How to stuff a kitchen!

So we are all gathered in the kitchen....most of us! Missing is Lisa, Bob, Jason, Haley, Jimmy and, of course, Ginn...who took this great picture. She actually got most of us looking directly at the camera with our eyes open and smiling! My brother Bob is busy slicing that honey-baked ham that is pre-spiraled cut. Dan, our omlette maker, is getting ready to cook breakfast for the bunch of us.

It was a great Christmas. We were all together, sans Danny who was stuck in the snow in Bellingham. The kids got tons of toys. Jimmy's favorite was a fishing pole; Jason's was a football game and his IPOD; Haley's was a Hello Kitty CD player and Maddie got a Cabbage Patch doll that she actually got to play with. Way to go, Sue!

So as we finish this year and move on to the next, I wish you a Happy New Year. I'm looking forward to more golf in the future; more time with family and happy happy children.

Dog day afternoon

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Ewwwwwwww!

So apparently I'm in a little hot water over my choice of birthday cards for my niece, Kelly and family friend, Jaime. Personally, I think the card is not only absolutely hysterical but also very factual and true. I mean, I know Kelly wasn't a test tube baby and I've never heard anything different about Jaime. So why not send this way-cool card to wish these girls a very happy day on their Birth day. Now if I could calculate backwards really well, I suppose I could find a card to send them celebrating the actual "act" day.....now that would be over the top.

So, whatever, girls! Hope you both had great birthdays. I'm thinking that 32 and 31 years ago, your parents kinda had a great time.

And that's my latest blog update.....not as cool and interesting as Tracy's and not as odd and crazy as Monique's......but I'm kinda busy right now.....wrapping packages, buying hot dogs, determining which gifts UPS'ed from Danny belongs to who.

Well, I'll be damned!

So who knew I even could figure out how to "embed" something.......but it looks like, according to Tracy and Monique, that this way-cool Christmas video actually worked. So, Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night! We love ELF! I have most of my Christmas shopping done and now it's time to begin wrapping, wrapping, wrapping. I still need one idea for a gift for Tracy; one for Monique; one for my Mom; one for Bob. But I'm so done with Jesse, Danny, Mo, Jason, Haley and Jim. And my Secret Santa .... Megan. Our family just doesn't get into the "Secret" part of the Secret Santa. In fact, if they don't like the name they drew, well, they just trade with someone else. Hey guys.....don't be lazy and just buy gift cards....no fun. Go out and actually pick out a cute gift for the person you drew.

Christmas Eve at Mom's! And then Christmas Brunch at our house. We are all decorated and ready for the holiday. Sure hope all of you are, too.

Oh, another big day coming up, in addition to Kelly's birthday.....Survivor Finale. I have Ken but I hope Bob wins.

Who found the pickle?

It's that time of the year again....hiding pickles, wrapping gifts and decorating, decorating, decorating! Enjoy the season; invite a reindeer for Christmas.

Run, Zambo, Run

And so we say good bye to Zambo aka Zamboni. We are a family of dogs, beginning with that wild and crazy Irish setter who we named Cocco, to keep Danny from calling his Dad "Cocco". That worked out well! We moved on to Miss Kizzy, named after a character in Roots. Pepper was a dog Dan picked up at the grocery store when a little boy was giving his puppies away. After Pepper, came the Late Great Chip of Cardiff....a man's dog, a real best friend, a beautiful animal. Then Monique and Tracy picked out Sparky, a sweet dog with multiple skin and ear conditions. And finally, Bear, the wonderful bear.... an indoor dog for me and Dan.

Lots of dogs have passed through our family and we weep when we lose them. They made our lives richer. All were great animals, filled with pride and beauty. So, run, Zambo, run. Find those who have gone on before you. Tell them we are fine. Bear carries on for Dan and I; Butters and Miss Priscilla completes Tracy, Jesse and Jimmy's home and Kirra will fill that empty space that Zambo leaves in Bob, Monique, Jason and Haley's family.

How do you eat your oatmeal?

So finally, after days of blogging, I'm actually going to blog about...surprise...golf! My Golf Girls Rule blog has turned into Grammy Tammy's Grandkids so I'm changing direction for a moment.

