Thursday April 29

May is just around the corner!

Of course that means Birthday! Mine. Sarah's. Lots of others. May babies are the cutest, said a former girlfriend. I do recall her birthday was May 2. Pretty good for the 30 days or so that we dated back in 1985.

Susan got back in town from Florida so its nice having her back. We watched the Spurs beat the Mavs to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs. Go Spurs Go! First time a 7 seed has beaten a 2 seed.

I've gotten a lot of work done this week - eliminated a backlog of sorts. Now, I've got to fill it up again.

Monday is the Chamber of Commerce golf tournament so all the more reason to get the work done today.

Saturday night is the MORP (prom backwards) at IB. I've been informed that I'm to do all the driving Sat. night. Glad to be included I guess.

Sunday April 25

It was just Sarah and me today. Susan is in Florida until Tuesday. Last night I took Sarah to Alyssa's Sweet 16 party. It was at the Cornerstone Grill. They rented out the whole restaurant so it was fun to have it all to ourselves. There's a back room that was set up for the DJ. There were about 10 adults and 25 teens. Everyone including me had a good time.

Today I did some more yard work and it looks good. Temperature heated up to 95 F so I was inside for a while until I felt like going out. Of course it was the heat of the day, 3:00 p.m but I wanted to run. I went to the park and took it easy only staying out about 30 min. and going my share of walking.

In the evening, I cooked out fajitas and guacamole and we watched the Amazing Race. Best reality show on TV. I like Phil Keoghan. I read his book No Opportunity Wasted and it was motivating to get your life list down and start working on it.

I'm Back

I've been a little delinquent with the blog lately. With my triathlon training, I've either been working or resting it seems. Not a lot of extra energy in the evenings, which is when I usually write.

Today was no exception. I decided I needed to rest and sleep a bit more this morning which I did. I was planning to run in the evening but.. it was hot! 95F today. So when I got home, the pool was beckoning. A nice swim and nap poolside. Guess I needed it.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to cycle with Heriberto. I also invited Dan but he had to work. He did stop by the office today for a nice visit. Marie liked him. She's got a good sense of who's a good person and .. who's not :(

I did get the items at work done off the checklist so I thought I ended the week OK.

Susan is going to Miami tomorrow until Tuesday for a conference so I'm in charge of Sarah full time. We're planning to go to her friend Alyssa's 16th birthday dinner tomorrow night. A welcome night out for us. A special one as a couple.

Hoping to catch the movie Kick Ass this weekend. Sarah not interested however. My co worker who claimed she hated summer last year also said she didn't watch comedy movies. She's just doesn't know a good thing when it's right there.

A short one

Today was the Monday after the BP MS 150 bike ride from Houston to Austin. It was my 9th straight year - never easy but always fun. I rode again with Team Southwest - very well organized. Our friend Brad in La Grange came through again with private showers at him home (no high school locker room showers this year). Followed by drinks on the patio - a highlight.

Sunday we got a late start so we rode a van to the mid point and rode the 45 miles in. Then a bus back to Houston and I got up at 5:00 am today to drive back to McAllen. Got here for my noon meeting just as the bells were ringing.

Needless to say its late now. More later

Masters Week

Tuesday I left MFE at 1:00 to fly to Atlanta via Houston. In Houston I met up with Sean and we boarded the Continental 1.5 hr flight to ATL. We got our "full size" rental car - a Chev HHR - basically a little station wagon.

We went to met Dan at the Highlander which is a place I saw on Diners Driveins and Dives and it did not disappoint. Let's see: I had the Jamaican Jerk Chili, the slider, the Greek Salad, the corn fritters, and the Pasta-Rella sticks. I'd say I sampled the best they had.

We then proceeded down Ponce De Leon (Ponce Duh Lee-ahn) not "Ponce Day Lay-own" to Stone Mountain Park where we got up the the next day dark and early to drive to Augusta GA.

We checking into the Stone Mountain Inn and went straight to bed. 0530 was coming early.

We got up in the dark and quickly left and drove about an hour to Greensboro, GA where we had breakfast at the Waffle House. Then we pressed on to Augusta. Arrived to a bit of traffic but found the parking and walked in.

Right away we saw a lot of buildings, permanent bathrooms, ticket stands and the concessions, which was a big store with everything you could think of, from clothes to coasters to golf tees, bags, etc. I bought a tie! We then dropped the bags off at a bag check and walked in.

We walked straight to hole #12 and 13. I had asked Sean what holes he remembered as the best when he played there and he said 13 and 15.

Now I thought that was a pat answer, but after watching, those were THE BEST. It was amazing to watch the pros play them. World class. We stayed at those two holes mostly in the morning and then walked in to see those holes. We met up with Ed and Kate and had lunch. Along the way we met up with some other people, one of whom knew a W&L classmate of mine, Joe Luter.

In the afternoon we saw the rest of the course and then made our way to see the Par 3 Contest. We saw the trophy presentation to Louis Oosterhuizen (written 12/22/2010 - who would go on to fame winning the British Open that July 2010). Afterwards we had a long walk back to Gate 4 where we were some of the last ones out. A great full day. We had dinner at Carraba's and then drove back to ATL. Late night!

The next day we were up early again for a 8:00 tee time to play the Lake Course at Stone Mountain Golf Club. It was appropriate to get a round in after watching great golf the previous day. We played through a little rain. I liked the course and it was a good deal for $65.

We then left to head to the airport and flew home. A quick Tues-Thurs. trip.

More Driving

Today I went riding with my friend Brad in his "new" 1986 Mercedes Benz 560 SL convertible.

Bright red, tan interior, a true classic. Fast too. Its got a big V-8 that had a lot of power. The weight of the car makes it glide down the road. We went riding north and then south, stopping for a glass of iced tea and watched Anthony Kim win the Shell Houston Open in a playoff.

I'd like to play the Redstone tournament golf course in Houston. Another one for the list.

Leaving for Augusta GA on Tuesday. Looking forward to hitting another Diners, Driveins and Dives place in Atlanta just like Joe's Farm Grill in Phoenix.