Golf Tourney

Yesterday was the culmination of another year's planning for the Annual Red Hot "18" Tournament benefitting the Cedar Creek Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. We had a great turnout of 21 teams. Held at the Cedar Creek Country Club, we were back in our old neighborhood for the day. Above, Rick and Taylor pause before putting at #17. This was the hole that Tiffany and I were monitoring, just in case someone got a hole in one. If they did, they would win a golf cart. Rick claims he made it, but I guess our heads were turned! Here is Charles and Twina... looking as cute as can be. Those two always look happy!

Below, Tiffany is returning with treats for the two of us. Watching a hole can be hard work, and we were famished!

Here is the presentation of awards. I was proud of the entire team that pulled it off! Tim is in the blue shirt, and Robbye in the pink & Judy is in the blue, sitting down with her back to the camera.

And... if you would like to see Rick and Taylor, putt the #17, click on the play button below.

STS 127

Did you know that: The Endeavour shuttle (STS 127) is on Flight Day 3?

It docked with the International Space Station at 12:55pm today.

For the next 11 days, there will be 13 people living in space - the most EVER!

There are only 7 Shuttle flights left before the Shuttle program is retired.

You, too, can watch LIVE on www.nasa.gov, or on the Nasa TV channel. It's highly addictive... I couldn't turn it off last night.

Here's a link to some FAQs about the Shuttle and Nasa. It's interesting!http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/information/shuttle_faq.html#12

Sad stuff and happy stuff

I read a news blurb today that I regret reading. Really shouldn't have clicked on that link... and wish I could take it back. It was about a teenager that put a kitten in the oven and let it burn to death. I simply cannot fathom a person being so cruel and sick to ANY kind of animal. After reading that short, disturbing article, I had to look at a happy picture. Here is one of my doggie, Roxie, with Collin. This was several years ago - Collin has grown quite a bit, while Roxie looks pretty much the same. It troubles me to think about cruelty to animals. I wanted to cry after reading that article. But greater yet, what about the children or the elderly that are abused? You don't have to look very far to find real-life instances of these. Any kind of abuse of those that can't defend themselves really bothers me. Kudo's to those, like my friends Joe and Cathy, who work with CASA as child advocates. And likewise, I admire those people that spend their days caring for the elderly in nursing homes or group homes... providing for them with loving touches and warm smiles. That's all I have to say about that. On another note... Happy Birthday, Craig! I love you so much! Found these pictures... you haven't changed a bit in the last 49 years! (It is 49, right?) Ha!

Of mice and other things

We had an intruder last night. Rick was laying on the floor watching tv and I heard him say (in a calm, yet very imperative voice) "Kristen... please bring me the flyswatter. Now, please." He never addresses me as "Kristen" unless something is going on. So when I delivered it to him, I was preparing for something bad. He wasn't even sure WHAT it was... just that something was behind the tv. How then, I wondered, would a flyswatter help, if we're not sure what it is? And...the flyswatter didn't help. All it did was bolster the courage for us to poke and prod behind the console. Sure enough, a not so little brown mouse dashed out, spun around, and dashed back behind the TV. Great. We have mice. Except at that point, we still weren't real sure it was a mouse because the sneaky fellow was so quick! To make a long story short, the little guy finally reacted to our flyswatter approach and escaped across the room into the coat closet. You know, the closet that is jam packed with stuff that we don't know what to do with. After a strategy session in The Situation Room (aka, living room) we formulated our military attack and executed it in precise formation. We secured the perimeter of the foyer where the closet is and methodically emptied the coat closet. With each piece that was removed, our collective breath sighed out, expecting our intruder to dash out. Finally, we were down to just one last box remaining in the closet. He HAD to be behind that. When it was pulled out of the way (via the hook on our fireplace poker) the little guy blazed a trail out of there. He fell right into our scheme, following the series of levies and retractable walls, corrals and one-way tunnels... right out the front door! My only regret is that I didn't capture any of this on video. The shrieks and shouts would have been funny... in retrospect that is! Other things going on: We had a GREAT 4th of July weekend. Below are a few highlights. Two days at the cabin with relaxation at the top of the list. Boiled some fresh gulf shrimp and treated Dad to a feast on the front deck. Mother was a bit snobby and brought her own sandwich. A full day at Lee & Susan's with the entire family on Saturday... minus Tod and Robyn, Tyler, Lindsey and Kati. We finally get to meet Kati next weekend. That is, of course, if the Dept of Homeland Security comes to their senses and agrees that Kati is not a 4 year old terrorist. Learned a fun new dice game called Farkle Fireworks for our #6 anniversary, back at the scene of the crime! Planned a trip to the Grand Canyon for Mom and Dad, Craig and Carolyn. In the picture below, they are testing out my car for the journey to see if Dad can sit behind Craig. I'm not sure about that... A new week has begun, and I'm already feeling swamped. One thing at a time...