Halloween

It warmed up a bit from yesterday. I thought about getting up early but thought against it and slept til 7:30 today. Church at 9 then home and we went to Mauricio and Claudia's house for brunch. That was a good time - she cooked a big Mediterreanean meal (of Lebanese descent) and so there was much good food. We stayed there a while and then made it home. I went to the golf course for a little practice and then came home to get ready for the trick or treaters. We opened for business at 6:30 and closed with no candy at 8:45. It was nice to think that we were fortunate enough give out plenty of candy to all comers. There's lots of people who don't have what we do.

College Night

I went to the Ivy League College Night last Thursday. Sarah did not - she had the homecoming parade and pep rally. I went and watched the parade- that was pretty cool. All the student organizations were there: band, color guard, cheerleaders, football, ROTC, FFA and so on.

It was a nice transition to the College Night. Everyone wanted to know the answer to the question: What do I need to do to get in?

The pat answer was good grades in tough courses. Competitive standardized scores. Good essays. Extracurricular activities that might transition well to college. After all, they've got a football team to fill, a women's swimming team, a Glee club, a student council and so on. And not every place is looking for the same thing.

It's big business now. The average private college is $35K a year tuition plus room, board, fees, travel, extras, and so on. Financial aid may take a piece, but that is another uncertain dark art they practice - "We've can't tell you until after you give us everything we need [everything?]

The good news is that I'd stack the students here against any students anywhere. Lots of motivated, smart students. And they do a lot with not all of the advantages that other students elsewhere might have.

Tuesday

Today I was in court most of the day. And tomorrow should be no different. I did get after the paperwork on Monday at the office. Now the next attack will be on the papers at home. Gotta get on that early some day - because it's too much to do after a full day elsewhere.

Big, big fantasy football win last night. Starting from 16 points back, I had a big performance from Hakeem Nicks, 31 points. To win by... 1 point... on Monday night. It was sweet! Even better, I didn't even have to watch the game because it was boring. I ended up going to Barnes and Noble. That was more fun - driving around.

Sunday

A nice day of rest today. I got up and went to church at 9 then stopped for coffee afterwards and the grocery. I was ready to get outside even as the temperature was heating up. So when I got home, Susan asked me to go back to the store. So I walked back there - it probably took about the same time as driving. Then I cleaned the pool and washed the car. Then I went off to the golf course. I decided to work on the short game and while I was at it, played several holes and made it home by 6 p.m. So I got plenty of time outside.

Golf for the Cure

We had a 12 hole tournament at the club today for breast cancer fundraiser. We played with Oscar and Marissa. It was a lot of fun. The first time Susan and I had played golf together. We agreed: it didn't matter what we shot and we were "flexible" with the rules. So it was good weather, good fun and a good afternoon. We hope to do it again.

Memorial performed in the Area Marching Competition. They marched at 9 am. and we all agreed they did great. Tough competion though. They did not make the final 12, finishing 26 of 38. Sarah was pretty upset, but that's life in a big state. She said "They had worked too hard for this" .
Wait Til Next Year - said Charlie Brown.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Thursday night

Its almost Friday and its nice to be winding this week down. Although I am taking the Skip C. approach - how much work really gets done Monday morning or Friday afternoon? I've scheduled a golf game for this Friday afternoon with my friend Mauricio.

Court on Wednesday turned out allright. I had thought that I might see a familiar face which might be a comfort since I was nervous. I saw two - attorney Mark who let me put my phone in his car (can't take into courthouse) and the court reporter was Karen who I had recently met. Surprisingly the judge listened to my main argument so I think we made good progress. Call it a win!

Memorial plays McAllen Rowe Friday night. Then Saturday is the big Area band competition. Memorial performs in the morning and if all goes well, will make the finals in the evening.

There's a tournament at the club for breast cancer awareness, a couples 9 hole tournament. So I thought that would be perfect for Susan to attend and ride around in the cart. Looking forward to doing that together. I think that will be her first visit to the new golf course.

Tuesday night

I'm watching the game and the Rangers are ahead 5-3, bottom of the 6th. Its nice to have it on, even if we dont' have to catch every pitch.

Big day in court tomorrow. Who knows what will occur? I've been working on it for many years so I'm ready for some action to occur.

