Go for the Green - Golfing Today HV Tomorrow

I didn’t have to work, so Mindy was up first. I don’t know the exact time but figuring it roughly 630a. I heard her start the shower and then a bit later blow drying her hair. I thought that thing would never stop running. :) I drifted in and out of sleep several times before finally waking for good around 715a. I brushed my teeth, gathered my running clothes, then headed downstairs to join the others. After a quick greeting I headed to the livingroom to complete my sit-ups. I poured some coffee then took care of push-ups while Jacob and Bella watched on from the breakfast table. Jacob seemed impressed that I could do 55 push-ups. It wasn’t long before Mindy was heading out. She knew I hoped to golf but still asked if I could or would be home to intercept the kids from the bus at 4p. I planned to try. Mindy left for school around 730a, and I headed to my PC. I didn’t plan to run until the kids were safely off to school. While online, I checked my banking and saw that our income tax refund was recently deposited. Wahoo! I updated my blog, including numerous pictures dating back to last Friday. The kids were on cloud nine after I granted them permission to wear shorts. Heck, the day’s high was expected to approach 70. We headed out to the bus stop at our usual time -757a. It was still a little chilly, but sunny and warming fast. I was looking forward to a day of leisure, and was still hoping to golf, too. First things first, however. I needed to run. I headed out just before 9a. It was still a tad chilly but very sunny. Probably about 45 degrees. I ran the full 4.1 miles and felt terrific. Still ahead of 10a when I got back home. I poured another cup of coffee then went back to the PC. I did some more writing but also checked out Holiday Valley’s website, something I do almost daily during the winter. I was surprised to find that the weekend weather forecast for Ellicottville was calling for nice skiing conditions (low 30s and sunny on Saturday, followed by sun and low 40s Sunday). Fooling around further, I checked room pricing & availability both at the Tamarack & then the Inn at HV. Both had rooms, but the Inn at a much better rate. I sent Mindy both an email and text measuring her interest in a weekend getaway. I was game. Tom C. called around 1045a to see if I was still interested in golf. Yep. Sure was. We agreed to go. Tom said he’d drive. Would come by in 45 minutes to get me. Over the next 30 minutes I showered and prepped my gear. Tom showed up around 1130a. Hadn’t seen Tom since Xmas eve. He went on an on about how miserable winter was. I had to laugh because for me it was awesome – cold and snowy. As I suspected, he said that Raymond was too crowded. People waiting at the tee box. That’s Raymond! We headed for Thornapple instead. Might’ve been ten cars there total. Cool. The only downer was that an older couple arrived just before us. We figured to be pushing them all afternoon. Lucky for us, though, that wasn’t the case. Just like the older gentleman said as they left the #1 tee box, ‘we play fast.’ First swing of the year, my drive, went fairly long and fairly straight. Maybe a tad left. I was more than pleased. My 2nd shot was pin high but right by about 5 yards. Three on two putt for a bogey. Again, I was pleased. Neither one of us remembered to grab a score card. I didn’t care. I was more interested in simply shaking off the rust. I played the first few holes fairly well (bogey golf). The first par three got me, though. Happens a lot. I hit a very poor 5 iron and struggled to get it in 5. Not much changed over the winter. My drives kept me happy. but my second shots were my Achilles heel. We wrote off putting early on. The greens hadn’t yet been mowed and consequently were super slow. We made the turn around 145p. I hit some good shots as well as some really bad ones. I didn’t mind. The weather, meanwhile, turned absolutely gorgeous. The thin overcast that came out of nowhere cleared revealing blue skies and much warmer temps. Felt like 70 degrees. Nice! Mindy called some where around hole #13. Briefly talked about whether or not I’d be home to intercept the kids. It’d be close. I asked that she make an effort to be there. We also talked about the HV email/text I sent. She was more than game. We agreed that I would book the trip provided the room deal was still available once I got home. She agreed to make the necessary calls to work out the logistics for Frankie and the kids. Cool! After that my mind was more on a weekend ski trip than on golf. We finished out the final five holes, my scoring taking a serious dive. Again, though, I didn’t care. I was simply happy to be out in mid-March swinging the clubs. Tom started playing well the last several holes. We finished up right at 4p. They must’ve let a walker jump in front of us just before the turn. He held us up on a couple of the final holes, but only for a minute or two. He didn’t seem phased that he was holding us up either. Played two balls on most holes. Tom stopped in to visit when Mindy came out to greet him. Mindy ended up inviting him to come back for dinner – pizza. He accepted. Mindy planned for 630p. While Mindy & Tom chatted, I booked our HV condo for Friday & Saturday nights. The website was having problems. I had to call them to complete the booking. Still gave us the website pricing since it was their fault. Promised to email my confirmation #. I told Mindy that our trip was booked. Wahoo! Tom left for home but promised to return near 630p. In the meantime, I started organizing our ski gear for easy loading come Friday afternoon. Mindy started packing. Provided my boss was OK with it, I would leave work at 230p and hurry home so we could leave no later than 330p. Mindy started working hard on report cards so she wouldn’t have to think about them over the coming weekend. The weather still exceptional, I headed out back with Jacob to hit golf balls. He started striking the ball fairly well. He seems more eager than ever to play. Hmm? After 45 minutes with Jacob, I headed inside to do more packing for our impromptu ski trip. Mindy was all but packed. At some point, Bella asked why our ski bags were out. I deferred to Mindy, who broke the news. Bella wasn’t too pleased. This was a daddy weekend anyway. The only change was that we wouldn’t be there when they got of the bus Friday afternoon, and then having them dropped off a couple hours later than usual come Sunday. Bella didn’t care. She expressed a desire to ski too. Jacob, on the other hand, said he was done with skiing and ready for summer. Bella pouted for most of the evening. I headed next door to visit Kenny & Mike, who were sitting on the deck. Kenny was actually assembling his brand new grill. Mike was sitting and enjoying a beer. The neighbors agreed to keep Frankie so they already knew about our impromptu ski trip. Kenny shared that they were originally supposed to meet a group of friends there this weekend, but had to bail due to Chrissy’s inability to get the time off work. Tom showed up while I was at the neighbors. He walked over to Kenny’s. We stayed long enough for Tom to drink a beer. Mindy left to fetch the pizzas. I didn’t plan to drink any beer, citing the need to feel 100% come 530a, and especially given the fact that I’d have a 5.5 hour drive Friday evening. Mindy hollered down to neighbors once she returned with pizza. We would’ve included the neighbors had they not said they were gonna cook out. Felt kind of bad. Kenny assured me that they did indeed plan to grill still. Tom followed me back to our house. We enjoyed the Minelli’s pizza that Mindy picked up. The kids enjoyed Tom C.’s company. Always do. He brought his guitar, and after dinner he and I strummed together. Sadly, I haven’t played in so long, and I have forgotten many of my chord progressions and have lost the calluses once prevalent on my finger tips. Come 8p, we tuned into Idol. Karen was eliminated. I was good with that. They keep wanting to eliminate one of my faves, but she survived yet another week. Tom left around 930p. I was incredibly tired, but before heading off to bed I did a little more preparation for our trip. Mindy headed to bed just ahead of me.