A Mixed Bag

It seems there are never enough hours in the day or too few miles between friends.

The house will be quiet this week since the hubby is in FL for the Club Test. Wishing him safe travels, good weather and enough time to catch up with Tykus. I so wish I was boarding the plane with him this morning but contrary to popular belief, he really is busy all day long when he's there. It is all work;)

-Notice the bag? Yep, he's an official Club Tester-

A huge hug and Happy Birthday to Maria! She's a big 3 years old and is going to have a great birthday party thrown by her Mommy today! An extra big hug to Julia too. Love my girls!!

I'm about done with my latest nesting phase. I go through spurts that follow the seasons to change up the house. The fall weather and delivery of my goods from Nell Hills have made it a real joy to pretty up the house. Here's a shot of the goodies I bought a few weeks ago. I like the slight transformation and feeling around the house. Bring on the cold weather, I'm ready now.

-Next trip, we're driving so there's no limit on the shopping!-

I have a lot going on with work: deadlines are looming next week, business planning is in full swing, and a very, very shocking development on an old project yesterday.


DISCLAIMER - BIG ENGINEERING NERD TALK TO FOLLOW!


So, what's the shocking development? I had a project three years ago that about did me in, the Site was tough, the Owner was tough and the Contractor magnified these difficulties. To say that this project was not a success is putting it mildly. I purposely put that project out of my mind and will physically avoid the area because the feelings of failure are too high for me. I got a call yesterday from a gal Urban Drainage asking if I was the engineer responsible for this "bad" project. (This is not a call you want to get on a project you haven't heard about in two years.)


The lady, with one of the local governing agencies, went on and on asking if I knew that photos of my water quality pond were all over the Internet and in professional publications. (Engineers are merciless when it comes to evaluating good and bad design.) I told her that no I was not aware that the industry was talking about the project and could she tell me what the problem is with the Site? No problem she says, the water quality pond I designed has been published as the good example and would I be able to talk to her about the design? She had already contacted the City who directed her to me. Apparently my project is the featured example in the pending Volume 3 Criteria Manual update, is the project photo for the month of June in an upcoming engineering calendar and is a stop on an engineering groups field trip. One more thing, she asked, can I speak at the field trip and help her publish more information on this design?

To say that this is flattering is an understatement, but honestly I still think this is some sick practical joke they are playing on me. I'll know all of the details on Thursday when I have a conference call with her, stay tuned...

He's Famous!

We heard on Sunday that dear Jeremy was selected for the Golf Magazine Club Test for the FIFTH time! He's headed to a 'SECRET' location in October for a week of golf, golf and more golf. The magazines typically come out in May so keep your eyes open. The first test he did, they took a great photo of him and dang it if it wasn't stolen with the robbery on the old computer. Here's an image I do have from the December 2006 test when i joined him. Like I said, he's famous...well, sort of famous, in a 15-minute way;)

Have a great time dear - just make sure you're game is in good form! So proud of you!

5 Things

I stumbled across this at The Lil Bee and thought it would be fun to answer 5 Things You Want to Do in This Lifetime. I like that this can be grandiose or utilitarian but all things I want to check off my list.

1 - Retire with the mortgage paid off. (Not a fun one but very critical if we want to retire at 52.)

2 - Spend a month on the cost of Scotland, this will include lots of golf and adventure. (I think we need to visit first, but that's a minor detail.)

3-Golf in a couples tournament with Jeremy. (I think we'll get this one checked off next year!)

4 - Be published in a magazine. (I know this seems funny but I love magazines and it would be thrilling!)

5 - Watch the Duke/UNC game in Durham.

5 Things - Bucket List - Fun List. (Jeremy's things all related to golf and travel, shocking I know.)

Weekend Recap

Last week and weekend was a blur. Jeremy and I had dinner with the Chelins at Sushi Den last Thursday and had an EXCELLENT time. The food was dang tasty and the drinks kept flowing, it made for a rough Friday morning at the office. I had the second round of my league championships on Saturday morning and shot 38, not as good as I wanted but much better than the first round. Did I mention that I had Jeremy caddy for me the first round? I didn't know where to go when I was on the green and was worse with his help. (I probably should have listened to my caddy's advice more than I did.) While I was playing, the rest of the family was hard at work moving Bec and John from Bec's apartment to their new house off of Tennyson Street.

I love the new place, it fits them well and is a great rental. I'm going to snap a few photos once the boxes are gone and they are really moved in. The kitchen is a great size and I spent Saturday helping Mom and Bec clean the dishes and get the kitchen in order. Now Bec and I can get started on her projects!

We had a mini Smith family reunion Saturday evening at Vine Street Pub in honor of Aunt Kathy's visit with Q. It was a quick gathering but fun to see all of the kids. Jeremy and I had our dinner at St. Rocco's Feast at the Potenza Lodge where we ran into Chris and Robin. We didn't win any meat but did have excellent sausage and pepper sandwiches.

We golfed Sunday with friends Jen and Robert for FREE at Legacy Ridge. I've never played there but shot pretty well with a 93. Jeremy led the way with a 79. Perfect weather, not too hot or windy! By the time we made it home Sunday night I was exhausted!