A bunch of us golf girls, associated with Santa Margarita Women's Golf Association, which in the interest of brevity is called SMWGA aka Santa Margarita, traveled to Indio for three days of hot, hot golf. And I mean hot....92-95 degrees but that oh-so-dry heat that feels like, I don't know, 110-115!!!!! Hot!

Very fun time...and yours truly took some money from the girls the first two days but my teammate, Judy and I, ended up with a tie on the last day....yeah, like kissing your sister (if I had a sister) and not just a tie but a four-way tie. The policy, in order to pay the winners, involves a card off....crap! But still....all was fun.

I took my winnings and a bunch of us headed to Lumpy's.....no, not a mattress store, but a...oh, can you guess...golf apparel store. Arrived at Lumpy's at 5 minutes to 6....we were late because Darla, Kathy, Judy and I had to make an emergency stop at Starbucks for oatmeal for our next morning's breakfast by the pool. So we slid into Lumpy's with 5 minutes to shop. Another bunch of the girls showed up right after us...they had gotten lost in the desert somewhere. We all made a significant dent in Lumpy's inventory before heading out to dinner.

The four of us, along with Darla's friend Eileen, ended up at Sullivans....keep that name in mind. Great steaks, fantastic crab-filled shrimp, ice-berg lettuce with blue cheese dressing and blue cheese crumble and Bearnaise sauce for the steaks. Hey, Mr. Sullivan....not nice to charge $3 for the Bearnaise sauce! But what a meal. Darla sprang for the Chianti...I think it was Chianti...I know it was red.....it's a huge stain on my shirt, hanging in the laundry room right now. Dinner was one of those pre-fixe dinners....38 bucks for everything....starter, entree', two sides and dessert. What a deal! Oh, Mr. Sullivan....your chocolate souffle is not a chocolate souffle. Call me...I'll send you a recipe. It was yummy but it was NOT chocolate. Also found a great little Italian Restaurant, Mario's, which scratched our trip to Trader Joe's. Another great meal.

Darla drove us to Indio in her huge Lincoln Navigator....up over the mountain. On the way home we took a shortcut through Hemit (all roads lead to Hemit, Kathy tells us, but then she also told us some far-fetched story about Indiana and drive-in movies and the time change...ask her!) that took an hour longer but who's looking at their watches.

For golf....yeah, I should talk about golf.....three days; three different games. Kathy put together the games. Alibi (throw out three holes); One gross, two net; and Best Ball of Partners. There was even a poker game, after golf, which involved your net scores and playing cards. I didn't win. There also was another late night game that involved dollar bills and dice and a bunch of women kneeled at the edge of a bed, screaming at the top of their lungs....scary. (Note to my grandkids and kids: I only watched!)

Terrific three days; lots of talking; lots of golfing; heaps of laughter. Everyone got along really well, but note to self, do not miss that downhill ten foot putt for par or you'll feel like kissing your sister.

Oh, missing from the above picture was the 22nd girl, Lisa.....she was in the bathroom.

Alert the press..Pino's is closing!

Much to our family's dismay, our beloved Italian restaurant, Pino's, is closing. Last day for the general public will be Saturday, November 1. But Pino is having an "Invitation Only" last dinner on Sunday, November 2. Of course, we are on his preferred list. We have had birthdays (including my 50th and, gulp, 60th), anniversaries (many), New Year's Eve (every year), Valentine's Day's and two wedding rehearsal dinners.

Even Ginn celebrated one New Year in absentia, calling in an order for a nice wine for our family to share. She only found out when she received her VISA bill that a mistake was made and we sucked up a beautiful Dom Pergninon. Again, thank you, Ginn. We had a blast.

Many celebrations, many fun times on our own personal patio at Pino's. Chicken affumicato, lasagna, lobster ravioli (yeah, Jason), perfect steaks, chicken rosemary and don't forget "I miss Jack" sausage and pasta. Bruscetta and garlic bread started the meals off, topped with Santa Margarita Pino Grigio and the whole meal followed by "chose your own" dessert...tiramisu being my personal favorite.

