Weekend…

Was a busy one, with us going to Raka’s Mundan on Saturday afternoon, and then to Carol’s open house at the studio (where she sold 3 paintings while we were there!)

Sunday I went to golf at Memorial where the course kicked my ass… big time! First par was on the 16th hole, and I think I hit the fairway a total of 2 or 3 times in the whole round. Sigh. Back to the range when I can get a chance.

While I was golfing Mum Mum and Pickle Pie went shopping with the maternal grandparents, then we all had dinner at Crooms Cafe. Back home, put the little one to bed and then crashing, getting up early Monday for my 7am call (which was postponed… but no one thought to tell me, sigh).

One funny story from early last week. Both Mum Mum and I have a habit of waking up in the middle of the night thinking that Pickle Pie just fell out of bed. It is generally nothing, and the rest of the time it is Cammie moving around. Well, the other night I felt, what I thought was Pickle Pie, slipping off the side of the bed. I dove to catch her, only to actually wake up and realize it was Wazzles, who needless to say was not happy with me jumping at her while she was moving about. Sigh… It would not be so bad if it didn’t happen at least once maybe twice a week… even when Pickle Pie is sleeping in her crib in the other room. Sigh.

Post Ike, Life back to normal

Well, kind of anyway. There are still a load of people without power, some schools have not started back (mainly due to power… at least in the Houston area), lots of traffic lights are still out, which is causing mass chaos at rush hour (and out) as people have no concept of taking turns at a downed light as if it was a four-way stop sign. Sigh.

Little Pickle Pie has recovered from the torture she was put through last Thursday on her two month anniversary, and is typically doing really well at night. She can average anywhere between 5 and 7 hours sleep (or downtime) overnight which is helping us get a little more rest. Some nights are better than others, but still… progress.

She is able to hold her head up pretty well now, but still cannot lift herself up off her belly using her arms yet. Her legs are another matter… She has always been a wiggly baby and her legs are generally pumping nearly all the time (even in sleep). The result is that she has really strong legs. If we hold her up she can hold about 80% of her weight so is more leaning on our arms for support than anything. Could be that she will decide to skip crawling and will go straight to walking… who knows.

On another front, I did manage to play golf this weekend. Wildcat was hit quite hard by the storm and although the course is in great condition, the clubhouse was fairly badly hit. Tarp all over the roof, no carpet anywhere and I believe they were running on a generator. Golf itself was good. Couple of blowup holes but still managed a 92, which for me on the lakes course is a great score.

I have been delinquent on uploading new photos, but I will get on that soon… hopefully later today or tonight.

More to follow…

Long time no photos…

Yeah, it has been a while… but I have just added a whole load of photos to the Pickle Pie – Month TWO! gallery. Here is a snapshot of one of the photos… which we took for her passport application (yup she will need her own passport to travel internationally. No more traveling on parents passport!)

So what has been going on? Well…

  • Sherwin came down for a long weekend over labor day. He got to meet, cuddle with and spend loads of time with Pickle Pie. Think my brother is getting jealous as he may be planning on another trip down soon. Over the weekend we all sat down to watch the movie Jumper, and Pickle Pie spent the whole movie napping on Sherwin’s chest… she kept sliding down so instead of repositioning her, Sherwin joined her in the slide and ended up almost horizontal on the sofa.
  • Over the weekend I did head out and play some more golf, and surprisingly did not do too badly. Shot a 94, and with a couple of blow out holes that could have been a lot lower… starting with 3 pars in a row certainly helps.
  • Pickle Pie is growing, and is putting on weight at a good rate. She is also starting to sleep more at night, actually going 6 hours between feedings last night. Granted, she did need a diaper change midway through the night, but still… progress!! On Monday night she took a huge feeding after we got back from a meeting Mum Mum had to go to and while she was cuddling with me after she decided that she was not impressed with the vintage of the house white she had just had so she spewed it all up over my shirt. I have no issues with being puked on by her… but the amount of liquid that came out was incredible. My whole shirt was soaked! Needless to say we both went upstairs and I gave her a quick bath, which she enjoyed (she especially loves getting her head washed).
  • Other than that we are seeing time tick by, getting closer to the time when Mum Mum will have to head back to work… which none of us are looking forward to, and I am still busy at work… normally up for a 6:30am call. It is a daily call, but I overslept today so missed it! oh well!

    Hurricane Ike is already in the gulf coast and is looking like it will hit in the Corpus Christi area (south of Galveston). This will mean we will get hit with the dirty side of the storm which will likely mean lots of rain and wind… but fingers crossed it is nothing too serious. Not that I want anyone else to get hit by it, but I prefer it hits somewhere other than where we are!

  • Month two begins…

    So we have had Pickle Pie at home for a month now, or at least she has been with us for over a month… This past weekend we had my brother Kieran come visit for the weekend, and he seemed to have a great time playing with her… except when she started to cry. This coming weekend we have Mum Mum’s brother Sherwin coming for the long weekend, so Pickle Pie is getting to meet all the immediate family, which is cool.

    Last night we dropped by for Ananya’s 4th birthday party. I agreed to run out and get the balloons from the local party store, but never paused to figure out how easy it would be to get the photos in the car…

    Over the weekend we also went to my parents for my mum’s birthday and then hosted a quiet dinner with the parents. Mucho photos of each online. The new albums added are;

    Pickle Pie – Month TWO!