Best of all, it should be done tomorrow. I'm already looking ahead to the rest of the week. THere's a little golf tournament for breast cancer research on Sat. afternoon. And I might play on Sunday as well with my new friend Mauricio.

I went to Kingsville Sunday and returned Monday. It was a good trip. Wonderful afternoon of hunting. Got 2 birds but best of all was the perfect weather and the peaceful country. Other than a car going by every 30 minutes or so, there was just quiet country sounds.
Monday I drove back and it certainly was helpful to have worked on Saturday.

Friday night - at home (sigh!)

Actually its a good night here at home. The Rangers/Yankees game is on (who thought we'd say that about the ALCS?) Rangers ahead 5-0 in the bottom of the 6th.

Sarah has gone out for the night. She rushed out as I realized where she was going - to the Donna Corn Maze which is a 15 mile drive away. So that worried me enough to go out and talk to Anthony her friend who was driving everyone. At least she knows him well so I told him "You're in charge" Hopefully he'll hear that for the responsibility it entails. Another "Letting Go" experience.

I had a good day - I went to church and got a copy of the strategic plan for the school. As Susan said, it was where most strategic plans are: rolled up in an out of the way spot that no one really knew about. But I've got it now!

I also went to the law library to do some research for next week. I determined that I'll probably lose, but will buy some time to get the case settled. Keep your fingers crossed - its been 6 years and I hope not to make 7 on this one.

I also went to the golf course after 5:00 and I got some good things done: hit about 25 balls, 1 and a half shag wedges and played #8 and #9. Made a double and then a good par.

Two for Tuesday

It was a good day today as I did several things: went to the municipal court and got some work done. Then an IB school board meeting. Then a drive to Brownsville for a pretrial lawyers meeting. The lawyers office was the old Cameron County Jail so it is really interesting how it was remodeled to be an office while maintaining the historic designation.

The attorney Alison turned out to be from Houston. Her father (parents divorced) lived in the same neighborhood as my parents. When she said where he lived I knew the answer to the question before I asked: "Is he a member of the Houston Country Club?" So it was cool to meet someone with that same background. She said she and her husband called it "Bushwood" after the club in Caddyshack.

It's a good drive back, 1 hr, 20 minutes. The classic rock station had 2-fer Tuesday. I went to the Bushwood of McAllen to get a swim in. Good way to end the day. Now I'm watching the Rangers/Rays. Rangers ahead 3-1 based on good pitching and baserunning. THe right formula for postseason success.

Mondays

There's a good ESPN commercial: Mondays - the worst thing ever! Except Monday Night Football. There's some truth to the benefits of MNF. Great game going on, just finished with Jets over Vikings 29-20. Great game! Congrats to Brett Favre for his 500th career TD.

Unfortunately the TErminators lose this week, to go 3-2. STill doing fine and have a good backup QB David Garrard for Carson Palmer on bye this next week. Also just saw that JAX v. TEN will be on MNF!! Showcase for Garrard!

Congrats also to SF Giants winning a great ALDS over the Braves. It'll be a good series v Phils and I of course will be pulling for the NL to win it all.

I got a slow start today not getting to work until 10. But I made the most of it and worked past 7 so I got the time in. It's not so easy doing it all with no assistant but that is only temporary until the right person comes along.

Tomorrow I've got court in the morning and then a meeting in Brownsville for my new case I got this summer. Its now in Federal Court, just as I predicted. As I said however, "I expect that could occur that the case could get removed to Federal Court and I am admitted to practice there and am experienced in that court."

Ready for anything!

California - Here I Come

As in Ferrari California... My friend Gus just got a new one and I has asked him about going to see it. Of course he traslated that into "I must let Greg drive my new car".

So he came by today, we dropped the top and took off with me behind the wheel for a short drive. He had to go to a meeting. So we drove about 15 miles. It's got the manual paddle shifts - no clutch. Like the other Superamerica, it shifts about 6000-7000 rpms. This one has a kick when you shift. It has 7 gears but I just tried 4 of them - gets up to 80 pretty quick. The whole car is very lightweight, so when you ease off the throttle, it slows down pretty good.

Afterwards we stopped by Starbucks and had a quick latte. He encouraged me to park in the park and park like a pimp "Take 2 spaces". It sounds like he's got a deal working with the dealer to buy them new and sell them back after a while.