Tables are Turned

I had the first day of my league championship yesterday and I was lucky to have Jeremy caddy for me. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to adjust my game to play with a caddy. I have another chance to improve my score next week, hopefully I can piece together an acceptable round. It was so nice to have Jeremy's company and it was such a treat to have my clubs cleaned throughout the round.

WWGL

After spending a lovely evening at the Hubbard's and a few too many glasses of wine, I managed to drag myself up and to the course this AM. Today's tournament was 3 clubs and a Putter. Not an easy way to play the round but it made play very fast today. I ended up shooting 41 after starting with a double, bogie, the dreaded snowman, another double. To finish off I had a good string of pars, four out of the last five to be exact. Not great but not too shabby.

The Open Championship

Jeremy and I started watching the British Open from the comforts of our bedroom at 4:30 this morning. I love that we can watch the links course at Turnberry for four days straight. We need to get serious with planning our golf trip across the pond - it is gorgeous!

Here's hoping that Geoff Ogilivy, Ian Poulter, Justin Leonard and Andres Romero play well. The family version of the FedEx Cup, the IPS Cup, is on the line.

Proud Lady

CONGRATULATIONS JEREMY!!

Its been a week since Jeremy played his last tournament and I've been delinquent in sharing the news. Jeremy won his second tournament of the year. His other win was in the President's Cup held a month ago. During the President's Cup he had to go through a four hole playoff for the outright "First Net" in the Championship Flight. Once he had that victory he was in the Shootout with the winners from the other flights. Due to a nasty thunderstorm and darkness he ended up splitting the shootout winnings with five others. Not too shabby! I'm very proud of Jeremy, he's off to another great season with his Men's Club!

He's the Best!

I'm the luckiest wife or he's the luckiest husband, hard to tell some days. I came home from work last week to this:

Yep, he's a keeper! (Even if he can't understand why I do this blogging thing, and I don't even do this very well.)

Incidentally, Jeremy had a good weekend playing in the President's Cup. He won a playoff with three other men for 1st Net in the Championship Flight. Then he went to the shootout with 9 others and ended up in a draw with five others when darkness fell and the rain started. Not a bad weekend!

Recovering from 54

Jeremy and I made a quick trip to Trinidad for a golf weekend. We played Friday at the Muni course that was in immaculate condition. The greens were incredible, so much nicer than at Foothills. We had a great dinner in town that night at Rino's Italian Restaurant & Steakhouse where Jeremy had prime rib straight from the ranch. This place was great - the waiters sang all night long. If you're every in Trinidad, I highly recommend stopping in for some dinner, you have to catch them between 5 and 9, Wednesday through Sunday. I guess when you're that in demand you can set the hours as you please!

We played at Cougar Canyon Saturday morning in very windy conditions. The wind never let up and that was very exhausting. I had a few holes of greatness and a few real stinkers. All in all a good round and fun to see how that community is changing. Give it a few years and this will become a great destination. The main street has some great little shops and restaurants, stop by Danielson Dry Goods for some great stuff in their shop. Its a good thing we had a 1:30 tee time otherwise I likely was going to buy up some good stuff. (The camera battery was dead so I have no photos from our early Friday.)

1 of Jeremy's tee-shots (Notice how comfortable he is in a golf shirt & sweater?)

1 of my tee shots (I have no fewer than 5 layers including 2 pairs of pants!)

After playing and eating lunch at Bella Luna Pizzeria, we hit the road to make it back in time for a dinner. Thank goodness I had Sunday to rest before we played again this morning at Homestead at Fox Hollow. Not a great round, I'm pretty sure its not in my DNA to play 54 holes in three days.

The House Survived

More importantly, I survived the weekend and having four extra men. It sounds like a good time was had by all and that enough golf was played to satisfy Jeremy through next week. (Amazing as it sounds, he's not playing this weekend.)

This weekend made me realize how much I need order here at the house to keep me sane. My mom said I'm compulsive after I admitted to starting laundry as soon as the first group of guys left. The joke was on me since I ended up making all of the beds again only to have the same men sleep in their original beds. (Huge UGH!) The chaos is over and Jeremy had a wonderful time. He was sweet enough to put on a fresh pot of coffee and have biscotti from Vinnola's for me each morning. I love that he doesn't drink coffee but makes a better pot than I.

My morning breakfast!

Fore!

WWGL
Today was my first tourney in the Working Women's Golf League and boy was it a rough start. Aside from the forty degree temps and constant drizzle I didn't play well at all! It is never a good sign when you start off your round by hitting a great 4-iron into the green that takes a bad bounce only to have it go long into the hazard. The 4-putt didn't help matters. Always nice to start the round with a double par! (Huge groan!!) Once I warmed up (mentally, never happened physically) I was able to at least get one birdie followed a long string of bogeys. Better luck next time and here's hoping next time we get some sunshine and warmer temps!

CCC '09
The Texas gentlemen have made there way to Denver and were treated to pretty miserable conditions yesterday and today. We had a great dinner last night and I was so very thankful I had my mom and Jeremy's mom at the house to help me out. If you've never seen the site of 10 grown men coming into a house lookng for dinner after playing 36-holes it is quite a sight!

John, the trophy and some random autographed shoes from Chucky Atkins.

Jeremy's in the lead so hopefully he can hold on tomorrow and keep the trophy that he absolutely loves!