classroom, but it’s a Wednesday this time.  I do Math Olympiad on these days, and this time I will be reviewing the math problems from the test last week.  This time, I tried my very best to get the answers right; I missed all five.  I gave the test to Belinda, and she got two right.  Thank goodness for the answer keys, so I can explain to the students how to arrive at the answers, since I obviously didn’t by myself.

We had James and Casey’s baby shower this past weekend in Albuquerque.  It was great, just great!  Bev and Curt came down, and we got an original Swoperton gang picture, too.  We also got a tour of Matt and Becca’s house after three months (they hosted the shower), had some quality alone time with Ben, and spent both nights at Danielle’s house.

Bev, Curt, and I went to church on Sunday at the Shrine of St. Bernadette.  I had never gone there before, and it was truly beautiful.  Bev and Curt agreed.  All in all, it was a super weekend.

On to golf…

I played last Wednesday as a practice round for Saturday’s round at Sandia.  Herman (not his real name), Richard, and I played the back nine, and it was cool to see them.  Herman had three birdies and one bogey for a round of -2.  He made it look so simple.  My first nine was rough, but I improved my score when I played the front nine.  I asked them to join me, but they had had enough since they played 18 already.  I get it.  I barely made it playing 18 holes after my long winter lay-off.

On my final nine holes on the front, I played with a married couple.  They were in the same stage of life as Belinda and me, and she was better than he was.  He had the same marks on his golf balls that I do (black alignment lines), but he had little dots in each corner of his lines.  That was the only difference.

More on that later...

James and Danielle Get Some Gifts

Written on 2-1-25.

     I wanted to put in here what I gave to James and Danielle from Mom and Dad after Mom died.  I grabbed some stuff when we cleaned out their apartment, and I thought the gifts were fitting.  I snagged all of Dad’s pocket knives.  First, I just got the two that were next to his recliner, but later I found a bunch more.  I gave Danielle one of the Swiss Army knives and I gave James one that had a Cutlass, a sailing ship.

Next, I found many religious items on Mom’s table between the recliners.  I spotted many St. Anthony medals/necklaces, so I gave them one each as well.  He was the saint outside their door that came from their garden in the backyard. 

Last week, I went through all of the stuff I brought back and had spread out all over the computer room floor.  I am back at home today, and it’s 8:36 at night.  I am sitting in a decluttered computer room as I type this.  That was the last of the “stuff” to go through from Mom and Dad, and it was difficult.  I put it off for weeks.  Actually, I put off some of it again by moving some of the journals/diaries to a box that I put in James’s closet.

On to golf…

I haven’t played due to the cold weather.  The highs have been in the 30’s and 40’s, and the lows have been in the single digits.  Brrrrrrr!  I have been preoccupied with my new position, too.  In other words, it has not been conducive to playing golf, but it hardly ever is in the month of January.  I do remember having a January one year when Bruce, C.J., and I played many times at Hidden Valley.

One change I have made is keeping my golf clubs inside.  I want to keep them nice and warm and happy when I am not playing in the winter.  I believe it will keep the grips healthier.  Who knows.  I like to look at them, too.  They are right behind me, and it makes me smile that they are in here.

I bought a new golf glove using the silly and even more expensive Asurion No Sweat Protection Plan.

More on that later…

A New Year-Here I Go Again!

Written on 1-6-25.

      Here I go again!

Written on 1-31-25.

I am at Park Avenue Elementary School, and I am sitting at “my desk” in Room 502.  I have written my lesson plans, rescheduled a meeting, and cleaned up after the projects from the past week.  I have a lot of time to fill between morning duty and my first group.  Today is Friday, and it’s the last day of January.  Phew.  I am now able to write a longer entry in here before the month ends.

I just sent a picture of my new Puns calendar to Pupdates (our text group for the Swopertons).  It said, “We’re afraid for this calendar…its days are numbered.”

Since my own days are numbered, I thought I would bring my MacBook Air to school today to get started on Golf Diary-Part 23 for this year.  I am amazed at how my first month of work is already done.  It went by as fast as a rabbit running off my lawn when I growl or yell at it.

I will start by telling about the new job.  The CORE did not get the funds for this year (sniff, sniff), so after eight wonderful years, I said goodbye and started doing something else.  I am the long-term sub for the Gifted Program after taking over for Neily, Matt and Becca’s and James and Casey’s wedding planner.  She and her husband moved to Albuquerque to take on other roles and be closer to their boys.  

I also brought my MacBook to send an e-mail to Isabel from Newcomb Elementary.  She and I have been going back and forth with multiple replies after I sent her our Prezi for the first time this year.  I wanted to share the STEM Outreach Academy that Camille and JoDee are starting, since we lost the grant money for the ECLIPSE Grant.  I am stopping to send that reply now.

Back.  That feels good to have that done.  I hope to share that with other schools where I built relationships when I worked for CORE-NMSU.

Okay, one of my groups is coming in soon.

Until next time…

Mom and Dad Both Pass Away Near the End of 2024

Written on 1-3-25.

     I am sitting at the dining table up at the cabin.  B is settling in for a nap in the family room, and we both have our fires going for warmth.  We have done some decluttering in our home recently, and B found an iTunes GC for $10, so she offered it to me.  I am listening to some of the songs I bought including Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by The Dream Academy.  It’s from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when they are going through the museum.  Now, it’s playing This Christmas by Donny Hathaway, and the fireplace actually is burning bright right now.  I recently fell in love with that song after hearing it on Amazon Music multiple times the past few years.

This Christmas.  This Christmas.  It’s been a..

The Broncos Beat the Chiefs...Not!

Written on 11-10-24.

     I am in my/our computer room, and I am listening to the Broncos.  They are playing the Chiefs in Kansas City today, and they have the lead…for now.  The score is 14-13.

I thought of some other things to write about after my last major victory.  The first thing is Herman (not his real name) has had many ailments when we’ve played this season.  

*Broncos had the Chiefs defeated with a 35-yard field goal.  Then a Chief blocked it, and it was over.  The Broncos lost.  What the heck!

We have joked about Herman's problems.  It started with a bad back.  He would play to help loosen it up and get out of the house.  He would tease me by saying this would be a great day to beat him.  It wasn’t.

The next malady was a cold.  He sounded terrible.  Once again, he reminded me this would be an excellent opportunity to beat him.  Then he shot a 39.  It doesn’t matter what is hurting him. 

He also would work on his game by experimenting with different things.  No differences ever in his scores, though.

Written on 11-17-24.

     This last time he figured out that his gout was acting up. I wasn't happy to hear this, of course, but this was what would eventually be his downfall.  He was still able to shoot a 41, but with my six strokes, I was able to defeat him this time.   

I was proud of how I held my mental state together during the last four or five holes. I started to get ahead of myself by thinking I might just do it this time, but then I caught myself.  I even said where I was, 

which hole I was on, what the date was, and what I was doing in a couple of places. That happened on #16, for sure. I also tried to calm myself by counting backwards from 5 to 1, something I had learned from Dawn Grant.  Both of those things really helped me to stay focused on what I was doing.

We really had a good time.  We always enjoy our banter.  When we were playing #9, I had some difficulties.  I didn't get off the tee, and then I shanked another shot out to the desert rough. When I finally got up to the green, I wondered where Herman's ball was.  I had passed him up.  He was near the bunkers and about 60 yards away for his third shot. He made a sarcastic comment about how he was always waiting on me. I clapped back and said, “That's never stopped you before.” 

We laughed and laughed.  He said he thought he had really burned me with that comment, but when I had a retort, he was blown away and it really cracked him up.

Until next time…