Catching up

Things are kind of busy here with the home repairs going on.  Our roof is getting put on today.  Next will be the new gutters and the trim painting.  Then, clearing out the torn-up flower beds.  All to be done by the birthday party on May 20.

Sunday, I went driving in my friend Gus' Ferrari which was of course an awesome experience.  He said the car "smelled like road" the rest of the day.  A good change from sitting in the garage.

Monday, I had a doctors appointment to follow up on some lab results.  All was well!  We also had a Greeters meeting and my friend/neighbor Brad and I drove over there together.  We're now Chair and Vice Chair of that organization.

Today, I had a confernence call as well as a court appearance.  A busy day.  It was nice to be on the tail end at 4:00 p.m. today.

Earth Day 4/22

This week should be a short one since we leave to go to Washington DC on Friday for Sarah's (and Jack's) Constitution Team National Championship.   There are about 6-7 teams of 3 students who study for questions asked them regarding problems that they solve orally by their Constitutional research.  Kind of extemporaneous, like debate, but with the added study focusing on the Constitution.

This Saturday was the IB Prom so Sarah spent all day getting ready.  Susan's friends came over to help.  It was like Steel Magnolias with the ladies helping the young woman to get ready.  They left here about 6:45 for dinner then the the prom.

Today we had a tough running workout, my first since last Saturday.    We ran up "Green Mountain"which is acutally a respectable hill in McAllen, but man-made from a local road project.  It has turned into quite the recreation area.

Gravick Ranch

Sunday I was invited to go to the Gravick Shooting Academy with a number of friends. Having done a lot of driving the past few days, it was nice to let Henry drive. We left early to get there about 8:00 a.m. There was a group of about 16 of us, ranging in ages from 14 to 60 or so.

We started the morning shooting 9mm pistols. It had been some time since I had shot and I felt I was pretty terrible to begin. But there was a lot of instruction to take in and after a little while I got out of my head and started doing better. Like when my old friend Brent and I used to shoot clays, we had a saying: "Are you thinking?" If you were, then you were distracted. Stop thinking. I did make some better shots. We did all sorts of unusual things, from shooting through a car window, crouching behind a car, shooting a moving rotating star.

We broke for lunch and went back to the hunting lodge, the classic man cave with trophies on the wall, including.. an elephant. We even got to see the video of the elephant hunt.

In the afternoon, we went to shoot AR-15's which rifle shooting was something I was a bit more comfortable with. The rifles have a laser holographic sight which you see a red dot through the scope, you point the dot where you want to hit and shoot. Makes it pretty straightforward. We did some different shooting, crouching, left handed, through narrow openings. My favorite was "clearing the house", shooting while moving, turning corners, and then finishing off with the sidearm pistol. By the afternoon, I was more comfortable with both guns.

Our instructors were very good. One was the firearms instructor for the local Sheriff. Our host was former military (Delta Force, said Henry). So we learned a lot. I look forward to returning.

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday and we are now in Kingsville visiting the family. Once we got here it was a lazy afternoon with a long nap and then watching the Masters on TV. Having been to the course in 2010, it was neat to see it again. But the game the pros play is quite different that the regular game of those with handicap strokes. The idea of hitting a wedge into 13 and 15 for them is a lost art.

Yesterday I did go to the Maundy Thursday service. I always think of Kate as that is one of her favorite services, with the stripping of the altar. Afterwards I met Jeffry for dinner. He's a young guy about 26 and we've got a good friendship started. He's very educated, degree from Brown and on a Fulbright scholarship, about to start working on Wall Street.

My working out is starting to pay dividends. As I told my trainer today, I feel I'm gettting a base now to work from. Getting started is the hardest part.

Tonight Sarah and I are going to see American Reunion, keeping our string of R rated comedies going. Plus I heard there is to be a sequel to Horrible Bosses - score!