Hello Again

I looked at the blog today and realized that we haven't written since the day before Thanksgiving. Here is a quick update.
We got into a car accident on Nov 24th (last day we wrote on the blog actually). We were driving home (I was driving) to Springfield and the roads were a little snowy and a car ahead of us lost control and slid sideways southbound on Hwy 169. I hit the brakes but couldn't stop in time and slammed into their passenger side. Luckily everyone was ok, I had a bloody nose from the airbag hitting me in the face and the passenger in their car was also bleeding from the nose. Damage to both cars was extensive and our car has been in the shop ever since. I get updates once/week on its progress, but they still won't give me an estimate on when they will be completed. They tell me parts take a long time to get, but I think with all the storms and accidents they are busy, maybe a little of both.
Anyway, enough about that, we are both happy to be healthy and glad no one was hurt.
After Thanksgiving we had 3 seminars, one at Jackpot Junction, one in Owatonna, and one in Clear Lake, IA. George and Michelle were nice enough to sit through the one we had at Jackpot. In my 11 years with Northstar this is the first time they have heard me speak, I hope they weren't too bored, but thanks for coming.
After the round of seminars we both took a little vacation, separately. I went to Palm Springs, CA for 5 days with a group of golf buddies. We have a friend who owns a house there on a golf course so we lived the good life for 5 days. Each day was the same, we got up, played 18 holes (one day we played 36 holes), came home and sat in the hot-tub or laid by the pool, had drinks, and then took a nap and then went out for a nice dinner. Pretty tough life. We had a great time with the all the boys! I wasn't feeling the best, I think I ran myself down a little with all the road time with the seminars. I was Dayquilled up during the day and Nyquilled up at night. I was the DD for all the boys so they could "let er' rip", which I think they appreciated. I still enjoyed the golf and just the warm weather. It was 80 degrees and sunny everyday, just fabulous.
We played the following courses for my golf friends who read the blog, for my relatives and friends who don't care about golf skip to the next paragraph.
Day 1: Silver Rock (18 holes) and Rancho La Quinta (private club) that I was able to play with one of the assistant pros from Troy Burne as he is working there over the winter. Played my best golf the first day. Shot 83, 79 and the 79 was from the tips so the hardest the course had to offer. I was quite pleased.
Day 2: We played the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West (one of the legs of the Bob Hope Classic). I'm not even going to make an excuse for how bad I played. I shot a 93. I haven't looked back in the computer at the club to see how long it has been since I shot a round in the 90's, but I know it has been years. The course was tough and I was simply off. I have had off stretches before but usually can get my game back in shape to keep the round reasonable. Not this day, I just never found it. It was UGLY!
Day 3: We played The Stadium Course at PGA West, ranked one of the 50 Toughest Courses in the World! If you are a true golfer,  you want to take on the biggest and the toughest courses so we were "amped" up to play this track. This course has brought even some of the best PGA pros to their knees in tournaments. We were told we could not break 90 from the tips, but when we arrived we found out we could not even play the tips without a PGA card, which none of us have. So we played one up from the tips and I shot 87. I played very well on the front with a 40 (double at the last hole) and shot 47 on the back. It wasn't as hard as my mind was prepared for, in fact, I believe Whistling Straits (Kohler, WI) is harder. I feel if I played this course again, I could break 80, from the blue tees, not the tips. I would love a crack at the tips, so maybe I can steal Brent's PGA tour card and play them.
Day 4: We played a course called Desert Willow, it was an over-priced dump, I would much rather play Springfield.

While the boys went to Palm Springs we sent the girls to Chicago for the weekend to stay with our friends Chris and Gina Winslade. They have a home at Troy Burne, but live in Chicago 9 months/year. They took great care of Nicole while she was there. I'll let her put some updates about her trip.

We have a great weekend planned. Tomorrow I am going to take a half day of work and go with my brother Andrew to look at some new condos. Andrew is at an exciting time of his life, and we are very proud of him. He graduated from the University of Minnesota this past Sunday with a degree in Computer Science. We are celebrating tomorrow night with a family dinner at The Loring Kitchen and Bar. This celebration was scheduled for last Saturday night and because of the storm we rescheduled it for tomorrow. This is fortunate for Nicole and I as we were out of town last week, so we are excited to be able to attend. Andy has accepted a full-time position with Thrivent Financial where he has worked for the past year as an intern. Kudos Bro, we love you!

Saturday night we are celebrating my immediate family Christmas. My sister Shelly is hosting at her house in Apple Valley. We look forward to a great evening of family, great food, and some good wine.

Until next time...