What will we do? Where will we go? It's so sad to see this place filled with memories go the way of many small businesses.

But if Pino decides to come back and reopen, the Cocco Family will be there...we will find you!

Sugar High at Papa's

So I didn't want to leave the blog today without showing off the sugar highs created by yours truly...Papa! In the first picture, Jimmy and Haley are handling all that sweet stuff very well but as you scroll down, watch as it actually hits their eyeballs....big, wide eyes to go with the frenetic activity I can't even show on this blog. Well, I could probably show it on the blog if I knew how to download movies but I'm just getting the hang of doing still photos. (FYI...If you want videos on your blog, check with Tracy...she's the Pro. Her latest blog has the cutest guy performing some Air Band stuff, I think.)

And then there is Jason, himself suffering from Nintendo DS withdrawal, with only a small piece of paper and his Mom to help him thru the tough times. Hang in there, Jason. You can make it.

Don't touch Bob's beef!

Once again it was Survivor Night, held on Friday rather than Thursday because Papa (I mean, the grandkids) gets tired! To make it oh-so-much-easier, we picked up Pick Up Stix. Not very glamorous but it does the trick. Monique had ordered the House Beef so I gently, oh, so very calmly, mentioned to Jesse to leave some beef for Bob and the shit hit the fan. I get in so much trouble just for being ME!

And the remains of the meal don't look much better than the beginnings! Bring on the pizza for next Survivor night!

The week began with a trip to the Pumpkin Patch.

Haley and Jimmy had a great time until they realized it was only a pit stop on the way to Starbucks. Papa aka RGG needed his fix so we scooped up three pumpkins for the kids and off we went. It took longer putting Jim and Haley back into their carseats than it did cruising the pumpkin patch. Jason thought using his pumpkin as a hat was the way to go. And note to all of you, the night of the goblins and witches is fast approaching....get your homes decorated; put out the candy or bad, bad tricks will happen to you.

Can't finish this blog entry without a really cute picture of the three little ones...aren't they adorable .

Of course, Papa got busted big time for handing out Smiley Cookies twenty minutes before bedtime. Oh and by the way, Bob...there's plenty of beef left over. Jesse, come on over and get your share now!

Hey and a shout out to Kelly...welcome to my blog. Hope you are enjoying this riveting account of my life!

Buried at Bay

So who knew when they say "buried at Sea" that in San Diego it really means buried in the bay! We all gathered Sunday, October 12 to pay homage and remember our Uncle Bill, my mother's brother (Mom is now officially an orphan, having lost her mother, father, two brothers and sister...but she is 89 years old...I'm thinking she just outlived them all!). Susie (Uncle Bill's granddaughter, in green in the picture), along with Bill's daughter, who I also call Susie (but I think she goes by Carol now) and her son Christopher and girlfriend, Caleigh, took a short cruise through San Diego Bay to the final resting spot for Uncle Bill. He had wanted to be buried at sea, but apparently "past the last buoy" in San Diego is determined to be legal for an "at sea" burial. Susie (who I call Little Susie) said it was beautiful and heartwarming. If you look out from Cabrillo Monument or over from Hotel Del, you can see Bill's final resting spot.

We all then gathered at Presidio Park, by the arbor, for sandwiches and dessert and to spend some family time together remembering an uncle/brother/dad/grandad well loved. Also pictured here next to Little Susie (who is from San Francisco area....do you think she's an Obama Mama???) are my cousins, Karen, Shirley, Diana and Karen's way-cool daughter, Kim. Kim and I share the same child-rearing beliefs.....so I like her a lot!! Behind the first group is Karen's sister and another girl (who I neglected to find out her name....so sorry) Great bunch of girls; all of them.

And from Burials at Bay, we move quickly to Backyard Birthdays...in this case, Haley's 3rd. What fun that was, complete with a huge-ass water slide and cupcakes from VG's Donuts...the best in the land!