Afterwards, it seemed right that I should go for a bike ride on the same route we drove. So I had a good ride and came home and fixed dinner and watched The Amazing Race.

Secrets of the Grown Up Brain

I just picked this book up from the library and this blog is one of them. Write it down on your blog!

I've played several rounds of golf this week and that had two effects: one it improved my game, two it inspired many thoughts of golf, past and present. Both led me to call my dear father. So he asked me "Who did you play with last Saturday?" Of course I couldn't quite remember right off the bat.

Last Sat. I played at 10:00 with a pick-up group, Rick T., Ruben B., Chino M. and myself. That was a betting group and of course, that's not quite my style. -$15 after that day.

Tues. I played withe Steve G. and Yil D. who are world travellers. Yil had just returned from a month in Turkey and Steve just back from a trip to Pebble Beach, CA. Right up my alley! Plus they're both very good golfers so it was inspiring.

Friday I played 9 holes in the late aft. with my friend Larry. He just likes to be out there and moving around quickly. But I did get to use my new shag bag on the practice short game area. That I beleive will really lead to improvement. When I played my best, I practiced the short game regularly at Lions Municipal on the old practice short game area. I don't know why every course does not have one of those.

Saturday it was the Hidalgo COunty BAr ASsn golf scramble. I got invited on the Atlas & Hall team and it was a good culmination. All of my game was pretty well together: drives, irons, wedges, putts. We played -4 which was pretty good for our team.

Since the weather is just right, its been easy to get motivated to get out. Plus its great to have a home course. RIght now the handicap is 15 but as Larry said, "you'll be down to single digits". So that is the 2010-2011 goal. Perhaps by my birthday next year?

Seminar Complete!

I finished my seminar talks today. First was "Opening an Estate in Probate Court". I told the story of Colt McCoy being invited to play golf with Roger Staubach. On the first tee, Roger tosses Colt a ball - "You're up first". Colt was nervous but beared down, and said "When Roger Staubach tells you to hit first, you'd better hit it down the middle". So I followed the advice and got off to a good start.

Later in the day, I spoke on the Laws of Intestacy. The two were big topics, but I tried to keep on schedule and stick to the time allotted. I thought I accomplished my goal. Of course it was a full day, especially since I went for a run at 0530, and now that I'm home, its nice to relax. I did get a power nap in also, so I won't fade too early.

Tomorrow should be a busy day with court in the morning and afternoon, as well as catch up from being out today. Saturday, I'm invited to play in our local bar golf tournament on the Atlas & Hall team, so I'm be in style there.

Sunday October 3

It was another nice fall day here. I was outside checking out the work done on the yard early this morning. Then I went to church for the first time in a while it seems. Afterwards, I went to the early movie to see Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. It was a bit slow getting started as it had to give a history lesson and set the exact date. But it pretty much followed the original. Idealistic young person get crossed with greedy tycoon. Lay down with the snake and guess what, you get bit.

We had a nice dinner at home, cooked out some steak skewers with vegetables and pineapple. Then we watched the Amazing Race together which we like to do Sunday night. All in all, a better way to spend a Sunday that last week, watching a football game for 3 hours during the middle of the day.

Livestrong Day

Today was October 2, 10//2 the day Lance Armstrong remembers as the day he was diagnosed with cancer. So I wore my Livestrong bracelet and a yellow shirt in solidarity. It must be a lonely existence to have to deal with that.

We had a great birthday celebration for Susan yesterday. We had about 16 people for dinner at El Divino and the food was great as was the company. I think that everyone enjoyed themselves and of course Susan had a great time.

Today I went for a 7 mile run with Kristi and finished about 8:30 am. We saw another friend of mine, Kelly and Edna, training for the San Antonio marathon. I introduced Kelly and Kristi since they were both cheerleaders in college, Kristi at Texas A&M Kingsville and Kelly at Notre Dame. They both knew Eva Longoria Parker who was also a cheerleader at TAMUK.

I played golf this morning also. On the 18th hole, I hit a great chip up to 6 feet and ... missed the putt. Too bad. But it was a good effort.

Texas lost to OU today 28-20. I watched the first half and then went to sleep - lots of activity today. Now it is 11:15 pm and of course I'm wide awake watching TV with Sarah. She just got home from a band competition.