Major Mike's Musings » Family

Bulbed

Mike — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:57:35 +0000

Some People Get TP'd, We Get Bulbed

After a fun visit with our son, David (aka the Fig), our adopted daughter Shannon (aka #2 Daughter), and two of our three granddudes, Lane and Jackson, Mrs. Major and I left about 6pm for a Christmas pitch-in with the Villages Homebrew Club. We had a great time gabbing with the club members and spouses, eating yummy food, and sampling several brews. When we opened our garage door a couple of hours later, we were greeted by an array of Christmas lights, strung from every conceivable protuberance and the blaring sound of Christmas music coming from my garage radio.

Of course we took several photos and texted this one to the Fig and #2 (also to #1 who is still in Indiana). Turns out they were all waiting at a nearby restaurant waiting to hear from us. As #2 and the dudes had a 2.5 hour drive home, we were surprised they waited. But glad.

I finally got all the strings down and tied up back in the big box. No way was I going to try to put the strings in their original boxes.

Birthday Girl

Mike — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:15:02 +0000

Hardly a girl any more our sweet daughter, Stacey, turns 40 today. You’ve given us 40 years of joy. We love you.

Scorcher

Mike — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:36:55 +0000

I see by the forecast that my family and friends out on the west coast will be roasting today. Keep cool, my friends.

Happy Birthday Sweet Dau

Mike — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:51:29 +0000

My little girl is 39 today. I’m really not old. Really.

Happy Birthday. Thanks for bringing us so much joy and so much life.

You make me smile just thinking of you.

First Day of U.S. Open a Blast

Mike — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:31:36 +0000

I forgot to bring the USB cable for the camera, so I can’t download the photos until I get home. I still have room for 1300 more on the 2GB card in the camera, so you’ll have lots to see then.

Today was loads of fun. We walked the entire course—not in hole order, saw gobs of pros—but not Tiger or Phil¹, watched lots of shots, bought some U.S. Open goodies, and generally got sunburned from the long hazy day.

From our hotel, we walk to the trolley station, take the trolley to Qualcomm Stadium, take the shuttle to the golf course. It takes about an hour total, but is very relaxing…we don’t have to drive.

We’re looking forward to our trip to Seal Beach to see Old Dad and Pretty Betty. We’ll spend the whole day and part of the evening.

Tonight, we’re beat and are heading for the rack right now.

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We did see Vijay, K.J., Trevor, Michael Campbell, Bubba, Zach, to name a few

Getting Ready For The U.S. Open

Mike — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:58:17 +0000

On Sunday at around 3:30pm, Son Major and The Major will depart for the Tampa airport to make the trek to San Diego and the 2008 U.S. Open Championship. We signed up to be volunteers almost a year and a half ago. We will be working the Thru and Leaderboards during the competition. We have passes for the three practice rounds on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and for the Championship on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If there’s a playoff on Monday, we’ll get to see that too.

The photo is of some of the gear we have. You can see the hat, shirt, parking passes, lunch vouchers (yellow), and of course the volunteer pass that gets us in for all the activities.¹

Much to my surprise, cameras will be allowed on the three practice days, so we’ll be snapping lots of photos. I might even get another card for my camera. No cell phones are allowed on any day, and not cameras are allowed on the Championship days.

We will arrive in San Diego at around 11 pm and transfer to the Town & Country Resort and Convention Center on North Hotel Circle Drive. On our off days we’ll take the trolley to Qualcomm Stadium for shuttle to Torrey Pines Golf Course main gate. On working days, we’ll try to bum a ride from someone and park in the volunteer parking lot and shuttle to the volunteer gate.

