Better Use Your Tree-Iron

A young Sergio Garcia captured our attention as he played this shot from up against a tree as part of his back nine charge on Tiger at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah. His run and jump up the fairway was an iconic image for golf fans. He would end up losing to Tiger by one stroke that weekend, but we were sure we’d see him at the top of the leaderboard at majors for years to come.

This week at Bay Hill Sergio found himself playing another shot from the trees. This one was a bit more precarious. He showed he still has guts. It has been 14 years. His career hasn’t lived up to the expectations. Not even close… but he sure is fun to watch. Shortly after that shot he withdrew from the tournament, illustrating that some of the reasons for his struggles over the years might be related to his poor attitude.

Just like Sergio’s first famous tree shot, Tiger came away with the win this weekend too. Tiger has shown a few glimmers of his prior dominance since his 2010 downfall. He’s started out strong the last couple years, but hasn’t had anything to show for it. A lot of people think this is the year he will make his big comeback… but they said that last year too. We'll see what happens at The Masters.

Calm before the storm

A totally free afternoon. I'm not sure what that is anymore. It doesn't happen very often. I've got a couple hours to relax and get ready for the next few weeks of insanity. So what do you do when you don't have to do anything? Well, because it is storming out right now I will be watching golf instead of playing it. I mean, it is Masters weekend. I'm also going to knock out a few loads of laundry, clean up the house, write a bit, maybe read, or maybe even watch a movie. I surely won't get all those things in today, but I can try.

One of the biggest changes for me when we had our daughter was one that I wasn't really expecting. Saturday used to be my day to chill out and do pretty much anything I wanted. I could go for a long bike ride, go hit golf balls, or just sit on the couch and drink a ton of coffee. After we had Amelia and my wife went back to work on Saturdays it changed all of that. Now I don't have that "down time" every week that I was used to. I absolutely love Saturdays with my baby girl. It is different when it is just me and her and I really like it. She is so much fun. As she gets older we can start going out and doing more fun things together. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss those Saturdays where I got to sleep in and do whatever I wanted.

I wish it weren't raining today, but I can't complain too much. We had an absolute perfect day yesterday. I got to leave work a little early and I just came home and sat in a reclining chair in the back yard and had a beer. 99% of the time I hate just sitting in the sun. It is boring, hot, and pointless. I can't do it. However, the air felt so nice out yesterday I figured I would try it out. I sat out there for an hour until Amanda got home. I should have used the time to be productive; work on the yard or something. But, I just wanted to sit there and do nothing. Tomorrow is supposed to be equally nice and we are planning a trip to the park after church for a picnic and some Easter egg hunting.

I hope you all have a great Easter. I am going to get busy doing laundry, vacuuming, and dusting. I of course will have golf on in the background. Phil is making a run. Maybe this year will be green jacket number 4.

March filler post

I skipped writing last week, which is sad because I had been on a pretty consistent streak, but I didn't really have anything to write about. I could have written about my new iPad, but I didn't know what to say other than "The screen is amazing." Which it is. I guess I could have written "It gets warmer", which was apparent from the very first time I used it. The back is definitely warmer than the previous iPad, but I am not concerned. It isn't a laptop so I am not going to burn my man bits. Worst case scenario I am so amazed by the screen I don't realize it is heating up and my finger tips get melted off. Then I can commit crimes undetected. So that is actually a feature. I do love my new iPad. Reading is much nicer on it, but it's still back-lit display. It isn't as easy on the eyes as e-ink or just plain old paper especially for long stints. Still, it is the best digital display I have ever seen and it makes other computer screens look like total crap.

The last couple weeks the tree pollen has been in full force and I've been feeling like junk. I've been so tired. It is crazy how constant headaches and not being able to breathe really put a damper on your day. My allergies were really bad through last weekend. I tried to ride my bike last Saturday. Well, I did ride my bike on Saturday, but only for about 30 minutes. It is the first time I have been in the saddle in months. It was nice to get out there, but the pollen killed me. I seriously need to spend more time on the bike this year. I am out of shape.

Early last week water started falling from the sky and it didn't really stop until Friday. It managed to knock all the pollen out of the air and for the last few days I've been feeling 100% better. It is amazing what a butt-load of rain can do.

I know this has been boring so far but if I want to call myself a blogger (do I want that?) I have to power through these posts. This is where it gets exciting. A couple weeks ago I was eating a piece of pizza too aggressively and my jaw popped. From that point on it was extremely painful to chew. I am just now getting to the point where I can eat solid food without having to remind myself to be gentle with it. It has been rough. There were a few times I had trouble consuming the over-abundance of food that has been so graciously provided for me, but I somehow managed to get by.

I'd been testing my limits last week by eating a bunch of Nature Valley crunchy granola bars. Things seemed to be back to normal by Friday. This weekend we celebrated my return to glutony with a date night. It was such a beautiful day outside we did the only logical thing... we paid to sit inside a dark room and stare at a screen for a couple of hours. We saw 21 Jump Street. You can read my thoughts by clicking (here). Afterward we went to one of my favorite restaurants of all time... Bonefish. We of course got Bang Bang Shrimp; one of the greatest culinary inventions of all time. I think it is shrimp fried in mayonnaise or something. It is amazing.

It is back to work bright and early tomorrow. Everybody have a great week!