9-9-9

Up and downstairs by 5:32am, the coffee had just started to brew. I slipped into my exercise shoes and quickly whipped out 55 sit-ups and 50 push-ups. I was happy to detect a few scattered stars even amongst a the mostly cloudy veil overhead. It’s probably worth mentioning that I turned the irrigation system off Monday night. With all the recent rain showers, there was little need to keep watering. After reading the Daily OM I made and delivered Mindy’s morning coffee. I spent a little more time on the PC before moving on to meditation and stretching. Same as it ever was… I hit the streets for my run after a really good stretch. It was almost 6:40am when I headed out the door in my brand new running shoes. Being new and with virgin padding, they felt almost like medicine for the feet. I purposely tie my new running shoes loose for the first couple of days to help avoid any potential pain from breaking them in. The new soles clapped loudly against the pavement. Thankfully, they softened by the run’s end. Mindy had fried eggs ready at my spot. I was hungry. I woofed them down in no time at all. Mindy was off to school by 7:30am, and I was soon off to the shower. I returned downstairs ready to go by 7:50am. I spent the next five minutes loading my golf clubs into the Trooper and also checking for Friday tee times. I was disappointed to learn Thursday that Player’s Club has an all-day outing booked, and consequently, no open tee times. My second choice was Darby Creek, but they had nothing after 8:09am until early evening. That wouldn’t work either. However, all wasn’t lost, I had a few others in mind, which I planned to investigate later in the day. It was time to see the kids onto the bus. At the bus stop I shared the misfortune of not getting a tee time at Player’s Club with Kenny. We still hadn’t heard from Bob Imber about the possibility of Worthington Hills, although I wasn’t counting on it. The bus picked up the kids at 8:02am. I was back at home grabbing my stuff to leave for work by 8:03am. Work went pretty well. Ken shared his recent experience at the emergency room with his heart issue. Thought he was having a heat attack. However, turns out, they said it was due to his blood pressure meds slowing his heart rate into the low 30s. He works out a lot and his resting pulse is already low (50 bpm). They removed him from his meds, but also want to do a stress test to be certain. Scary! We had our usual Wednesday staff meeting, but then left for a birthday lunch for Ryan and I. We thought we’d do PF Changs but ended up changing our minds last minute and chose the new Mexican place across from Tuttle mall called Casa Patron instead. The menu appears to be almost identical to El Vaquero. I’m guessing the two related. In any case, we enjoyed our casual lunch there. We were back to work by 1pm. The first thing I did was book two Friday tee times – one at Indian Springs and one at Royal American. That way we would have a choice. Of course I planned to cancel one or the other once we agreed on a venue. The afternoon got busier and busier. My Wednesday golf routine looked to be in peril, and that wasn’t even taking into account the pop-up showers hitting all over town. But like the day before, they were very scattered and brief. Bob Imber already emailed that he was out, as was Bob Bolyard. And Tom Clark was having a bad day and didn’t think he’d be able to swing it either. I was OK with that, after all, I’d be golfing Friday too. But Tom called just after 4pm to let me know that he was in. Planning ahead, I had already called Phoenix and learned that we could get off the back nine around 515pm – perfect! I advised Tom. He was pleased that we didn’t have to drive all the way to Split Rock. Golf was on after all. The skies were almost entirely sunny when I left work. Any weather was uncharacteristically coming at us from the northeast. There were a few scattered pockets of clouds around the city. I arrived at Phoenix at 5pm on the nose. Tom was already there. The gentleman working behind the counter was very disorganized and slow. We remained patient while he worked with a half dozen of us. He slotted Tom & I to tee off the back. That worked well for us. The back is definitely the harder of the two. I powered my first drive down the middle and long – about 260-270. I slightly mis-hit my second shot – a 3-wood leaving myself another 100 yards in. I put my third on and escaped with a par. As we went along, I had some misfortune, like just missing the green and falling into a couple deep bunkers, but only two really poor shots. But just like usual, my scoring was less than good. I missed a bunch of putts. Meanwhile, off to our west (moving away from us) was a small isolated storm. It was sunny all around, including directly overhead. But there was a lot of lightning. Soon and predictably, the course sounded their horn calling everyone off the course. Phoenix doesn’t mess around after a player was struck and killed by lightning on their course a few short years ago. The course has no trees except for number 18, and it sits up really high. I was more than happy to head in, not willing to chance my life for golf. The starter quickly advised that the radar had it moving away from us but they didn’t want to risk it. He figured we could get back out after ten minutes. Amongst the players coming off the course were two high school teams competing – Bishop Ready & Grandview. I spotted Steve Heseldon, a neighbor, there amongst the crowd. We talked at length, mostly about Lloyd (aka Goldgrill), the guy convicted of attempted murder living in our subdivision. The latest is that he was arrested for OMVI and lost his car. He’s still living with the older woman he’s rumored to have stolen $20K in jewelry from. All the neighbors are talking about him. As promised, we were permitted back out on the course after a ten minute weather delay. Tom & I headed back to hole #15 – a 141 yard par 3. It took us awhile to get our bearings and find the hole. It’s not everyday you go from the clubhouse to hole #15. J I par’d the hole prior and was primed to par or birdie this one too. I hit my tee shot onto the green about 12 feet out. I par’d it. I took a six on the rather simple #16 even after a good drive – 3 on – 3 putt. Dang it! I took a six on #17 par 3, too. You’ve gotta see it to believe it. It’s not easy. Number 18 is the lone hole with trees/woods. It’s also the one that requires a 200+ yard shot just to clear the pond in front of the tee box. It can be intimidating. I hit a long drive that cleared the water and rolled to the far edge of the fairway. Almost perfect, really. I was afraid that I might’ve hit it too long. That wasn’t the case. My second shot was from 140+ yards out. I hit a 7-iron on the green but about 22’ from the hole. I was pleased. I three putted for a bogey after leaving my birdie putt well short. Another missed opportunity. I ended up shooting a 49. Not good, but it could’ve been worse. Honestly, though, I feel like my game is right on the cusp of breaking through. … But maybe it’s just gas! J Tom & I parted ways and left for home. I phoned Mindy, who was home and just then receiving Jacob and Bella from Jimaken. I let her go. I was home in 15 minutes. It was already after 8pm and Mindy was shewing the kids upstairs for their showers. They were ready for bed even before 8:30pm. I went up even before being beckoned to do an ‘I Spy’ with Bella. It was a tough one. Mindy eventually joined in the fun to help us find the last few items. After the kids were tucked away for the night Mindy and I went back downstairs where I opened two birthday cards – one from Gloria and the other from Craig & Jeff. Thanks for remembering guys! I lied down on the familyroom floor and eventually begged Mindy for a shoulder rub. My left shoulder was stiff and achy. She massaged by back and shoulder for almost 15 minutes. Felt terrific! At her request, I stepped on her back next in an attempt to crack it. Not sure how successful it was. We headed to bed at 9:30pm – early by any measure. I quickly dosed off, but when Mindy woke me to tell me good night I couldn’t fall asleep again. After lying there for another five minutes I got up to head back downstairs to watch and use TV as a sleep aid. It worked. After about 45 minutes I headed back to bed.