GolfForever certification

Just before the end of the year last year, I decided to get fit with a golf training aid called GolfForever.  It had been a while since I've been working out consistently - not since we quit the golf club membership.  Plus, it gave me a chance to be certified as well, plus earn some LPGA credit units!

I was really just looking for something that will keep me moving well.  Need to try and keep up with the boys when they say, "Let's go snowboarding". Yikes! And also, I noticed I was getting quite tired and sore when running the junior golf clinics - with all the walking and bending over. I'll need to try and keep up with all the kids when the Spring camps start in a couple of months!  

Well, I'm about 8 weeks into the program now and it's been working out great! My shoulders are no longer up by my ear, less hunched over - and I've lost some weight around the waist too!  Here's a sampling of what I've been doing:

Lots of rotation, stability and mobility exercises,...

I like how the series of exercises are pretty short - within 15-25 minutes. Even so, there are days when I'm so sore! But like a good sore, if there's such a thing. Ha!

Let's see where this takes me. I did just sign up for the US Women's Open qualifier again. The qualifying site isn't too far away thankfully and I'll have a few months to practice. Wish me luck!

Recent happenings

Look at this face!  Graham is being so cheeky:

I was trying to take a photo of an old wood/golf club that I've used to hang a couple of my flyers at X-Golf.  It fell down the first time, but hopefully after putting on a couple new/stronger tape, it will stay on!

Here's me - trying to promote myself (borrowing an X-Golf shirt off the rack).  He he!

It's been sooooo cold lately!  This snow is going to be hanging around a bit.  It is quite pretty though:

This weather is getting pretty ridiculous right now.  It was -2F for the boys going to school earlier last week!

I mean, c'mon... look at this forecast (this past week).  Crazy stuff!

Can't wait for Spring to come around!  

Glad the boys were (somewhat) willing to help out with the shoveling.  We did pay them a little bit to do it, maybe that's why! ;-P

Charlie,... I'm telling you - what a character! LOL!!

He pulled up his shirt over his head, zipped it up, and then borrowed Graham's glasses. This kid is going to be a handful, wait - is already a handful!

OMG, I found Milo in a local grocery store! I didn't actually look to see where it's from, but at least now I know where to find a can in a pinch!

I have to give Bobby a quick shout-out for making me the most yummy turkey-ham-swiss cheese sandwich ever! Light on the mayo, which actually means extra light by his standards :-)

Lunch on the road! Got to have at least one little bit of chocolate:

A friend of mine was in Pompeii recently, and check out these walking paths, or crosswalks in our modern world. Isn't it so clever?!

Pedestrians are safe from running water or horse poop and the carts/horse buggies have to slow down and line up their wheels to the gap.  Genius!  We should be doing this for cars for the crosswalks at school!

I was going through my phone and found some photos of the boys - taken in a photo-booth style at a restaurant that we liked to eat at back in SoCal:

How cute are these two!  

Graham's ortho visit

Graham is finally transitioning into retainers!  Well, almost-retainers. At least he got to get all of his nubbies off his teeth!

But now, it seems that his molars may not coming out because of his wisdom teeth:

The bottom molars are definitely looking a bit stuck and wisdom teeth are going sideway??! Yikes - why do we need so many teeth when our mouths are so small??!

Anyway, looks like we'll have to figure this out and hopefully it won't be too expensive!

Pineapple tarts and more baking

Finally decided to bake some pineapple tarts. Suppose to make them during Chinese New Year but just didn't have the time for it! I'm such a glutton for punishment though. I must love to spoil my family!

I did manage to get Graham to help me with the pineapple - teaching him how to clean up all the "eyes" and cut it up the way I was taught to do so when I was growing up back in Malaysia:

Had to separate all the little bits of pineapple puree into little dollops.  Suppose to be quite consistent, but I guess it didn't matter too much to Graham. Ha!

Charlie did help out with the dough as well - all hands on deck!

Yuuumm...!!

There was some other baking on Wednesday too, as I didn't have any work.  Apple cinnamon muffins. Also yummm!! :-)

And I also decided to bake some bread.  The kitchen was too cold and since we had the gas fireplace on downstairs, I figured it would be a good spot for the bread to rise:

Very romantic bread-rising moment. LOL!!

I've gotten to a point now where I just wear my baking (red) apron over my cleaning/cooking apron.  Ha!