    Ananya's Fourth Birthday Party

    Finally, I did get back out on the golf course this past weekend. Was not expecting much, so hitting my first drive long and straight, then my second shot straight (just a little past the hole), then just missing a birdie putt, I was feeling pretty good. Did not always work out that well but did claw out a 95, which I am impressed at given the tough course (Highlands at Wildcat) and my not having practised for over a month. Guess it is all down hill from here on out!

    While Angel was napping…

    I was out trying to play golf. Course was nice (Cypress Lakes). Day was overcast and windy so the 90 degree heat did not feel that bad at all. Golf was not so good! Started with a par on the first. Had another par on the front nine but managed to hit a 19 over par on the first nine holes. At the turn I got a hotdog and BAAM… 3 straight pars! Ok, I followed that up with being 10 over through the next 4 holes, then par, then another triple… for a horrible score (if you are curious I am sure you can figure it out!!!)

    While we were on the course I had assistance from the local riff raff… who were trying to either steal my iPhone (or any food they could get) or trying to give me constructive criticism on my swing (and I needed it).

    After the round finished, we got back to my car to see that the car beside had been victim of a slight mishap…

    Good news is that they did not touch my car… That is a lesson not to leave valuables in plain sight ANYWHERE in Houston!

    So, it is official…

    I can really be an idiot when I put my mind to it!

    I had planned on playing golf this weekend, and we had(have) a round organised at Meadowbrook Farms… way out West in East San Antonio (aka Katy). I am carpooling with Frank and organised to pick him up at 10:15… so I leave the house, fill up with petrol (the car fuel tank filled, not me!) and then go and wait for him outside his apartment building. I wait, and wait, and wait. After 10 minutes I call him, and no answer. I call Thomas who we are also playing with and no answer, so I call Mum Mum to check my emails, and sure enough… I had the time right, just arrived a day early! DOH!

    Well, I will post an update on how I actually do, when I finally manage to make it to the gold course!

    Chilly Golf?

    So we finally got a cold front come through, leaving us with near freezing temperatures overnight this weekend. The result was a really nice cool weekend.

    I had planned on playing golf at Hermann Park, which is an easier, shorter course, which you can easily walk. Unfortunately, when I called a friend to confirm if we were going to play, I did not get anyone to pick up, but did get an email saying… ’38F windchill of 32F… brrr I think I’ll stay in my warm bed.. ;-)

    Damn thin blooded Dane’s… can’t take a little cool weather! Oh well, it allowed me the time to finish the latest Jim Butcher book, which I would highly recommend!

    Two rounds of golf, or close to it…

    … but the score should be more than enough for 3 or 4 rounds…

    It was not pretty, especially this weekend. Last week we played the Lakes course at Wildcat. A tough course on a good day, and that day it was extremely windy and the only part of my game that was close to being on was my drive. The rest of my game was horrible. Thankfully I had to stop after 13 holes as we had a dance lesson later that afternoon.

    Wildcat – Lakes Course – 1st Dec 2007
    Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN Tot
    Par 4 5 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 36 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 3 5 36 72
    Score 6 9 4 3 7 5 8 3 5 50 7 7 8 4 - - - - - 26 76
    Stableford (22 Handicap) 1 0 3 3 0 2 1 3 2 15 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 19

    Yesterday, we played down at Southwyck. Here, I started with a par, then went down hill for the next 15 holes. Last two holes I redeemed myself a little. 15 over par would be a great round. 15 over on the front 9 is a bad start. 19 over par would be a good round, 19 over par through 7 holes is a bad day, 19 over par through 9 holes on the back 9, after hitting a 15 over par on the front 9 is a horrid day. My game was just not there. I partly blame the guy we were hooked up with. He seemed to be a nice enough guy, but was a prick. Hard to say exactly what it was that annoyed me (and everyone else there) apart from his moving while you are hitting, his constant lying on his scorecard, and the odd comment from him, but it helped throw me off my game. Good news is… it can only go up hill from here in terms of my game, and if it does not, then maybe golf is not for me!!!!

    Southwyck – 9th Dec 2007
    Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN Tot
    Par 4 5 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 36 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 3 5 36 72
    Score 4 8 5 6 4 5 4 7 8 51 7 6 8 6 8 6 7 3 4 55 106
    Stableford (22 Handicap) 3 0 3 1 2 2 2 1 0 14 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 4 9 21

    Family Games…

    As part of the wedding week, I managed to get my uncle Albert out to play golf. My other uncle (Neal) also joined us, but only to walk the course, not to try and hack the ground up like we were.

    I really thought I was being played when Albert hit a birdie on the first hole, but as I got stronger later in the round (back finally loosened up), he started to fade… with me eventually beating him!

    And yes… I DID hit a BIRDIE… only one, but better than none!

    Memorial Park – 8th Nov 2007
    Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN Tot
    Par 5 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 36 4 3 4 5 4 3 5 4 4 36 72
    Score 7 4 8 5 6 5 4 5 6 50 5 5 5 5 6 2 7 5 4 44 94
    Stableford (22 Handicap) 2 2 0 2 1 2 2 3 2 16 2 1 3 3 1 4 1 2 3 21 37