Late Start to the New Year-A Generous Gift

Written on 1-12-19.

     Well, here I go again.  It’s time for another golf journal, and this one has some significance.  It will be 20 years ago this coming September that I started playing and writing about golf.  It’s going to be a tremendous anniversary!  

     It is 10:43 PM on a Saturday night, and Danielle and B are already in bed, but Kody and I are staying up a bit longer here in the computer room.  He is lying down next to the trash can and the desk, and from my point of view, I can only see his body and not his head.  I hear some deep breaths come out of his body, though, so I know he’s alive.  

     It’s been a busy and eventful day for Belinda and me.  I remembered to ask for and recover the $600.00 from American Home Furnishings after the 5-year period of the warranty ended on our living room set.  Because we never took advantage of any repairs, we were able to receive that amount to spend in their store, so that’s what we did today.  We bought a new sea green bench for our front entry, and it really opened things up, making the entrance look and feel more welcoming, simple, and bright.  

     We also used some of that extra money on a new small end table with pearl white legs and a cloudy gray top that matches our new kitchen flooring for our new Opal Nugget Ice Maker.  It’s found a new home in the corner of our dining room.  No more buying bags of Sonic ice for this guy.  I really enjoy that ice.  

     One other thing we did today was pick out a frame and a matte background for the new painting, Quiet Time, the one we got from Tim Cox.  He’s an artist that Dale worked with and helped.  I wanted Belinda to pick out a print from his work, because she really admired the painting called “Trading Treasures” in Dale’s dining room.  I asked Anna if she wanted to give it to Belinda, but she didn’t want to part with it, so I was fine with that.  I did want to know the artist, though, so we could get our own.  After much deliberation, Belinda chose “Quiet Time.”  It was her Christmas gift from me this year.  

     After I ordered it online, I never received an e-mail confirmation of our order, so I called the next afternoon, and I spoke with Suzy, Tim’s wife.  When she looked up the order, she recognized our name and put it together with the message I had written about why we chose to buy from Tim Cox and how it related to Dale’s daughter, Belinda.  She immediately insisted that we would not pay a thing for it, and she would make sure we got a refund.  She said they regretted not being able to attend his life celebration, and that they greatly respected and liked the man.  

     I cried.  What a generous gift.  It would have only cost a little more than the new ice maker, but it was such a lovely gesture that it really touched both of us, of course.  After hearing the price for the frame, however, we were relieved that we didn’t have to pay for the canvas transfer as well.  The frame cost nearly as much as the transfer.  It’s going to be a fabulous addition to our home when it will be completed later this week.

     Okay, it was a goal to get this journal started, and now I’ve done it.  Now, it’s off to bed for Kody and me.

Until next time…

39th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary! Hello, Alto F2114!

     This whole month has been filled with excerpts, because there's just not a lot going on with golf right now, especially during a banner year of snowstorms.  I ended up working only one day out of three last week due to school cancellations/snow days.  It's interesting that the excerpt I am posting here mentions that we had no snow days that year.  

     Belinda and I did order our new camper, a Safari Condo Alto F2114, today.  We even have a pick-up date and time.  We will go to pick it up on August 30th at 9:00 AM.  Remember this date...and that one.  This is huge for us!  We are very excited about this!

     In a tiny bit of golf news, I passed the certification for The First Tee, but I am still stepping down (or aside) as the coach for Aztec this summer.  I will help with the transition, though, of course.

     I am going back and forth with posting this and talking to James on Messenger.  He's in Jakarta now, outside of it in a city called Bandung.  He is there to share the success of Creative HQ with government people in Indonesia.  Wow!

Until next time...      

Written on 5-27-02.

     Summer’s almost here!  We heard on Friday that we won’t have school for children on this coming Thursday.  Usually, that last day is a half-day, but Mr. Magee and the principals decided that since we had enough contact hours and no snow days this year to cancel school this coming Thursday.  I am thrilled.  That means that we get to use that day as a workday instead.  

     I am very excited about this summer.  I am eager to start practicing golf and have fun doing it!  Without Spike Doctor, I can devote more time to golf this summer than ever before.  I can’t wait.  