Here’s our working schedule in case you want to catch us on TV:²

Thursday, 6:45 am – 12:15 pm, Hole 11 Leaderboard and Thru Board.
Saturday, 2:00 pm – 6:15 pm, Hole 14 Thru Board
Sunday, 10:15 am – 2:15 pm, Hole 17 Leaderboard and Thru Board

As you can see, we’ll have plenty of time to watch the competition. And as an added bonus, on Tuesday, we’ll be heading up to Seal Beach to visit with Old Dad and Pretty Betty. We hope to spend the day and part of the evening with them³. I haven’t seen them since the big wedding and Son Major hasn’t seen them since Old Dad’s 80th birthday party in Vegas in 2003. We’re looking forward to the visit.

I think I might take my laptop with me and post some updates while we’re there. I think I can avoid checking a second bag which is now $25 extra when you fly Delta.

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We also received another shirt, water bottle, and jacket
Times are Pacific Daylight Time
And, I suppose, whoever else can intercept us while we’re there

Knee Surgery Update

Mike — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:59:07 +0000

Mrs. Major gave her final pint of blood yesterday. It wasn’t the ordeal that the first one was. The phlebotomist closed her eyes, said a silent prayer, opened here eyes, and stuck Mrs. Major’s vein on the first try. No bruising, even today. Now we have the pre-op visit on the 12th and the surgery on the 15th.

Mrs. Major is really looking forward to the day when her knees don’t hurt constantly. She’s even looking forward to the hard work involved in the recovery process. Three cheers for Mrs. Major.

Mrs. Major Takes The Plunge

Mike — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:51:57 +0000

Frustrated with the pain and inability to get around as much as she wants, Mrs. Major decided to go ahead with knee replacement surgery–on both knees at the same time. She’s scheduled for replacement on May 15, one month from now. “Bravo!” I say.

Unfortunately, we will probably have to cancel our planned trip to Indianapolis in June for a wedding and visits to friends there, but Mrs. Major just wants to get this over with now.

Son Major and The Major are scheduled to volunteer at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in California the second week of June, so we’ve had some neighbors and friends agree to take care of Mrs. Major while we are gone. By that time she should be able to walk around with a cane…or maybe even without one, but she’ll not be able to stand for long periods nor drive. So she’ll need some meals fixed and shopping done for her and someone to help with the rehab exercises between visits from the physical therapist. What a great place we live in.

Of course, she just can’t go in for the surgery. She needs an exam and EKG from our family doc, needs to give of two pints of blood¹ for later use during the surgery, must take iron pills for a few weeks, go to a pre-op conference at the hospital, and stop taking the myriad of vitamins she takes daily. Oh, and there’s a series of exercises she must do to prepare her knees for surgery.

We’ve talked with several of this doctor’s patients and they all rave about how well their surgeries went. Even some unlikely candidates surgeries went very well and their recovery times were short. We’re pretty comfortable with the whole thing.

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That’s going to be fun as they can’t seem to find her veins and end up taking blood from her hand.

Mrs. Major Wimps Out

Mike — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:10:26 +0000

Mrs. Major has bad knees. She’s been taking cortisone shots every three months in them for almost a year in order to reduce the pain she constantly feels. Convinced that she was ready for surgery, she went to see the surgeon to set up the surgery…hoping to have both knees done within the next three months. He talked her out of it. He told her it was her decision, but when she pressed him for his opinion, he said, “Wait.” So she’s waiting.

With the shots she can make it from the car to the store, or the golf cart to the swimming pool, but forget about a day at the mall or the museum or the gardens. We recently went on a cruise and just the walking on the ship was painful. She’s going to tough it out until she can’t stand it.

One of the reasons she decided to wait is the doctor told her she’s too young to have the surgery. :grin:

Cute As Peas

Mike — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:44:05 +0000

Jadyn

At nearly a year old, my grand-niece, Jadyn, couldn’t be cuter.She lives out on the Left Coast with her mom, Jennifer, dad, Eric, and sister, Taylor. Taylor is cute, too. One day, I’ll post a picture of her.Jadyn has grown so much since we saw here in person in January when we went to Charlene’s mom’s funeral. Hello, Jadyn. Love you, Uncle Mike.