Nothing like fresh baked bread with homemade meatballs:

Yeah, I think I do really spoil Bobby and the boys!

Chicago Car Show

I thought it might be fun to check out the Car Show in the city.  Another trip in the car vs the train. Funny enough, as we were inside the convention center, there was a huge sign that lead to the train station.  We'll need to figure this out the next time we head over to the convention center again!

And here we are! Oh boy, what's up with Charlie and all these weird faces??!

This place is massive!

Okay, I think this is the one I'd like - the Toyota Surf, hard-top convertible :-D

Oh my gosh, this little Fiat is too cute!

As per usual, Graham gravitates to anything that's red:

In the Kids Zone, there's a massive military truck. Woah!

Graham is doing pull-ups, trying to earn himself a shirt from the Marine zone:

He managed 13, just 2 shy of a t-shirt.  Bummer! He did go home with a lanyard, which he was still very happy about.

Graham is getting so strong!

Wow, this entire truck is made out of Legos!!

Okay, looks like Bobby and I don't really need a big camper. We can just load up a tent on top of our truck (like the photo below) and go wandering around the country when we are retired.  LOL!!

Taking a little break and boys are immediately on their phones!  

I had a "chat" with Charlie about playing Pokemon Go while being with the family. He was being quite pouty about it. Little stinker!

Hanging out by the Subaru display.  So fancy! The floor patterns were moving - made me kind of dizzy actually. Ha!

The screen actually opened up and a car would appear.  Marketing really spent a lot of money on this one!

We are back in the little red Fiat before heading home:

There were some fancy cars but not the ones that the boys were hoping to see.  Plus, the fancy ones were roped off pretty far so you couldn't really get too close to them. 

Still a fun experience though!  There were joy rides in Jeeps and what not, up and down steep ramps but we decided not to line up for those. And also test drives, but we decided to head home instead. We did stop by restaurant nearby to get some dim sum, since we didn't get to do that in Chinatown earlier in month.  Yum!!  Forgot to take some photos, but let's just say every one was happy :-D

Happy Valentine's Day

This year, we really didn't do much.  Bobby asked me a couple of days prior if I bought him a card - and I said no.  And so that meant he didn't need to get me one either, or presents.  Ha ha!  We must be getting old.

We did all go out for a nice dinner.  Looks like I have 3 Valentine's ;-)

OMG, look at Charlie's face. LOL!!

I did get some chocolates from one of my students - a little girl.  So sweet! And I had parents bring in some treats last Sunday for the girls' golf session.  So, there was plenty of sugar to go around. I love my job! :-)

Recent happenings

Some recent happenings - nothing like a fun few nights of Scrabble.  Geez, how many vowels can you have at one go??! 6, apparently!

And oh. my. gosh... I think I just made the highest point for a 2-letter word!

An "X" on a Double Word Score which made the word "Ox" two times. So, here's the math. 

(8+1)x2 = 18; And then, 18x2 = 36!!

I think I bought this mirror like within the first 6 months of moving in.  And I only just put it up. Only like 2 years later.  LOL!!

The boys started walking the neighbor's dog lately.  Isn't he a cutie??!

And we finally had our septic tank cleaned again. And the poor guy had to dig in multiple areas and finally after the 3rd try, we found it! Well, I mean he found it :-)

Some refreshing at the school's planters. Just in time for Valentine's!

Getting up there with the club head speed. I'm been struggling to get over 90 mph for the longest time and it's getting easier each trip to the golf simulator:

Finally signed up the boys for some swim lessons.  Charlie especially was really against it, but I'm sure he will thank me for it when he's older:

Graham's form looks good!

And Charlie's butterfly kicks are a lot more impressive than I remember. Nice job!

These 2 boys were generating so much heat in the car after the swim, that they were fogging up the inside of the car while I was pumping gas.  Too funny!!

I love my dumplings - boiled or pan-fried. With ketchup, which a lot of friends (and family) may or may not approve. LOL!!

How sweet is this - one of my golf students gave this to me for Chinese New Year:

Good Fortune Blood Orange Caramel Marshmallows. Definitely some interesting flavors!

I went to visit a dome recently, to shadow another golf professional (i.e. watch her teach):

I remember being in these domes for the boys' soccer when they were toddlers.  Somehow it's so much more impressive when it's a golf driving range!

I may have to bring the boys in here to hit some balls. It's about 150 yards - that would be a good target for them to try and hit it to the end of the dome! ;-)