What Makes a Marriage Work?

Written on 2-25-18.

     I’m watching Round 4 on the CBS Simulcast here in our computer room.  I just finished up some work on my travel reimbursement, so it’s all set to go (be sent through e-mail) for tomorrow morning.  They just showed a commercial for the Masters, and Sergio won it last year.  I definitely want to go again someday, but I wonder how to make it happen.  Last time, Annmarie had a connection through her work, but she’s not doing that type of work anymore, so how will ever be able to procure tickets again?

     Belinda and I are going to have dinner tonight with Ben and Dixie at their new house, an impromptu potluck that B and Dixie put together.  That will be fun!  Tomorrow, I leave for Taos to fill in for Greg (last name) for an RDA Site Visit.  I’ll leave soon after my appointment with Dr. Blue in Durango where I’ll find out more about a possible dental implant for my lower back left side where a chipped tooth was extracted.  

     Justin Thomas just made birdie on #18 at the Honda Classic to force a play-off with Luke List.  It was a sweet, relaxed arm approach to get it close for his third shot, and he almost made an eagle.  

     I just learned this morning that two of our friends...

A Trip to Lakewood, a New Baby, and a Story About Butch Harmon

Written on 2-18-19.

     Belinda and I are sitting out on the porch in front of #13 at the Abiquiu Inn.  She took off this Tuesday to be able to come with me on this CORE trip to El Rito Elementary. Tomorrow is Presidents’ Day, but they still have school there due to their four day weeks.  We are living the dream again, our dream.  

     It is gorgeous here.  It’s still winter, but it has the hint of spring.  We got here at 3:30, so it’s still warm outside, and it’s around 55 degrees.  It’s especially pleasant when the sun peeks out from behind the clouds.  It’s breezy, but it’s bearable.  I just put on my new wool coat to battle the breezes, though.  

     I spent last week driving to Lakewood to go be with my folks, because…I can.  I stopped along the way in Colorado Springs, and I got to touch base with Bev, Daryl, and Katie at the McDonald’s near the Garden of the Gods there.  Katie has this pregnant glow about her, and she is due at the end of March (her spring break) and the beginning of April.  She wants to have their baby girl before spring break begins, of course.  She always has a glow, but her smile was bigger...

Big and Small Moments

Written on 2-4-18.

     Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  I just settled in to my spot on the couch with my wireless keyboard again, and I have my Chromecast up and running once more, too, the first time since our new flooring was put in.    

     We are going to the Edgerton’s to watch the game, but it’s really an excuse to have a family get-together and eat some delicious food.  On this day last year, we were in Phoenix for the Waste Management Open as a celebration for Emily’s and my birthdays.  Now, I am watching it with the Chromecast.  Gary Woodland is leading right now at 18 under.  

     Sticking with my goal of writing about more of my personal perspectives, I have lately been pondering big moments and small moments in my life/our lives.  I am possibly past halfway through my life now, so that’s why.  It’s also because my 51st birthday, which was a great one, by the way, but one of the...

The Mother-In-Law Putt

Written on 1-30-18.

     Here it is, the brink of the end of January, and I’ve only had two posts to my blog this month.  What have I been doing?

Written on 2-1-18.

     As soon as I wrote the above entry, I realized I had only posted twice to this blog last month, and my unspoken goal is to always post four times per month, so I got busy copying and pasting an excerpt from 2002 my original golf diary.  In that excerpt, I had just lost to Rocky and Eric at Civitan, but I was proud of how I had followed my routine on my putts for par, and how I could have faltered, but I didn’t, so the match was extended over and over again.

     Today, I am sitting in a booth just to the left of the entryway of the Village Inn in Farmington.  Our new 2018 GMC Canyon is getting some upgrades today, so I walked over here for brunch.  We used my birthday as an excuse to get all of these accessories, but they are also all fun, useful things that will extend the life of our truck.  B and I like to take care of the things we own, for sure, and this is another example of that.  We bought...

34th Excerpt From My Golf Diary!

This excerpt recounts my very first eagle!

Written on 3-30-02.

     Hello, it’s been a while.  I just read that I need to figure out my birdie count for this year this time, so I am going to read up on it.  Hold on a second while I do that.  I was way off.  According to what I just read, my birdie count for this year is thirteen.  I don’t know why I was thinking it was so many.  I have fantastic news, though!  I made my first eagle!  It was at Hidden Valley with Eric.  Here it is…

Hidden Valley-Hole 10

     I hit a long drawing/hooking drive over the hill.  It felt very long and it was.  The fairway on this hole is hidden from view.  A blue flag at the top of the hill helps to line up your tee shot.  When I found my ball, it was even with the green, but a little closer to the front.  It was also off to the left about thirty yards and in the dirt.  I was hoping to just pitch the ball and just get it on the green considering my lie.  Well, I did a little better than that.  

     My pitch made it to the green and I remember thinking, “Oh good, at least it will be on the green.”  

Then the ball disappeared down a hill on the green and headed toward the flagstick and I thought, “Oh even better, it will be close enough to maybe putt it in.”

     Then it hit the flagstick dead on and fell in the hole!  I immediately threw my club up into the air, mostly because I was just shocked about what had just happened.  Eric said something like, “You just made an eagle!”  

     He walked over to me and we had an awkward high-five because our fingers got twisted together in a funny way.  I wanted to know how far I had hit it, so I walked back to the spot where I thought it was.  It was thirty paces to the edge of the green and another fifteen paces down to the hole.  So, to make my count as official as it needs to be for this diary, I have thirteen birdies so far this year and one great big, wonderful and first-time ever, but hopefully not last… EAGLE!!!

     I really need to write about Eric this time, too.  He has been playing some really good golf lately.  I got to go play at Hillcrest up by Fort Lewis for the first time with him.  We played on the first Saturday of our spring break.  He made par on the first three holes with some amazing shots.  The first hole, he made a “normal” par.  He was just short of the green with his second shot, but he chipped on and made his putt of about six feet.  The next two holes were a little more spectacular, though, especially considering the conditions.  It was very windy that day.  On hole #2, his second shot put him up next to a bush behind the green.  He punched out barely, and didn’t get the ball on the green.  His fourth shot was a chip shot downhill from about twenty or twenty-five feet away.  It got on the green with some speed and sped all the way into the hole.  On the next hole, it was an uphill par five.  He hit a very high drive that was knocked even farther up into the air by the wind and ended up not going very far at all.  On his second shot, he was short of the green by about seventy yards or so, but he had to hit into the wind.  He hit a nice shot that flew right over the flag.  Now, he faced a downhill putt, and I was pretty sure he had hit it too hard. He made that return putt, though, making it three pars in a row right off the bat.  

     This past summer, I felt I really had an edge on him.  I was beating him consistently.  Now that he has taken lessons from Mike, we are back to taking turns beating each other.  The nice part is that we are both better players now, and I know we will continue to push each other to get even better.