As birthdays go

Yesterday I officially turned 32. And boy did I make it hard on my poor wife. I haven't really thought about what I wanted for a birthday or Christmas very much, if at all. Michelle will attest to the fact that I'm the hardest to shop for. She has been pestering me for a while about what I wanted for a present. Then she asked what I wanted dinner and what kind of cake was my favorite and what kind of ice cream....if I wanted a party or not. It took me a long time to figure out answers to those tough questions.

But I did finally come up with some answers and she delivered wonderfully on all of them. And she was happy despite the intense effort the twins put forth to wear her down and make her cranky.

So I took half a day off work and went golfing at WestRidge Golf Course. It's a nice course and they have monthly specials for Mon-Thurs 9-3 play. Because I played as a single I got paired with a 2-some and another single. The first 9 holes took over 2.5 hours because we were all a little rusty and not doing quite so good...me especially. But then I was playing from the white tees for the first 3 holes while they played from the blue. I decided that wasn't really social and I was just out there for fun so I played the blues from there on out. For the golfing uninformed tee color determines length. Red = Women's tees(shortest distance to hole). White = Men's and Blue = Pro(longest distance to hole). I'd never played the blue tees before but found that the farther tee box also meant a little more elevation which increased my drive distance. And the second hole after teeing up at the blues, I found my drive. While my putting stunk, I had great drives from that point on for the most part. And the weather was perfect...hot but otherwise fantastic.

Then I went home and had a great time with my family and spent the time after kid-bedtime watching a movie with Michelle. As birthdays go, this ranks in the top 5. I even had two of my brothers call me to wish me a happy birthday. Thanks Glen and Kent.

Clubs(and not golf sadly)

Ever have a goal or project that you know is going to take a while and the motivation to just do it seems lacking? Join the club! No seriously. Recently a neighbor of mine suggested we form a writing club to help us both try and make some progress on our works in progress. Brilliant! I love to write and have 3 stories in the works plus some back stories for some role-playing characters. We just need more people to help the motivation.

My wife finds this helps her as well when she is knitting something that will take a while, she logs into her knitting forum and joins a knit-a-long where everyone in the group is knitting the same pattern. Then they all post pictures of where they are or of the finished product when they get there. Along the way they chat and encourage each other.

Those who know me well, know that in high school, writing wasn't a problem. Not only did I have classes that required it but I was in a groove. I tried writing for a local newspaper but they wanted facts and unbiased writing...meh, I put my emotions into everything I write. I think it's what makes it worth reading. I didn't last long. I still occassionally write poetry when an image or phrase grabs me. I've written lyrics to several songs. But the time commitment is small. And right now time is precious. Most of my writing has to do with school work on predefined topics with that logical, just-the-facts element. Most novelists seclude themselves and spend all day immersed in the medium. My work, school and family won't permit that currently. So when Ryan suggested we start a writing club, I was all-in. Although we both realized that it would be limited at the moment but the potential was there. Hopefully, this will mean more than a couple of paragraphs with appear in these stories.

Now if only there was a "putting up your vinyl fence and installing a retaining wall club". Oh wait, I don't seem to have the time for that either. :)

Days, Months, Years

Long road walked,
empty gas can in hand
desert stretching out on either side
of lonely pavement.
White and yellow lines
dragging onward
as they disapear over the horizon.
Cold nights, burning days
distance unmarked,
untracked,
wearily trekked.
Days blur into months
as knees sore from crawling
get rest on the sand
with the scorpions
as sleep, dehydration,
time consume the almost corpse
lying empty-handed on the side of the road.
Nobody else
has passed
because when his spiritual tank
went to empty
and he set out alone,
he stayed on the road
that got him to where he was
instead of looking for another
where friends,
family,
waited to refill his soul.