RGG (remember him....the Resident Golf Guy....also Papa to the little ones) and I are babysitting Jim while Tracy and Jesse travel to Seattle for a little R & R (they should have been flying to Scotland but Zoom Airlines went bankrupt before their flight ever left San Diego). Tracy chose Seattle for her vacation because she wanted to use her new coat and new boots she had purchased for Scotland.....sure hope it's cold enough in old Seattle. I took Jim to Jason's football game and he and Haley spent a bit of time, throwing golf balls around the field. (Note to Grammy Tammy....golf balls and small children...not a good idea....#1...they roll a hell of a long way, especially those new Taylormade Burners...and #2...when Jim finally decides to throw one, it hurts like hell (I won't download what my skinned up nose looks like).

But all in all, a great week spent with Jim. He played well, slept well, napped great, ate just okay...filled a few diapers.

Paloma voted off ... I win $15

Survivor Night, Chapter 2......Now that Survivor is in high gear, we have moved the Family Night to Friday, where we TEVO the Thursday night Survivor show and then watch it much earlier on Friday....so much better for Jimmy...who needs his 12 hours sleep a night (and Papa, for that matter).

Menu was pizza; homemade! Jesse graciously stepped in when he saw that GolfGirlTammy's pizza's were looking more like the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island and less like a full moon/sun or LP record (That's like a large size DVD or CD, Jamie). He did a fantastic job, turning out six pizzas....four pepperoni and two Chicken Thai (from my California Pizza Kitchen recipe book). Way to go, Jesse.

Jason and Jimmy are loving Survivor Night. Haley is trying her "Say Cheese" smile for the camera. The rest of the family have taken their favorite seats on the couch. And as I explained in the heading, Paloma got voted off (oh, sorry, Spoiler Alert) and GolfGirlTammy won the Sasha SideBet of $15. Laura and Jim, Monique's sister and brother-in-law, joined us, traveling here from Arizona. Monique, Bob, Jim and Jamie are doing one of those triathlons again....this time in Mission Bay tomorrow morning. GolfGirlTammy is in charge of picking up the cupcakes at VG's Donuts for Haley's big birthday party tomorrow afternoon.

On Saturday, we went to Jason's Pop Warner Football game. I just missed by minutes his fantastic touchdown but I did see him intercept and tag-tackle and hand off. As you can see, I really don't know the football jargon but the game was fun to watch. Way to go, Jason. You rock.

That's it for now. Jimmy is coming over later this afternoon (Tracy and Jesse are off to the movies again....FYI...check out Tracy's blog....it follows TV shows and movies...her writing is spot on. "Add it to TEVO, we're off to the movies")

RGG and I should be making our run to Starbucks this afternoon; although with Danny in town we have been well supplied with coffee and donuts. Thanks, Danny.

Survivor Gabon

Seventeenth season of Survivor and the Cocco Clan and family are still at it. Betting on the last surviving Survivor and hoping to win the big bucks! Well, in this family, it comes to $80 plus change. Big stuff. Grandma Honey is the lucky one...she seems to win a lot...perhaps she has the inside scoop.

So this is the way it rolls on Survivor Pick Night. We chose up teams of two family members. Each member puts in $5, for a total of $10 a team. The two-member team is a blind draw so you never know which member of the family you'll end up with! Once we've established that (which when it comes to GolfGirlTammy aka GrammyTammy, it becomes very confusing....it has, Monique has pointed out, only been 17 seasons we have been doing this....how hard is it to remember the rules).....but I digress......

Now we have our Two-member Team. This team, by random draw, is allowed to pick one girl survivor and one boy survivor. (Each two-member team is numbered one through eight and they are allowed to pick their survivors in the order of their numbers...are you confused yet). This picture shows how excited we are that the teams and survivors have been chosen. It takes a lot of time and the pizza is getting cold!

We also have what we have dubbed "Sasha's Side Bet".....$1 to get in, which enables you to draw for the Survivor who gets voted off each week.

This week Jimmy drew Michelle and won $18 and then drew Jillian and won $14, so he was the big winner this week. Have we lost you yet, Jamie....I know this isn't quite as earthshattering as my discourse on Skorts are not Shorts, but hang with me here!

And, of course, this blog isn't complete without pictures of my grand-urchins, including little Maddie, my niece!

