Well, here we are - back "home" in China after a 5 week visit to the US. It was great to see as many people as I could...thanks to all for your hospitality and time if we were able to see you during our visit.
The visit this year was both too short and too long. It's tough to be away from your routine and your "home" for 5 weeks. By the end of the 3rd week, I think most of us were ready to head back. It's a little scary to realize that homesickness for the US is less and less each year.
Some random notes from the trip:
- As usual, I overdid it with the food. I think I gained 8-10 pounds on the trip. It puts a whole new perspective on the obesity situation in the US. If you don't cook - which we didn't - you eat out a lot; and if you are poor, then you eat out a lot at fast food joints. Well, with only 3 weeks of mostly fast food in me, I gained the 8-10 pounds. Imagine living a year or two like that.......(I know, I know, you will all tell me to go watch "Super Size Me").....
- But damn, that whole large LaRosa's pizza that I ate while watching the US Open was good.....
- Why did I enthusiastically agree to play from the black tees at Belterra for my first round back?
- Went to 3 Reds games with the boys; got an autograph from Ubaldo Jimenez - and the Reds won all 3 (one, unfortunately, was against the Tribe). In fact, we were 3-for-3 in the LaRosa's promotion; if the Reds have 11 or more strikeouts in a game, everyone gets a small pizza and ice cream cone! All three games were a winner.
- Is there anything more innocently joyous than boys ages 8-12 at a baseball game?
- Warren won the Crooked Tree club championship for 8-9 year olds in a scorecard playoff! he continues the tradition of Zahns winning playoffs......
- When I am the second fastest golfer in a tournament round, that's not good news. I think Craig clocked our group for the 2nd round of the Vineyard classic as being 1:02 behind his group.....
- Ants and ground floor apartments......ah yes, two things that go together.
- Columbus-made Buckeye vodka....wow....Don, how can I get that in China?
- Actually made it to church one Sunday morning. Recognized maybe 10% of the people there.
- What a wonderful week in Kansas City with Derek, Carol and everyone. It was God-awful hot, but we made up for it by visiting the casino twice in the trip. Crapless craps is addictive!
I'll give you two guesses on what my first roll was at the crapless craps table.....of course, a 12.
The next time I rolled, my point was 2.....and Derek put 5x odds on me.....and I hit it. At 6-1 odds, he celebrated by carrying me across the casino.
- Bought a new driver (after going to the swing monitor). I am on my own with it now after leaving all my old "new" drivers at Don's place before we left.
- The pars I made on 7, 8 and 9 at Apple Valley (to win plenty of wagers against Mer) will go down in history. To recap:
7: 240 yard par 3; blow a 3 wood 45 yards left of the green. Par.
8: 420 yard par 4: blow a drive way right; I'm not even on the green in 3. Par.
9: 370 yard par 4: blow a drive into the trees left, chip out; Par.
Steve was with us and he was rolling after each successive miracle.
- The trip ended badly with Freddie having to go to urgent care 2 days before the trip home because he cut open his leg in a bed-jumping incident. He has 11 stitches in his leg now, which will be taken out by the fine doctors here in China.
- One of my last tasks was to run around Northern Kentucky trying to find water balloon pumps similar to the one seen at the Hershey's at their party......I found them in a clearance rask at the Florence Walgreens; They are now in a plastic bin awaiting to be shipped to Guangzhou by another P&G family that is coming this fall.......
- And on my last stop at Barnes and Noble, I saw that the 2012 NFL Record/Fact book was released. That's good bathroom reading for the next 2 months.
The visit this year was both too short and too long. It's tough to be away from your routine and your "home" for 5 weeks. By the end of the 3rd week, I think most of us were ready to head back. It's a little scary to realize that homesickness for the US is less and less each year.
Some random notes from the trip:
- As usual, I overdid it with the food. I think I gained 8-10 pounds on the trip. It puts a whole new perspective on the obesity situation in the US. If you don't cook - which we didn't - you eat out a lot; and if you are poor, then you eat out a lot at fast food joints. Well, with only 3 weeks of mostly fast food in me, I gained the 8-10 pounds. Imagine living a year or two like that.......(I know, I know, you will all tell me to go watch "Super Size Me").....
- But damn, that whole large LaRosa's pizza that I ate while watching the US Open was good.....
- Why did I enthusiastically agree to play from the black tees at Belterra for my first round back?
- Went to 3 Reds games with the boys; got an autograph from Ubaldo Jimenez - and the Reds won all 3 (one, unfortunately, was against the Tribe). In fact, we were 3-for-3 in the LaRosa's promotion; if the Reds have 11 or more strikeouts in a game, everyone gets a small pizza and ice cream cone! All three games were a winner.
- Is there anything more innocently joyous than boys ages 8-12 at a baseball game?
- Warren won the Crooked Tree club championship for 8-9 year olds in a scorecard playoff! he continues the tradition of Zahns winning playoffs......
- When I am the second fastest golfer in a tournament round, that's not good news. I think Craig clocked our group for the 2nd round of the Vineyard classic as being 1:02 behind his group.....
- Ants and ground floor apartments......ah yes, two things that go together.
- Columbus-made Buckeye vodka....wow....Don, how can I get that in China?
- Actually made it to church one Sunday morning. Recognized maybe 10% of the people there.
- What a wonderful week in Kansas City with Derek, Carol and everyone. It was God-awful hot, but we made up for it by visiting the casino twice in the trip. Crapless craps is addictive!
I'll give you two guesses on what my first roll was at the crapless craps table.....of course, a 12.
The next time I rolled, my point was 2.....and Derek put 5x odds on me.....and I hit it. At 6-1 odds, he celebrated by carrying me across the casino.
- Bought a new driver (after going to the swing monitor). I am on my own with it now after leaving all my old "new" drivers at Don's place before we left.
- The pars I made on 7, 8 and 9 at Apple Valley (to win plenty of wagers against Mer) will go down in history. To recap:
7: 240 yard par 3; blow a 3 wood 45 yards left of the green. Par.
8: 420 yard par 4: blow a drive way right; I'm not even on the green in 3. Par.
9: 370 yard par 4: blow a drive into the trees left, chip out; Par.
Steve was with us and he was rolling after each successive miracle.
- The trip ended badly with Freddie having to go to urgent care 2 days before the trip home because he cut open his leg in a bed-jumping incident. He has 11 stitches in his leg now, which will be taken out by the fine doctors here in China.
- One of my last tasks was to run around Northern Kentucky trying to find water balloon pumps similar to the one seen at the Hershey's at their party......I found them in a clearance rask at the Florence Walgreens; They are now in a plastic bin awaiting to be shipped to Guangzhou by another P&G family that is coming this fall.......
- And on my last stop at Barnes and Noble, I saw that the 2012 NFL Record/Fact book was released. That's good bathroom reading for the next 2 months.
