Busy Week!

Warning: Long Post Ahead

I've been out of town for a week and a lot has happened that I wanted to blog about.

Ammon's Status
My brother Ammon has been in surgery or recovery since July 24.  He had a follow-up surgery on Friday to put rods in his back.  He's not doing very well in the recovery.  His lungs are full, his face is swollen, and he's struggling keeping his blood pressure up (while I visited him today it was about 85/45 -- even with the help).  He's a trooper and was cognizant of my visit.  He even made the crazy signal when we were cracking jokes with him.  We're hoping he recovers quickly so he can return to life.

Golf at the Powder Horn
While I was in Sheridan, WY, last week, I had the opportunity to golf at a semi-private golf course called The Powder Horn.  We had a 5pm tee time after our third day of hiking through the hills visiting year-old fires and were in a rush to get there in time.  The clubhouse was nicer than any I'd ever been in and I thought, "I could handle this."  Until I went to paid my green fees.  They had a deal of $45 for a cart and as many holes as you can get in by 8pm when it got dark.  That wasn't the problem.  The problem was my attire.  I was wearing a tee shirt and cargo shorts.  The guy behind the counter said I had to have a collarred shirt to golf at the course.  After a futile attempt at negotiation, I wandered through the clubhouse looking for cheap shirts.  The cheapest shirt was a butt-ugly bowling, er, golf shirt advertised at $80, but on clearance for $40.  Ugh.  I was  never going to wear that shirt again.  Luckily, one of the guys in my foursome decided to find a shirt he actually liked, buy it, and then I'd pay him to "rent" the shirt.  So I ended up paying $45 for green fees and $40 to rent a shirt.  What a joke.  It was a great course, though.  I hit a 52 (no mulligans and counting every drop) in the first 9.  The diminishing sunlight only allowed us to hit two more holes.

Carnival at Home

We've been trying to get the girls good at doing chores and enjoying them.  Jen came up with the idea of a chore chart and the reward of carnival tickets when chores were completed.  After a few weeks of collecting tickets, we held a carnival today to celebrate their obedience.  We had 5 "stations" that cost them a ticket or two, plus a table of snacks (doughnuts and capri sun drinks) for some more tickets.  The girls had a great time and it was pretty fun to watch.

Deck Stairs Complete
After many months, I've completed new construction on the deck.  The patio pavers have been in for a while, the deck was framed and planked a while ago, but it wasn't until today that I finished the stairs.  Wohoo!  All that's left is the railing.  We'll hire that out...   Original here.  New below.

That's it.  I'm done.