Oh, Andrew and I are a Team and we have chosen Ken and Jacque to go the distance....with Ken, the geek, I'm not sure we'll make it...but stay tuned. I'll keep you posted.

A day without Dad

And so it's been three years now, without my Dad. My memories are sweet and my love is still strong. I keep wondering what he would have thought about these great-grandchildren of his. Of course, he knew Jason and thought he was the greatest, but even three years ago, Jason was just a little thing. He would be amazed with all the things Jason has been doing: karate, soccer, football, school, ice hockey. And smart..Dad would have loved that.

And then Haley... he had a nickname all picked out and how did he know that it would have been a nickname to fit her perfectly: "Dinky" cuz she is small and so little and so cute. I know he wouldn't have been able to keep his eyes off that gorgeous little girl.

And Jimmy...our little rascal; tough guy. How Dad would have laughed when he saw him. "Here Jim, shake my hand", Dad would have said! Jimmy may have earned himself the nickname of Last of the Good Ole Boys Part II. We'll never know. But I know Dad would have treasured these kids and above all else, this is what I miss most...the fact that he missed out on these most precious beautiful times with my grandkids.

And let's not forget little Maddie, the youngest, just learning to walk...my brother Bob's first grandchild. Four great-grandchildren...ahh, Dad would have loved it. The noise and the confusion might have bothered him a bit but he would have delighted in the sounds of laughter coming from these little urchins.

Would he have been Papa Bud; Grandpa Bud? I don't know. But if you're looking down at us, Dad... please know that we miss you. Our family is strong and we're growing and we will remember you to these little ones. You told us lots of stories....lots.....and we haven't forgotten a one of them.

Is it pizza or DiGiorno?

For those of you following closely, you'll remember that I mentioned earlier that I was making pizza for dinner. And so here's the picture! Not bad, huh? I actually make our pizzas from scratch.....you know....flour, yeast, water, sugar, salt, olive oil. Let the dough rise for a couple hours, punch down, rise again and then "throw the dough". That's the way-fun part. The hard part is getting it off the peel (that's the wooden board you see here) and onto the pizza stone which is pre-heating in a 500 degree oven. I wasn't able to get a great picture of my forearms, after I burnt them, pulling the peel out of the oven. I'm okay now...thanks for asking...and the pizza was delicious. Even Jason agreed that it was the best ever.

We're busy getting ready for my Mom's 89th birthday party. She has invited all her family and friends. The count, as of tonight, is up to 93 people. Who knew she knew so many people? We'll need more wine, for sure. Brett's Barbeque in Encinitas will be catering and VG's Donuts is preparing the dessert. I've got the windows washed and Dan has been "burning daylight" getting the yard in tiptop shape. Should be a swell time. Pictures will be posted soon.

Tomorrow it's back to golf. Team play at San Luis Rey Golf Course. My partner will be Lynn....she's great at lining up my putts. I call her my "Putting Coach". As Team partners, Lynn and I have a winning record together. Let's hope it holds up tomorrow. One of Lynn's favorite sayings is "That's a dandy shot". I'm hoping to hear it a lot tomorrow!

Oh, I made the trip to Starbucks (by myself)....remember Dan was doing that "burning daylight" thing. Picked up some of their new oatmeal for tomorrow's breakfast on the run. Got the usual Grande/Vente blah, blah, blah.

Bear - Then and Now

Introducing Bear....our beautiful Golden Retriever....he runs this household, sleeps at the foot of our bed and drinks from the toilet. Best retriever since the Late Great Chip of Cardiff, although Sparky wasn't half bad...he just had a terrible skin condition and chronic ear infections....Tracy and Surferwife aka Monique picked Sparky out of the litter when he was a pup so I blame them. They both fell in love with Sparky and paid no mind to the motley looking Mama and Papa Dogs. So you get what you fall in love with.



After we lost Chip, with only Sparky in the backyard, we decided to get a companion for him. He was so lonely. Tracy, the Resident Golf Guy and I drove to Riverside and picked out Bear from a beautiful litter of pups. Finally, we have another dog a little like Chip....great mane, great looks, perfect skin and no ear infections.

And now........

