Summer Golf Tournaments - May & July

This past summer, I was able to take some time off from work to play in a couple of competitive rounds.  First event was the US Women's Open qualifier.  It was at Elgin Country Club (May 12). 

Wow, what a golf course!  The undulation and those false fronts at the front of some of those greens were vicious!

The US Women's Open qualifier is a 36-hole event - 18 holes in the morning, a quick lunch, and then back out on the golf course again for the next 18 holes. Well, it wasn't very pretty:

Here are the overall stats:

Round 1:  9 Fairways hit, 10 GIR, 2/7 Up-and-down, 35 putts

Round 2: 10 Fairways hit, 8 GIR, 2/3 Up-and-down, 32 putts

In any case, it was a great experience to be able to play again.  I remember playing terribly 2 years ago when I tried and I definitely redeemed myself a little bit more this time.

Plus, I was very happy with the way I felt after.  I wasn't too tired at all - and I think this has something to do with the GolfForever Swing trainer that I've been using (for the past 8 months now!).

The owner at X-Golf caddied for me, and so I bought him dinner after.  Lobster roll for me!

Although I think I had higher expectation with this meal.  Need to head back to NJ or MD for a good one!

Well, if anything, I ended up with this expensive souvenir belt. My capri pants were sort of falling off during my play and so I ended up buying one after the first 18 holes.  Ha!

The other event was in July - the Illinois Women's Open.  I ended up having Graham caddy for me. We went through some training (9 holes).  And the first thing Graham complained about was my heavy golf bag.  And showing me how much he walked.  LOL!

The IL Women's Open is a 2-day event, played at Mistwood Golf Club, in Romeoville (July 21 & 22).  We figured it was best for Graham to use the push-cart:

Looking very official! 

Great Mother-Son bonding time :-)

There was definitely a learning curve for Graham but we made it! And actually, I played my first bogey-free round in my entire life!  -1 (71) for the first round. Woo hoo!!

The 2nd day was not as great. I was not hitting my drives as well and that created a whole lot of other problems on the golf course.  It was a tough 78 on Day 2. But still managed to finish T-12 overall (T4 professional).  

The winner finished at -8. Looks like I have my work cut out for me for next year's prep!

In any case, managed to make a bit of money and some more. It was helpful especially when I have to feed my caddy. Ha!

This kid is growing up too fast for sure:

And he loves his desserts!

I might play in one more event before the weather turns.  Kids' summer camps are finally done so I should have a bit more time to practice. Although, focusing on Charlie at the moment as he made the middle-school golf team. He has Sectionals in about 2 weeks!!  Will update about that in a bit :-D

Ps, I'm now an LPGA Apprentice.  Yay!!

Mural - Apr/May

This past April/May, I was given the opportunity to paint a mural for the Barrington Youth & Family Services (BYFS).  It was more of a dedication to one of their major sponsors.

This is the wall that I will be working with.  There was actually a larger wall but the client did not need the mural to be too large:

Who knew "black" is really no longer just black?  I did end up picking the other black called "Limousine Leather".  Such a fancy name!

Here are the colors - talk about some bright ones!  

Took me some time to figure out the grid in order to get all the words centered:  

Glad the free-hand with the different fonts worked out:

As you can see from the reflection with the light, the eraser caused quite a bit of stress - showing almost like a stain of some sort on the wall:

This was presented to the client based on our initial sketch:

But we eventually added just a little bit more color to frame out the heart:

Glad we have another happy client, with work by Plants & Paint :-)

Graduation! (May 2025)

It's crazy to think that Graham has finally graduated 8th Grade and is moving up to high school!  

These 2 boys, I tell you. Never a dull moment!

One more family we-fie :-)

Tomorrow is actually the first day of school for both boys.  Summer school holidays is finally over! Seemed like it would never end - especially with all the kids' camps I had at work.  I lost about 8lbs this summer just being on my feet throughout the entire day!

I've obviously been lagging behind with a lot of blog postings. So hopefully I'll have a bit more time to play catch up. And there's so much to catch up on!!

Random photos in May

Occasionally, I'll find some random treats on my work desk when I come home:

Bobby said that it was Graham's idea to buy me this massive bag of gummy bears. I wonder what that kid is up to!??

A couple weeks later... LOL!

What's up with these birds? First the kitchen window and now, my car!  I did start parking the car under a few more trees recently. It's definitely warming up now:

Finally had a chance to repot a couple of plants. I really like how this willow looks in this pot:

This fella has grown quite a bit too! We always love those Mexican planters too:

I finally decided to organize the trunk of my car.  These plastic containers were a bit different from what I was hoping for, but I'm going to try and make it work!

Before... yeah, too messy when I have to deal with all the extra layers of clothes. Even in May, it's been so cold still!

Much better! :-)  Somehow I feel I could use an even bigger car. Ha!

I just saw this at the store. They are selling it for a lot cheaper than I am with the Kokedama that I make.  How it that possible?!

Hanging out at school for Graham's last orchestra recital.  The guy in the background totally photo-bombed our photo!

And Charlie has his first ever marching band experience:

I think he enjoyed it - although the band had to keep playing the same song over and over again:

This kid has some crazy hair these days.  Ha ha!

Boys still has the occasionally dog-sitting duty. We were so happy to have Sammy back recently for a night:

The other dog is the neighbor's dog that Graham and Charlie walk every day.

Last but not least, I was getting my phone fixed and noticed this sticker in the same store:

It's too funny. I feel just like that sometimes.  LOL!!

New washing machine

We finally decided to buy a new washing machine:

Technically, there's nothing wrong with this one. Although, every time someone leaves tissues in their pockets by accident, this machine completely tears it up and makes a mess in the wash!  I'm hoping the front loaders will be more forgiving.

Tada!!

We went with a fancy 2-in-1 washer/dryer combo.  So far so good!  

The guys managed to angle it in a way so we can actually open up the soap dispenser.  We totally forgot to think about that when we bought it.  Oops!

So glad that worked out.  Phew!

And everything can run on AI (Artificial Intelligence) now.  Graham downloaded the App and asked what we should name the machine, and I said, "Expensive!".  And looks like the name stuck. LOL!!

So far so good with the machine.  Something the clothes do not feel like they are completely dry (it's a ventless dryer). But nonetheless, it definitely saves telling the boys to go transfer their clothes to the dryer all the time!

Bobby's Birthday (end of May)

Another birthday, another year wiser! Or is it older??! ;-P

I had quite a busy day at work but wanted to at least get Bobby a dessert of some sort. I was thinking of those bundt cakes, but the store was already closed when I was on my way home!  So instead, it was a big cookie - one for Bobby and the other one for us, of course. Ha!

I think he appreciated the little surprise.  We love you!!

And at least there was still some sunlight on my way home:

In the meantime, my new driver arrived. Woo hoo!!

I had been using the demo driver these last few weeks or so, still hoping to gain those extra few yards.  Hopefully this is it! I guess this is my early birthday present :-D