     I have some golf to write about, but first I also want to mention that I got to see...

38th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary!

Written on 5-6-02.

     Buddy Day was this past Friday.  Belinda and I now always get each other.  Buddy Day is a day for third graders to get a whirlwind tour of Park Avenue.  May always goes by so quickly.  This year, May will be different, though.  No more Spike Doctor.  I have a lot more time on my hands this spring and it is a very nice change.  On Sunday after church, Eric and I got to go play at Civitan.  What a deal Civitan is!  It only costs $5.00, and you get to play eighteen holes.  Granted it’s a par three course, but what a great deal.  It’s very helpful for your short game also.  On every hole, you are pitching, chipping, or putting.  I played extremely consistently this time.  Usually we can only play nine or sometimes twelve holes, but this time we got in a full eighteen.  Belinda and Amanda took the kids to Durango.  B wanted to buy some pants, and all of the kids got to go play at a park.  I shot 32, 32!  I had all pars and bogeys (Notice the correct spelling this time.)  on the front nine.  On the back nine, I was all pars and bogeys and one double-bogey, which means I got one more par than on the first nine holes.  Here are the most memorable shots and holes.

Civitan-Hole 5

     Twice this day, I had pulled my drive on this hole.  The first time, I was left and long, but the second time, I was left and longer.  I had an awkward pitch between the trees to an elevated green.  I thought that my 7-iron, toe-up, toe-up swing would bounce the ball off the hill and hopefully keep it on the green.  I hit it lower than what I had pictured, but it was a good thing I did.  The ball rolled...

37th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary! Personal Day at Dalton and a Crazy, Lucky Shot

Written on 5-2-02.

     Hello, I got to play this past Tuesday.  It was my personal day, so I went to play golf with Eric at the Dalton Ranch and Golf Club.  This is sort of becoming a tradition for me to take a personal day and play golf.  Last year, I got a birdie playing at Hidden Valley on my personal day.  No birdies this time, but some excellent steady play for a very difficult course, and four pars which I will write about here.  Also, another one of the craziest, luckiest shots I have ever hit.  Before I start, I would like to say that this was one of my best rounds ever despite scoring a 99.  That was a 47 on the front and a 52 on the back.  This course was tough with lots of water and narrow fairways.  I know if I were to play it again, I would score even lower, however.  We also played from the gold tees, which were a total of 6,394 yards compared to what we usually play, the whites, which measured 5,982.  I would say my strength that day was driving.  I drove the ball very well and very confidently except for three holes, hole #1, # 8, and #15.  I can remember three-putting four holes too.  My poor putting did not help my score either.  I also blew up on the last two holes, but looking back it is easy to see why.  First, I didn’t...

36th Excerpt From My Original Golf Diary!

Written on 4-23-02.

     I have some time to write tonight.  I am downloading the music video that goes with Star Wars Episode 2, Attack of the Clones.  It came out today on MTV, but I don’t have MTV, so I am downloading it instead.  I have so much to write about, but it seems so little time to write.  I will just get started.  I have three birdies to recall.

Civitan-Hole 1

     Eric and I played at Civitan a couple of Saturdays ago.  We played nine holes, and I played rather well.  I shot a 34 on the front nine.  I was doing pretty well on hitting greens.  Anyway, we had time to play four more holes before I left to meet B, the kids, Kelly, Rocky, and Courtney at the Outback Restaurant.  On hole #1, I used my gap wedge this time.  I had used my sand wedge the first time and ended up short.  This time I was above the flag about fifteen feet.  I had a downhill putt that would break from left to right.  I putted it true, and once again I had to get Eric’s attention when it was about two feet from the hole.  I knew it was going in, so I called his name like we so often do to each other on putts we know are going to go in.

Civitan-Hole 3

     This hole was shorter than hole #1, and the flag was on the front this time, but we were hitting into a pretty stiff breeze.  I used my pitching wedge, but it didn’t feel like I used a full swing.  It was more like a little past three-quarters.  I hit it pretty high, but not too high.  It landed right next to the flag on the left side.  I got up to the hole, and as I walked, I tried to...