Re-introducing Bear...although he doesn't have chronic ear infections, yet, he has developed a bad skin condition (hot spots) and we have had to shave his beautiful coat. Aussie Pet Mobile did the job. They filled up four kitchen-sized trash bags of fur and hauled if off. This time I have no one to blame other than the species "Golden Retriever".

We still love him and Haley thinks "He's so cute" and Jimmy doesn't get whacked so much by the big furry tail; Jason hardly noticed him, maybe because Jason was making a beeline for my Pink Nintendo DS....Backyard Football!

That's it for today. The RGG and I played with the Chose Up at Morgan Run. Interesting stuff happened today.....Dale's Taylormade Driver was broken when it got tangled up with a fence; another golfer's new clubs and bag were stolen and RGG lost his favorite visor and one of his headcovers.

Made the normal stop for Grande/Vente blah, blah, blahs.

That's how I roll!

So today began with washing windows (well, not me, but Felix!) and then off to cleaners, Vista Paints, Party City (party napkins), Barnes and Nobel (Lt. Gen. Harold Moore's We Are Soldiers Still, along with Gilead by Marilynne Robinson), ATT Cellular, BevMo (wine), Sherman Williams Paints and Albertsons! Whew....how exciting was all that. Scored some free paint at Sherman Williams...to be used for the next guest day, Radiant in Red.

I'm getting ready for my Mom's 89th birthday party and she's invited over 89 friends and relatives...how cool is that!

I've also got dough rising for home-made pizza (Martha Stewart's recipe) so tonight should be a really fabulous meal.

On Tuesday, I played the first day of the two-day Individual Eclectic. I made some pars, some bogeys but no birdies so I certainly have room for improvement. Played in a nice foursome which always makes my golf day perfect.

Also read Surferwife's blog about Jason....that kid can talk! And smart! Must take after his Grammy Tammy.

Ordered Haley's birthday present...she turns 3 in October. Watch for party pictures!

And so, that's how I roll.

Your loss, San Diego Union!

I sent the above pictures to San Diego Union some time ago and someone in that huge organization deemed these sweet things not cute enough to publish. Well, this is my blog and, damn it, I'm now publishing them myself. (Note to Tracy: I don't have the other really, really cute one of Jason in the rubber duck float .... since I'm all about rubber duckies!....could you send your copy to me!)

These were taken this summer (well, Fiji's summer) on Toberua Island....our island home in the Fiji Islands, where we have traveled since 1981. We began as a family of four and now we travel as a large family of eleven. Toberua is a 3-acre island, at high tide. It's very family friendly and a great place for kids. With only 15 bures, we practically took over the entire island.

That's really it for today.....not a lot going on......missing the grandkids....

Oh, we did take Mom to Barona. She started out with $50 and came home with $44. This Golf Girl/Gambling Loser started with $40 and came home with .....nada, zilch, nothing, zip! I would have done better stopping at Golf Mart and buying a new pair of golf shoes....ahh, but that's another blog.

Do I still have your interest, Tracy. Wake up!

Great discussion with Jesse today....when is Rose Gold really bronze? or Brass?

Keep checking. This will get interesting soon.

Skorts are not shorts

As this Sunday draws to close and I prepare for a new week, with golfing on the horizon, I find it's a perfect time for a short discourse on "skorts". As I mentioned above, skorts are not shorts, but they are the perfect compliment for the well-dressed golf girl. A shout out to ladyproshop.com for the great photo of what a beautifully fitted skort should look like. If

only we were all shaped like this gorgeous un-named model.

But to get back to skorts....they are a comfortable skirt, made with polyester or nylon, hopefully with a little stretch lycra or spandex, with shorts underneath; the better to bend down to mark your ball; place your ball on a tee; replace the odd divot. The really great skorts have two side pockets for ball markers, divot tools and golf ball.

On the course, this golf girl has seen many shapes and sizes in skorts and what keeps cropping up is "fit, fit, fit". Make sure your skort actually fits you...it needs to be long enough to cover your butt, but not so long to look like a maiden aunt's Sunday-go-to-meeting skirt. If you are lucky enough to look like the aforementioned model, then go for a short skort and show off those beautiful gams. If you are like the rest of us, cover up a little and leave something to the imagination.

