Eric Bailey's

I thought I would share this since Erin said she would be a while getting these photos up and she wanted people to see them. Kristian had wandered down the hall while Erin was busy and when she noticed the quiet, she quickly got up and started searching for him. Since he was only a couple of steps away, the search was shorter than the search for the camera to take pictures of Kristian all cuddled up with the vacuum cleaner. I guess he must be missing his Gramma.

I was on the phone with my dad (and mom) today and I would like to ask for prayers on his behalf as he is undergoing tests to discover what kind of surgery he is going to have. If the test goes one way they will give him the treatment there and then, but if it is worse, then they will schedule him for a surgery at a later date. Pray that all goes well and that they will treat him and fix the problems ther

The golfing report is that I have been shooting a consistent 102-103. Yesterday I did well the first half, but struggled so bad on the back nine that I put the driver away and only used my 3 wood. It worked as well as any of my good driver hits. Today after a few of the holes on the drives I tried, I just put the drivers away and used my 3 wood. Again it worked for me, the only problem I had is that I would miss a few of my shots.

Football looks interesting this year because we got ourselves a quarterback. We are hoping that he will be out this week and maybe next week for our practices. We could be a good team this year. Should be an interesting year.

Yesterday I drove a school bus full of military people around for the big funeral. I was warned ahead of time that it would be a long day but I had no idea that it would be 9 hours. That did include some time sitting talking with the other drivers and watching for when they were finished both in the church and at the graveside. The last part of the job was being a shuttle between the Davinci Centre and the Armoury. I only did two runs before we were finished. Often during the shcool year my stomach is growling at 9:00 or just before so as soon as I arrive home, I have a snack. Yesterday around 4:30 I recognized I was hungry but I was not in a position to stop and get some food and I was not feeling off because of the lack of food either. I also only had one bottle of water with me and I finished that on the way to the grave side. After that I did not drink anything and didn't feel lacking in water either. The final thing, and the one that surprised the other drivers (they noticed it, not me) was that I did not have to go to the bathroom until after I got home. They want to give some kind of bladder award. I guess I was just in the zone that day, it happens on trips, where you can drive for hours without having to stop for anything.

Today after I took the boys to daycamp and got them settled in I went and played 9 holes of golf. I used my father-in-law's driver (he's in Zambia, he doesn't need it) and I actually managed to get some alright drives with it (one beautiful straight drive just past that mound on the second par 5 at chaples front 9). I also hit one draw with driver. My final score was 46 I had three pars in a row, and I did a lot of one-putts. The very first hole I just about put the ball in on the chip. Chris doesn't believe these scores because whenever I play with him I score around 53,54. Hopefully on Wednesday evening I can show him one of those scores.

Bill and Wendy are off in Africa, Erica is in Guelph, and the boys have day camp, Greg goes over to his brother's a lot (trying to get his computer working) so Erin has the house to herself a fair bit these days. At times it can seem quiet. The toughest part is at night, with the quiet I am ready to go to bed long before the boys are, and I have to wait to give them enough time to play and enjoy the evening.

I enjoy playing sports. I generally pick things up well enough to get by at whatever sport fairly quickly. I also kind of pride myself on having cheap equipment and still doing well enough at the sport for my experience and training. In football I bought new cleats once, in 1988. I have worn those ever since, the last few years taping them together so that they would not slip off during a play. I like not really looking like a "dangerous" receiver but then delivering on the field (which I have done, but failed in the outdoor last year).

In tennis I picked up a cheap wooden racket and started figuring out the game pretty quickly. Since I rarely play I am not very good, but I know that I could pick it up again quickly (not that I could play with my cousin who excells at racket games).

Hockey, I have cheap equipment, I don't go buy the new fancy skate, but rather a Canadian Tire special. I buy $10 hockey sticks because I can't get them for $5 anymore. But I do alright most nights at hockey.

Now we get to golf. I gave up my cheap assortment of club ($5 a club at the various places I found them) and now I own a set that I paid $60 for (then I had to go buy a putter I think it cost $30 or $40). The strange thing is as summer has progressed and my golf game has improved, I have been wanting to get expensive clubs (use so they are significantly cheaper but still they cost more than my set). I don't understand why my attitude is different about golf than the other sports. I feel no desire at all to spend $100 on skates or a hockey stick, but $90-$130 on a Driver ... I'm crunching the numbers looking for a loophole in my budget! Something is different and I'm not sure what.

A few happenings over this past week.

First of all we sent away the happy couple. On Sunday tulrich and sylveeah were at our house for brunch and present opening. It was a good time with the couple, with the best man and his wife and my wife's uncle and aunt.

Three of us left a little early and went golfing out at an expensive and quality golf course in the area. It was not a good enough course that I would want to give up the membership I have to play there. I also went golfing with my father-in-law after that at Chaples. My wife and father-in-law flew out of town on business so I had to go golfing by myself on Thurday. I scored 43 the first nine and 49 the second nine, for a final score of 92. I am still amazed at that score. In the early evening before I went to church, I went golfing with my friend and I scored 54 in the first half.

The boys have been home this week. My older son is anxious to get to camp next week.

I recieved a phone call and now I have to go make sure that the bus is ready and then I am driving. Extra work, extra pay. I guess I better run.

Anonymous I am anxiously waiting to hear more about my Canucks. I have not heard of any replacements for Jovo Bert. My friend tells me that we have replaced Bryan Allen with a prospect we recieved through the big trade.

Today tulrich.blogspot.com is marrying sylveeah.blogspot.com. It should be an exciting day. Many family and friends are traveling some distance to attend the event.