Summer prelude

Sorry it's been a while since i made my last post, but it's been busy couple of weeks.  A little bit of traveling, some work, and trying to survive the onslaught of rain we've had recently have taken up my time.

Many of you know that I made my trip to Oakmont Country Club (Pittsburgh) a week ago.  The experience & day was fantastic!  I took my step-brother, Tad, with me for the journey.  The golf course/club house was unbelievable.  We were in awe the majority of the time we spent at the course.  Everything just had an aura about it, even down to the men's locker rooms (old wood/wicker lockers, no AC, old school bathrooms).   Very cool experience and honestly probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.  We both broke 100 and each pared the hardest hole on one of the most difficult courses in America!  Mr. Bob Gallagher is the gentlemen/member that hooked us up w/ our round.  I can't thank him enough.  Tad is even sending him a piece of his ceramic pottery to thank him.  All I could thank him w/ was a kind note...but then again, what do you get a man w/ his achievements & successes in life?  He's a former partner of the largest public accounting firm in the world, then started his own firm which he built into a successful company.  Once he 'retired' he has formed his own consulting firm, mainly leading national education conferences for accounting firms.  In addition, he's appeared on Oprah, is an adjunct professor at the Univ of Pitt, and founded a girls basketball clinic/camp in Pittsburgh, and from all accounts has touched many lives in a variety of different facets.  I'm fortunate to have made his acquiantance...amazing what joining the instructor of a national conference for a beer after his presentation can lead too! 

Heading to Myrtle Beach on Saturday, June 18th for a week.  Along on the trip will be family members from my Mom's side of the family including the Heitkamps, Frahms, my mom & step dad, my Uncle Terry (mom's brother) and Aunt Pam (mom's sister) along with 5 children under the age of 10.  Nick (my cousin) and I will be driving down separate from everyone else, choosing to make the 12 hour drive in one day as opposed to stopping.  Should be good bonding time for us.  I'm looking forward to peering into the life of a 17 year old that apparently wants to go to Stanford! 

The trip should be fun.  We rented a 9-bedroom (i think, maybe 8-bedroom) house right on Myrtle Beach.  Personally, i'm looking forward to the sun, relaxing on the beach, some cold beers, family games/dinners, and golf!  Unfortunately one of the casualties of going on the trip is that I have to miss the annual Ritter HS Alumni Golf Outing, which I believe i've played in 8 of the past 9 years.  Since we won the Ritter Alumni Basketball League this winter, we were looking to be the first ever golf/basketball alumni champs in the same year (my facts on being first ever may or may not be true, but it sounds good).   Sadly, i'll have to miss the outing, as will Buell, so Scott will be playing w/ Andy, Matt, and Buck.  Scott has informed us that Even par is his goal....i feel bad for him. 

But the good news....Scott & Dave will be making their Jimtown HS Alumni Golf Outing debut this year!  I have convinced them to waste a one night of their lives in beautiful Elkhart, IN, and make the trip w/ me to play in my foursome.  I still need to get a fourth to round out that group. 

Looks like Andy & I will be going to Vegas the last weekend of July.  Unfortunately Dave can't make it that weekend and Scott now has a kid, so his life is basically over.  Rumor has it that our buddy Jeff Rabjohns (Indy Star Sports reporter) will be making the trip w/ us, along w/ maybe a mutual friend of Jeff's.  We'll see how that comes together, but I think Andy & I will go regardless. 

Hope the rest of you are having a great start to your summer!  Go USA Soccer...they may as well make a good showing since the World is watching.  I've actually enjoyed the World Cup and am looking forward to watching more of it over the next few weeks, even though I'm not the biggest soccer fan. 

Where did May go?

Holy Cow!!!  The month of May went by way to fast.  Since my last post, life has been fantastic.  Unfortunately my Oakmont CC trip was postponed to June 8th due to severe weather.  That's OK, i've been busy w/ the following:

• Joined a basketball league w/ one of my co-workers up at the Monon Center in Carmel.  We've  played two games so far and I'm still getting acclimated to my new teammates.  Monday nights throughout the summer you can find me there
• Went to Dallas May 21-23  For those who don't know, my sister also lives there.  Caught a Cubs/Rangers game (Cubs won in 10 innings!) and got to spend some quality time w/ the family.  It was great to see my Texas cousins & aunt/uncle who I don't get to see very often.  Plus add the fact that my Dad, Grandma, and another aunt/uncle were also in town, it made for a nice weekend. 
• Learned that I will probably never use my sister's buddy pass again.  Flight was free (thanks sis!), however, my travel days were 9 hours and 11 hours, respectively.   Considering I was only gone for 60 hours total, not worth it in my mind. 
• I turned 29! 
• Have finally got out and played some golf.  played 4 rounds in the past 3 weeks.  Shot a 90 (in a monsoon) and 92 (on a course i'd never played before) in my first two rounds.  Came back and shot an 81 at West Chase last week, my best score by at least 4 or 5 strokes at that course.  Then played in a scramble at the fort last saturday. 
• Indy 500 - normally that weekend involves an RV, 4 kegs, 20 lbs of meat, no showering, tents, and miscellaneous shenanigans.  However, this year we did not do that and decided to take it easy.  I actually had decided to boycott most race activities....that is until Marko called me and told me had pit row/garage passes for race day.  Needless to say I took him up on that.  Check out my facebook page to see those pics

Other news...the annual Indy CPA basketball tourney started this week.  My firm was lucky to get a first round W, squeaking out a close one.  I played decent in 1st half, leading us in scoring, but only scored 4 pts in 2nd half.  Luckily we got some good production from other players in the 2nd half to help lead us to victory.  We play again on Wednesday & Thursday.

Summer tennis league has also started.  Our team has played two matches, losing 3-2 in both matches thanks to our team having a 1-5 record in 3rd set tie-breakers.  I only played in one of the matches so far, winning easily.  Hope I continue to play that well in future weeks. 

Myrtle Beach in 3 weeks, then Vegas at the end of July...can't wait for both! 

In other gambling news, my group of friends that competes in the ESPN Streak for the Cash have now successfully turned it into a gambling event, combining some the theory behind "High Chicago" or "2/3rds" (variations of 7-card stud).  Leave it to us...., but as with everything else, gambling always makes it more interesting.   Speaking of gambling, is it crazy that i'm considering betting on the World Cup (see previous sentence about making things more interesting).  Somehow I let Gill talk me into Uruguay as a sleeper to make it out of pool play.  They are 100:1 odds to win the whole thing.  sounds like it's worth at least a $10 bet. 


Decided my next Elkhart trip will be 4th of July weekend, and then a quick trip on July 17th to play in the Jimtown Outing. 


No videos this post...i'm too tired