A Full Boat At Golf For Once

So today's golf game was at Altaden and we were joined by Chris, making it the first time all 4 of us are playing in more than a month. Not lost on all of us was that Daylight Savings Time was today and we set our clocks back, which effectively gave us an extra hour of sleep. And I did lollygag in bed longer than usual. Also it was the first day of November and I am actually mentally checking off the month of October and having gotten through Johnnie's birthday that felt like we had celebrated all month long and then Halloween. Next up is Lisa's birthday which is next Sunday and I know how she always gets wadded up emotionally about it, especially this one since it IS her 40th. But hey shde didn't celebrate mine and so I don't feel the need to celebrate hers really. Let others do it. They're much better at it than I. And she mentioned going up North to see Courtney anyway.  That would mean I wouldn't see Johnnie all weekend but that's ok. The holidays are coming up and I recall not getting to see him when Lisa went to Hawaii and then to France for vacation. But all that is thinking ahead stuff. There's the here and now and on the way to the golf game I felt it odd that I was experiencing physical stuff. I experienced sort of a panic attack or at least moments of anxiety.  My heart started to race and I felt the blood rush from my head and my hands got clammy. Fortunately, I knew from personal experience this was not some sort of cardiac activity. And I simply started to breathe much more slowly. And controlling my breath did the trick. And once I got to the golf course it was like usual and I had overcome said anxiety attack. As I said this was the first time all 4 of us have played together in a while. And when I swatted my first shot off the tee 225+ yards I felt very encouraged. The trick today was still to try to slow my swing down and to remember to give the swing up to Higher Intelligence. Easier said than done of course as my 2nd shot showed. A chip from 50 yards that should have been on the green but ended up way left. Even though I recovered, I could do no better than a bogey which meant I lost the whole to Chris who shot par. Same on the 2nd hole where I ended up with a straight on shot from 50 yards, which I deposited to the right side this time and not on the green. I should have known right then and there I needed to make an adjustment. It is ALL about confidence and I had already lost it on the short shots 2 holes in. Fortunately, I did tie for a 5 on the next hole after a beautiful shot off the tee. This time the 2nd shot made it to the green, but way too far and I 3-putted. Arghh. On the next hole, the longest hole, I hit another nice drive off the tee, but mis-hit 2 balls in a row from the fairway and I ended up with a 7. WHAT AM I DOING THAT IS MAKING ME WHIFF FROM THE FAIRWAY?? I'm rushing my swing is what. And I am not in rhythm. Hole 5 I did it again off the fairway, Whiffed 3 times. Hole 6 I whiffed right off the tee with my iron. Same on Hole 7 after yet another booming drive that left me 50 yards from the hole. I bought in to my own self-talk about not being able to nail the green from 50 yards out. I whiffed twice before the last iron finally got me on the green. On Hole 8, I finally solved my iron, but only because it was a really long iron shot. And I nailed it 150 yards right in front of the green. I got a par on that one, the only hole I would win outright. And on the last one same pattern. Great tee shot. Whiff on 2 shots from the fairway, finally get on the green, 3-putt to a 6. Sigh. Work to do.

At least it was a nice day out and it actually warmed up quite a bit by the time we got done which was by 10:30 AM. I went straight to Crimson Mediterranean, not because I had something to celebrate, but because I wanted to do something different for lunch other than cook for myself. And so I had my former usual Sunday fare of salmon kabobs with rice and lentil soup. VERY satisfying. So much so I was able to take a nice hour nap afterwards. And it was still barely 2 PM when I woke up from said nap. I realized that this afternoon would be the most ME time I would have for the rest of the week and so I just sat on the couch and chilled. Done with golf, done with exercises. I was already well past 78000 steps for the week and I didn't even get to 8000 steps today yet. No need to push today. I did my usual playlist of YouTube videos which equated to internal work and by the time I looked up from all that, it was already getting dark out. Oh yeah, today marks the start of the daylight ending much earlier which I really don't like at all. I took a pic of the sun setting already in the back courtyard and it wasn't even 4:30 PM yet. As it was as soon as it got dark I made my signature beef+spinach+onion dish to go over rice for dinner. Haven't made this dish in a really long time. Like the unstuffed cabbage it was one of those experiment discoveries I did at the Lindbrook apartment kitchen. And thinking of those times actually made me smile. And so I made my dinner and immediately afterward cleaned up the kitchen. And also while I was at it, I de-dusted and mopped the living room. Wow I actually did some apartment cleaning today? I must have been motivated. Or rested. Or both. And so it was that I ended my Sunday watching FEAR THE WALKING DEAD. I call it the redemption series and I root for all those characters. This week it was John the gunslinger. And then I readied myself for the first work week of November...