A dream

My friend Jack Wilson died yesterday at age 65. I saw him afterwards at the emergency room and it was very clear that the spirit had left the body. No question that the soul makes the person.

Last night I had a dream of a soul (mine? his?) blowing in the wind like a leaf or a piece of paper. There was a lack of control - you were just going along, not knowing where, when. But there was also a calmness, a knowing that wherever you landed would be a good place.

Sunday

We got invited to go to the Palm Valley Church with the Portillo family today so we all went to the 11:30 service. It had a lot of excitement to it, with music and kind of a "start the show" feeling like going to a concert or to Cirque du Soleil. It would be a nice addition to have such excitement at more church services. The sermon was about Running from Evil and David and Bathsheeba so I thought it was a good one.

Afterwards, we had brunch at Cimarron and then made it home. I played 9 holes of golf in the afternoon and then sat around the pool with Brad, Judith, Mariana and Mark. It was much nicer at the pool than on the golf course.

Saturday afternoon

I came by the office to do an hours worth of work and that 60 minutes is now up. So I'm about to head out. Sarah and I are going to see Harry Potter this afternoon. A summer movie is always a good way to beat the heat. Reviews are good for the movie so I think I'll like it. Sarah's seeing it for the second time.

I would like to see the movie Horrible Bosses again another time. As the movie critic says, points for originality. So many sequels these days. (Harry Potter of course being an exception:)

Tonight it is shrimp N grits for dinner. The bacon and shrimp are already making my mouth water...

Home for the weekend

I'm glad to be in town this weekend after being gone a lot in July. I have just about cleared my desk so it's time to hit the door. Maybe catch a movie tonight.

Girls Scouts

Susan and I attended the Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas dinner last night honoring our friend Yoli. It was an enjoyable event and we had a good time for a good cause. There were videos of the top cookie sellers (800K boxes total sold last year) and some of the other scouts spoke. We made a pledge for the expenses for one Girl Scout for an entire year, including camp. Reminded me of Sarah's time in the Girl Scouts. We all agreed that it was quite a worthy cause.

Thursday

It is sure nice to be home. I've been settling back into the summer routine. This morning, I did have a good amount of work to do, so I got right to it.

Tonight there is an event for the Girl Scouts honoring our friend Yoli Cantu so Susan and I are going to that.

Sarah has been in the hot sun for band practice all week. You know she is tired when she goes to bed early. It's grueling, like football practice in the hot sun. Of course, I'm inside. Grass is always greener - those inside want to be out and vice versa.

Looking forward to a weekend at home. No plans so far. Still taking a well earned rest week from triathlon training.

Dallas trip

Thursday, after a stressful meeting, I flew up to Dallas arriving about 7:00 and Jeff picked me up at the airport. He had graciously agreed to lend me his extra set of golf clubs so I was able to travel light. I also realized he saved me $50 in checked bag fees. We met up with our friend Richard and went to Aboca's in Richardson where we are regulars. The proprietor Art hooked us up with some off-the-menu specialties. The rack of lamb was outstanding! Afterwards, we played pool at Jeff's house and checked out babes (for him) on Match.com. Now it on the phones, you don't even have to be at the computer.

Friday, we got the bikes set up for the Saturday Goatneck. Then we headed to Ridgeview Ranch for a round of golf. I played with the 1971 model Hogan irons and really liked them. Jeff played left handed and still outdrove me and Dino every time just about. After golf we went to a happy hour and then went to Denton and picked up our triathlon packets and Jeff got to meet Bill. We had a good dinner watching the Rangers at a local sports bar, the PourHouse.

Saturday, we got up at 0430 to drive to Cleburne TX for the Goatneck Cycling Ride. I had heard of it from Jeff so I was glad to go. My cousin Deborah used to live in Cleburne so it was nice to see what that was like. Very West Texas feeling to it. I had a good ride of 41 miles. Jeff did the 70 mile ride and finished not too long after me. We had lunch at the Cotton Patch which I thought would be the Lydia's Cafe of Cleburne. But it was more like a Chili's. It was fun being around all of Jeff's friends.

Saturday night we went to a party by Jeff's co-worker Katie who had just come back from a evangelical mission trip to Ethiopia. It was neat to hear her experiences and see the photos. Plus we had Ethiopian food. I liked it, but it seemed a lot of others were very closed-minded. Their loss. Every one asked "How do you know Katie?" I felt like the wedding crasher.... "I just met her!"

Sunday, we drove to Denton at 0430 (see a pattern?) and did the Pioneer Power Sprint Triathlon. My training paid off and I did all 3 disciplines well. I was particularly proud of my swim and my run.

Then I slept all afternoon to beat the heat. 106 F in Dallas this weekend. Makes our 99 seem OK. Jeff had to fly out to Orange County, CA in the evening, so he packed up, we went to the airport and I got a rental car. I saw the movie "Crazy Stupid Love" starring Steve Carrell and got a good night sleep.

Today, I was thinking "There's no place like home". I had my lunch meeting and an afternoon meeting and then hit the airport. I found out that Love Field was named after an early military aviator, Lt. Moss Love who died in the early 1900s'. I left at 4 and got home at 8:00 pm.

It was an action-packed trip but I must say that I'm glad to be back home and back to work.