Some of my favorite skort manufacturers are Tail, EP Pro, and Adidas. Other good ones are Jamie Sadock, Bette & Court, Ashworth, and Izod. Most have zippers on the side, back or front. But the really comfy ones are the "pull-ups" which Adidas makes best!

That's it....skorts are not shorts but they sure make my getting ready to golf a bit of a pleasure. Shall we talk about golf shoes next?

The RGG and I have already gone for our Grande and Vente's blah, blah, blah. Left-over Borrelli's is next on our agenda. No grandkids today....so sad. Wonder what they're doing?

Three at the door

And so ends another day. Jason spent the day with Cram-ma Lisa. Pee Wee Football was on his schedule.His team scored three touchdowns but, alas, lost the game. Haley ruled the roost at our house all day. Jim, the short one, came over in the evening. Bubble baths with duckies seems to be the main attraction here.

Now they are all gone and it's just Resident Golf Guy (RGG) and me. Take-out Borrelli's was on the menu.

Not a lot of exciting stuff here....I'm thinking TV (maybe Geraldo Rivera will get swept away by the debris of Ike) or maybe Shantaram, my 900+ page book of the moment. Either one sounds good. Maybe I'll pop open a Diet Pepsi Lime.

Barona is on tap for next week. RGG promised my Mom a trip to the casinos. I'm thinking it's more for him than her. And me, I lose at every machine I sit down at. In fact, I've tested a theory...if I stand behind someone who is winning, soon enough that person will begin losing. So I kinda walk around, looking for a winner whose luck needs to change. If RGG spots me, he'll even move to another machine. I'm telling you, I'm not a winning gambler.

Have I hooked you yet on this blog? I'm warning you. It could get addictive. This stuff is rich.

Two on a couch

Fantastic day. Did a little clean up around the house. Gave the hairless Bear his medicine for his yucky skin decision and waited for Jason and Haley to come to visit. Jason is easy: Hand him my Nintendo DS loaded with Backyard Football and you won't even hear a peep from him. Haley pretty much empties out the toy bin and then ends up playing with the drink coasters.

Watching Fox News as another hurricane closes in on the coast of Louisiana and Texas. Geraldo Rivera actually takes a dive as a wave catches him unaware. Why do these reporters stand outside in the weather? Most of the smart people are hunkered down in their homes. Our family has their bets in place.

So goes my day without golf. Can hardly wait til Tuesday Sweeps rolls around. The Golf Girls will begin a tournament held over two days titled Individual Eclectic. For those not in the know, it's a game where you play your best the first week and then try to improve the next week. Sometimes it doesn't work that way. Sometimes you play your very worst and then you are playing catch up the next week. We'll see what the Golf Gods throw at us.

Resident Golf Guy actually brought my Vente Black Ice Tea, no sugar, home for me. So I won't even have to leave the house. Sometimes that's just heaven to me. I've got Lynn's Hawaiian Chicken in the oven....I'll add rice and we're good to go.

Haley is requesting a bubble bath, with all the duckies.

Introducing golf girls!

These are a bunch of golf girls who rule! We beat the Men in the Battle of the Sexiest, I mean, Sexes! We each received one sleeve of Taylormade balls....such a deal! See how excited we all are.

And how was your day?

So Surferwife got me started. Today was a day without golf, kinda like apple pie without cheese (as my Dad used to say). No birdies/pars/occasional bogeys for me. I took my 88 year old Mom to the doctor for her post-op appointment after her "upgraded pacemaker" surgery. Is this riveting enough for you?

Followed that with lunch at CPK. Ran into Mary from Hansen's. Then the Resident Golf Guy and I made our daily run to Starbucks (Non-fat grande mocha, extra hot, with whipped cream and Vente (is that tall?) Black ice tea, no sugar).

Headed over to see The Jim, along with Trac and Jesse. Back home to listen to the talking heads go on and on with the political stuff.

Do I totally have your interest now? This stuff is mind-boggling. It will get better once I get back to the course. You can follow me hole by hole, as I make my way around Morgan Run.

Don't go away.