Feels Like Phoenix

I slept pretty good, and because I wasn’t going to work, I didn’t get up until 6:20am. I probably would’ve slept longer, too, hadn’t the noise brought on by Mindy prepping for a shower woke me up. I hadn’t yet decided when I’d do my run – before or after seeing the kids onto the school bus. And come to think of it, I didn’t have a plan for my entire day. Short of exercise, run, and seeing the kids onto the bus, my day was wide open. Once I was downstairs it wasn’t much different than a work day. After killing the irrigation system already eight minutes into zone #4, I completed exercises and then headed out with Ykraps. It was a clear morning but with lots of low lying fog lingering about. Given the time when I got back from our walk (6:40am), I decided not to run prior to seeing the kids onto the school bus. If I did, they’d be spending measureable time alone since Mindy needed to leave around 7:30am. And I definitely didn’t want to feel rushed, not on my day off. Instead, I used the time to catch up on the Vikings and to download pictures. Mindy left for school around 7:30am. The kids retreated to their rooms to watch TV until 8:05am when I sounded the time-to-go horn. Soldiers, you will tie your shoes, you will stand at attention, you will smile and walk in tandem to the bus stop all the while singing the praises of your step-father. Let’s march! At the bus stop, we were soon joined by Kenny, Makayla & Lillian. I asked Kenny what he was up to today. He said improving his golf game. Hmm? Golfing? Said he was able to golf, and I wanted to, too. So, in kind, we made loose plans to golf at Phoenix Golf Links after my run and a shower. The bus picked up the kids at 8:18am. I headed home to ready for my run. It was quite warm – about 72 degrees. I didn’t make the mistake of wearing a shirt like I did the morning before. It was fairly humid, too. I completed my run in good time. I was back at home by 9:10am. I wasted no time getting a shower and ready for golf. Afterwards, I called Phoenix to see about a tee-time, preferably around 10-1015am. Katie said, ‘come on out.’ Great. I called Kenny to advise. He was washing his clubs. We agreed to head out in 15 minutes. I took his lead and cleaned mine real quick, too. I couldn’t let him have an advantage. J We left the houses just before 10am and arrived around 10:10am. I walked in and declared, “1015 tee-time for Woods, Tiger Woods”. Everyone got a chuckle. Phoenix is weekday/early friendly. One can play 18 holes with a cart for $25 before 11am. The course is real nice too. I love it! Nothing like being on a golf course mid-morning on a sunny, warm day when everyone else is working. I had a rough start. The opening hole is long, blind par 5. I was just off the green in four and after a poor chip up, I four putted. I took a nine. Yikes! Kenny pared. We played neck and neck through the rest of the front shooting fours and fives. Kenny struggled mightily on hole #8. I struggled on hole #9 and took a 7. I ended up with a 49 – Kenny a 47. I played bogey golf on the back save for one double-bogey before approaching number 18, which is a 400 yd slight dog leg left par 4 that takes a 200 yard drive just to clear a long pond. Kenny cleared it just fine. I hit my tee shot errantly and in the water. With no apparent drop zone, I had to hit shot #3 again from the tee. I hit a long drive easily clearing the water, but almost too long. Lucky for me, it came to rest on the rough just before rolling all the way across the fairway and into the woods/tall grass. I had 140 yards in. Next, I hit a decent 8-iron but it landed just short and rolled down the 3 foot embankment surrounding the green leaving me a short chip up. Frustrated still with my drive, I took an eight but actually think I had a seven. We had a good time finishing in roughly 3 hours and 40 minutes. Fast! We knew it had warmed up considerably into the early afternoon, but both of us were surprised to find that it hit 88 degrees. The forecasted high was only 80. I planned to cut the lawn once at home. It was 2:30pm after dropping Kenny and before I got outside to start on the lawn. I whacked, edged, cut, and blew. It took until 4:30pm to completely finish. Because of the heat and humidity, I worked up one heck of sweat. But I had the sweet satisfaction of knowing that the lawn was neatly manicured heading into the weekend. Just as I was heading up for a shower I noticed that Ykraps pee’d on the pink Queen Anne chair and carpet … again. I was furious. Up until now, I’d done nothing to punish him for his recent rash of indiscretions. He was relaxing over by Mindy’s glass armoire. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and carried him over to his mess and rolled his face in it. This has to stop. We’ve tried controlling his water intake yet he’s still doing it. I cleaned up the mess quite thoroughly. Ykraps doesn’t bark, but he can cry. And he did just that while I punished him. That scared the kids. I understood. Mindy and the kids decided to take advantage of the nice weather and headed off to the pool, perhaps for the last time this season. The extended forecast leading up to next week’s closing ceremonies doesn’t look good. It’ll be sunny but with highs barely reaching 70 and lows falling into the upper 40s. But given our summer’s weather so far, that wasn’t too surprising. I haven’t gone to the pool even once this summer. Heck, come to think of it, we’ve only had the boat out once, too, although that was for a two-day camp trip. I stayed home, showered, and watered flowers. I took my time. I also finally got around to adjusting the start time of the irrigation system to kick on at 4:30am. That way it’ll be done by the time that Mindy wakes to shower. I used the rest of my alone time to write in my blog. I wasn’t far behind, but haven’t published since last Thursday either. Mindy & the kids were home around 7:15pm. She and the kids prepped and ate an evening snack while I finished up on the PC. She and the kids eventually made their way over to the neighbors. I tuned into the two NFL preseason games on Time Warner. Mindy and the kids came in around 8:10pm. She got them ready for bed in a hurry. I poured a Jack & Coke and grabbed a bag of pretzels to help curb my hunger. I hadn’t eaten anything of substance since early AM. I watched football until tuck-in time – about 8:40pm. I tucked Jacob in first. Bella and I did another ‘I Spy’ page. She absolutely loves those things and is pretty good at ‘em too. Mindy headed to bed around 9:30pm. I stayed up until 10:30pm, or until the Bengals game was over. I secured the house and headed for bed. I could hear it sprinkling outside.