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.