Tank Day with Golf

On a regular Friday I would be lollygagging today anyway, barely getting a shower in and then debating whether to eat in or get a sausage and egg McMuffin from McDonald's. I started in that direction but then by 8:30 AM I snapped myself to and got in the shower and got ready. Not because of work. It's because Greg made a 10:30 tee time for us at Monterey Park Golf Course a course neither one of us had played before. And so I at least needed to make sure I got to the right place. Yep, I'm taking a TANK DAY today. After working hard the last few days I think I've earned it. Besides I'd only be playing 9 holes anyway. I'm sure we'll be done right after lunchtime and if there was something that needed my attention, I'd have all afternoon for that. So I wolfed down said sausage McMuffin *I decided*, hot tea AND the coffee that came with the sandwich and off I went headed EAST on the 10 Freeway. Unlike usual, I breezed through downtown in 10 minutes. Used to be it would take a half hour at this time. And to my surprise, the golf course was actually located in a familiar spot... it was next to the courthouse where Johnnie's adoption was made official in front of a judge. As I drove up I immediately reminisced about that day. A happy July day that was. The day Johnnie officially became Johnnie Rho Mendoza. Anyway when I got to the parking lot, Greg was already there.  And so we walked up to the starter, and immediately we both got surprised that it only cost $14. Why so cheap? Do I dare ask? When we walked up to the first tee, we found out why. There were mats instead of grass. Ahh. This reminds me of little Rancho Park. Although the first hole looked as if it was almost 300 yards long (see pic). It would turn out to be the longest hole until the very last one. And next holes ranged from 125 to 150 yards each. Decent length but I used my irons on every single one. Hey we may be hitting off a mat, but this was still pretty good practice for my irons and short game. Greg and I both did ok on the first hole, then we exchanged pars. He hit a par on the next hole then I would hit one the next and on and on. I was getting pretty good practice. Finally the last hole came and it was the longest one! And we both hit off a regular tee, planting it on the grass right next to the mat. And wouldn't you know I blasted my tee shot at least 220 yards and straight. There's my game. I hit one off the mat too but that barely went 120 yards. Still I blasted THAT with my 2nd shot with a 3-wood another 200+yards. Boy those shots felt good. The best part? We were done in barely an hour! I was home by 11:30. Enough time to pick up some fish from Ralphs and make THAT for my lunch! I was ready to hunker down for the rest of the afternoon... and the evening really. I had already gotten almost 8000 steps in, already did more than 100 ACTIVE minutes, more than 45 cardio minutes. I got my exercise in, got a golf game in AND felt like I had my TANK DAY!

When I finally got around to lollygagging I got a call from Lisa. She was asking if I could come over at 5 PM to watch Johnnie. Actually she called and was nearly in tears. Apparently she had missed Johnnie's science class because she was late getting on and so they missed the class. If I didn't do that myself with one class last week I'd be wondering how she could miss it. But I KNOW it's easy to do. And so I tried to console her and let her know I knew she was trying to do her best. I told her to be easy on herself and whatever overwhelm she was feeling, I had already felt it also... just months before. Anyway I did my good deed for the day helping her and then she asked me to come over at 5 PM for dinner and of course to watch Johnnie while she practiced piano. Tomorrow is Vatche piano lesson day after all LOL. That would be good deed #2. Except that when I got there at 5 PM, Johnnie was dead asleep on the floor in the tea room. WTF? Apparently they had gone biking and he had gotten tired. Of course I knew it was possible... he got tired when HE and I went biking to Panda Westwood. God only knows how much farther they tried to go. Anyway Lisa and I ate dinner together. She made salmon and cabbage and onions (I brought the cabbage) and rice pilaf. And it was actually a pretty good dinner. And we just let Johnnie sleep there. When he stirred, Lisa took him to the couch and then off she went to practice while I did the dishes. Johnnie would stay asleep until an hour and a half later when Lisa decided to take a break. Only then did he get up and was complaining about a headache. Of course his head hurt. He was probably starving and his blood sugar was probably way down. To make a long story short, I left around 8 PM because I just couldn't stand simply not feeding him. Whatever Lisa was doing, giving him water and fruit snacks I just couldn't stand watching. I would have made him eat pasta and soup. And I would have watched him wolf it down like he did when he got tired biking with me. I went home and caught the tail end of the Dodger game. World Series game 3. Dodgers won convincingly, taking a 2-1 series lead. Halfway home.