breaking 90 and other stuff ...

Despite the fact that it rained almost constantly from Thursday through Saturday, and well into the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, when I got up the weather was much better. There was no rain, although it was super overcast and looked like it would/could rain at the drop of a hat. Nevertheless, I headed to the golf course to meet S and A ... J, I think, has decided that golf isn't for him and is a bit too boring.

I love how much A loves the game and looks forward to playing last week. We couldn't go out last week because of the threatening tropical storm, so he was extra antsy all this week. Every day he woke up, he asked his dad if he was playing golf. This Sunday morning, the kid who is almost impossible to get out of bed in the early hours was awake at 6 a.m., even though he knew they weren't going to leave the house until 10 a.m. How cute is that?

We really did get very lucky in that it didn't rain at all. There were some isolated drops now and then, but never even enough to call it a drizzle.

The front nine was super sloppy with mud and water; no carts on the fairways. Despite all the nastiness, and three early double bogeys, I managed three late pars to close out the front nine and just 9 over, for a 45. It should have been much higher, but I holed out four putts from 8 to 10 feet. S struggled with the conditions, shooting 55.

The back nine was in much better condition, and both of us played well (for us). S parred three of the first five holes, and I only had two double bogeys, both of them the result of lipped-out bogey putts. I also missed two birdie putts by less than an inch each, andn tallied three total pars. Even with a bad last hole, I managed to shoot 44 on the back for an 89. Anytime I can shoot under 90 is a brilliant day, so I was very happy.

S actually outplayed me on the back, scoring a 43 to stay under 100.

A had a good time, even though he continually tried to tiptoe around the mud. I've never seen a boy that age who was so concerned about mud. If that had been me at that age, it's likely I would have hydroplaned across muddy wet fairways a time or three. LOL ... A also played really well; he's starting to get pretty consistent. It used to be that he'd have to swing several times on each tee because he'd miss a bunch of times, but now he pretty much smacks it on the first shot. He's also learning to adjust his stance and aim on his tee shots, and his putting was really solid this time out. He had four or five putts lip out from 5-8 feet, and sank a few of them. He's also learning the little courtesies on the green, pulling the pin when he's closest, holding the flag when he's done, stuff like that. He's also picking up the lingo too.

NON-GOLF STUFF
• I always forget that even when the sun's not shining and it's cloudy and overcast, the UV rays still come through, so I'm a little bit sunburned on my arms, face and head, since I went with just a ballcap this time. When will I learn?

• After lazing around most of the afternoon (I did get a few small chores done, including getting the trash out to the garbage can for pickup Monday morning), I went into the office for a few hours to catch up on a bunch of administrative stuff, so I'm all up to date come this morning (Yep, it's Monday here already).

• This week, I plan to take some time to go check out a few different new car models. Not looking to buy right away, but will probably have to in the near future, so I want to check cars and trucks out, mostly for headroom, legroom and assroom — the three really important features in a vehicle for me. Oh, and price. Hoping to find something cheap, reliable, gas-efficient and roomy ... not the easiest combination of features to find in a vehicle.

• I need a to-do list. So much to do, hopefully in so short of time. I bought a little white board, that's now mounted to the cubby door on the hutch over my desk. Let's see if I actually use it. LOL


• One of the main industries on Guam before World War II was the production of copra.