Merry Christmas Eve!

Written on 12-24-17.

     Merry Christmas Eve!  It’s been nearly a month since I last wrote in here, but we’ve been amazingly, atypically, and incredibly busy this month.  I had work, of course, but things really picked up when James arrived for his vacation here in the states.  He goes back to Wellington on January 2nd, and that date is fast approaching.  Sigh.  It’s been wonderful, though, of course.  He was able to surprise Kyle at his graduation, but it didn’t turn out the way we had hoped.  He was going to come into Becca’s living room, tag Kyle, and say, “Tag, you’re it.”

     Instead, Kyle burst in and caught James and Danielle horsing around, so James immediately ran back to Becca’s bedroom where he told me that Kyle had just looked right into his eyes.  How could he not recognize that it was James?  When I walked out to greet Kyle, he asked me if Justin had just run back there.  I said I had no idea, so Kyle went back to see who it was.  I failed at stopping him, so he charged into Becca’s bedroom to find his cousin.  After that, there was much rejoicing.

     We also went up to Lakewood to have our Swope Family Christmas, our Joe Christmas, and our Star Wars reunion at a showing of The Last Jedi.  That was super fun!  We had our yummy Christmas and birthday celebration at the White Fence Farm again, and there was more rejoicing.  This celebration was marked by Belinda’s 50th birthday, and it was a bit sad to not have Theresa with us this time.  Bev was so thoughtful, however, to include gum with each of her gifts to Dad, Belinda, and ShyShay.

     On another entirely sad and devastating note, our little town of Aztec was rocked with a school shooting earlier this month.  I would like to write about that, too, but I won’t have time tonight.  It’s getting close to dinnertime, and Belinda and I would like to go through all of the papers and mail that have been accumulating on our kitchen counter this past month.  Once again, though, Merry Christmas Eve!

Until next time…

Writing in a Construction Zone-Conclusion of the Reverse Handicap Game

Written on 11-28-17.

     Our house is a construction zone right now.  All of our tile has been shaved, scraped, destroyed, and removed.  It’s quite a sight to see, and it reminds me of when we first moved in here.  B is on her way home from work, and I just finished scanning in all of the pictures that she “stole” from the Edgertons for a surprise slideshow for A’s and B’s 50th birthday.

Back to the match…

Hole #10-We all tied with bogeys, but I really thought Bruce and C.J. would get pars.  C.J. was on the top of the green, and Bruce was just off on the left side, but pretty close to the hole.  I was way off on the left side, but my second chip got my ball close enough to salvage a bogey.  The next hole was now worth a bunch of points.

Hole #11-I drove my ball out to the bailout area, and I managed to pitch onto the green from there, but it kicked left off the hill that’s on the right side, so I had a longer putt for my birdie.  C.J. and Bruce got bogeys, but C.J. should have had a par.  I had a ton of...

A Second Crack at the Reverse Handicap Game

Also written on 11-27-17.

On to golf…

     The last time we played was the 16th, and it was our usual threesome again.  I already wrote about the outcome, but here’s how it happened.  

     The weather has been uncharacteristically warm for November.  Today, it got up to 70 degrees, and C.J. asked if I could go play, but I turned him down due to the new flooring.  Bummer.  I should have gone, but we got a lot done, and it was good for Belinda and I to show a united front to the installers.  We also found more things that needed to be done before it all got started, like covering cupboards, moving little things out of rooms like chairs and end tables, and packing to go to A’s and E’s house for the next few nights.

     They asked me what I wanted to play that day, and I chose the Reverse Handicap Game again, because it was so fun and fair the last time.  Who would win this time?  It was close again, so here’s the hole by hole breakdown…

Hole #1-We all tied with pars.  C.J. really got a bogey, but he gets a pop on this long, difficult par four now.

Hole #2-I was the only one to get a par, so I avoided the skunk right away, earning the first 28 points.  I got a G.I.R. to earn the par, so that made it easier.

Hole #3-Bruce and C.J. tied with pars, but I was all over the place.  I couldn’t get off the tee box really well, I got stuck behind a tree, and I ended up with a double bogey.  Before we teed off on this hole, I reminded them that we need to come up with a Steal the Tee Box Game for next time.

Hole #4-C.J. and I tied with pars this time, so the points were pushed a second time.

Hole #5-Bruce almost pitched in for an eagle from the front of this green, so he earned a bunch of points with his birdie.  He avoided a skunk, also, and it was just before the “dead skunk bogey” hole from the last time we played this game.  Good timing, Bruce.  He earned 28 points, too, so we were tied.

Hole #6-I was given a gift from Bruce when he missed a short putt for par.  I got my par, though, by getting another G.I.R., so I won 10 more points.

Hole #7-Bruce backed up his first birdie with another one on this hole.  Due to its difficulty, it should have been worth more points, but it was only worth four.

Hole #8-Bruce won this hole, also, but with a par this time.  I triple-putted for a bogey, so he got two more points.  

Hole #9-Just like we had started, we all got pars, and C.J. earned his with a bogey and a pop.  We pushed the 18 points from this hole to the back nine.  

     I am going to get ready to go to TRX and the Edgerton’s now, so I will write about the back nine later.  At the conclusion of the front nine, though, the score was Pat: 38, Bruce: 34, and C.J.: 0.  Would C.J. get skunked, or would he get hot and win it all on the back?  Could I maintain my lead for the rest of the round, or would Bruce display his typical amazing play.  I’ll conclude this tonight or tomorrow.  

Until next time…

Back to the Reverse and New Flooring is Coming

Written on 11-16-17.

     Just had a super conversation with my folks.  Dad called to let me know his blood pressure was recorded higher than it usually is after a routine blood draw, but he didn’t think it was of any real concern.  I was glad he let me know, though.  We also caught up on other things like how Danielle and James are doing, Thanksgiving plans, the work B and I have done on our home recently, Halloween, our upcoming trip to Ojo Caliente, their church registration catch-up, and more.

     I let them know that I had a really difficult day today, because I had to go play 18 holes in wonderful weather.  Life is so rough.  A few times out on the golf course, I thought, I’m loving life right now.

     We had our regular threesome again.  C.J. texted me this morning, and I said I would come, but I didn’t see a reply from Bruce.  When I parked my truck, however, I saw him warming up on the putting green.  The weather really was superb for golf today; it was just over 60 degrees, and it was overcast and a bit hazy.  

     They asked me to choose the game this time, so I chose...

A Dead Skunk Bogey

Written on 11-3-17.

     What a weird day.  I’m fasting, so I have a strange and nervous energy, and my mind goes from feeling hungry to feeling foggy to having clarity and then back to feeling hungry again.  Part of it has to do with looking at a computer screen too long, I bet.  This morning, I finished migrating all of the mailbox folders I had created in the Mail program before I began all the work on this MacBook Pro to get it to perform faster.  I was getting frequent and most unwelcome spinny rainbow circles of death when starting up my programs, so it had to be done.  This computer is crucial for all of the work I do.   

     What a chore, though!  Why have these back-ups if I make it so difficult on myself.  It would have been easier, of course, if I had not rebuilt the computer from scratch under a new username.  That was what was recommended.  As I now understand it, something was slowing everything down, but I have no idea even now what...