The lake isn’t quite frozen enough yet; we don’t dare drive our trucks out on the ice to place the shack in its customary spot.  Oh well.  The camp roads are good enough for some snowmobiling though, so we’ll have to keep ourselves happy with snowmobiling for the time being.  This is actually a good time for that – the temperatures aren’t too bitter cold yet, so we can have a good time without getting too cold.

Well I was really thrilled when Janet called me and suggested that we go riding together next weekend at the farm. The only thing about riding with Janet is that she is always trying to get me to learn to jump. Jumping scares me a little bit, and I have no desire to compete with Beezie Madden for any gold medals! I just enjoy a nice walk, trot, or canter. More excitement than that I don’t need! Janet has always been a thrill junkie, and she just can’t even imagine being content to NOT jump. I’m more than happy to provide her with an appreciative audience.

We haven’t had the chance to ride together at all this year, what with all of the health issues that Janet and her family have been going through. Janet told me that she needs to pick up a new pair of durable riding boots this week before we go riding though; the surgery on her foot has made it too hard to get her old boots on. I don’t think that it was the surgery itself; I think that it is because she has been so inactive that she put on a little bit of weight and it has mostly gone to her calves, making her old boots too tight to pull on, even with the boot hooks.

I told her that I’d like to join her at the tack shop to drop off my ariat boot bag for repair. The zipper is broken and I’m tired of fussing with it. Hopefully they can get it fixed for me.

Greetings from the Who Dat Nation! As football season approaches, I can’t help but think about how much fun it will be this season. Last year was the best year for the Saints and a great year for my town of origin, New Orleans. I can’t wait to sport black and gold and support those Saints! To make sure that everything is set and ready to go for our weekly football parties, I went to Directstartv.com to make sure that we had all of the channels and could watch the Saints in HD when they are not playing at home in NOLA! I will be at every home game, even though I have to sit in the rafters! Football season is a time for celebration and unity. I love to entertain for football-watching parties every week. I am getting better at coming up with unique and funky Saints decorations for our football watching parties. All of our friends look forward to when we can watch the Saints and belt “WHO DAT?!” If you have never been to New Orleans when the Saints play, you are missing the party of a lifetime.

I got caught in a rainstorm, which convinced me that my wife was right, I really SHOULD buy some rain gear and I really SHOULD buy a windshield.  It would have made riding in the rain a lot more comfortable!

We got to chatting a bit while he worked and he told me he was a football player in college, then went into the Marines. Now that he is almost 30, everything hurts. He says that his shoulders and his knees hurt the most.

I can’t help but think that 30 is awfully young for all those aches and pains. But then again, playing football for 5 years in high school and then 4 more years in college must take a terrible physical toll on young men.

When I see something like that, I have to wonder why someone would just take a board and slap/paint some numbers on it.  Oh sure, I can understand doing that for a couple of weeks when the houses were first renumbered for the E-911 conversion, but it has been years now, and I don’t think that it looks like the people are taking any pride at all in their homes.  It certainly isn’t very inviting!  I have to wonder if the folks are really that dirt poor, or if they are just that tacky.  I wonder if I drove up that dooryard, would the people that come out to greet me have teeth?  Would they be brandishing a shotgun?

She’s been telling me that the http://avistaresort.com website is offering a special called “Terrific Tuesday” where we would be able to get a free game in on a Tuesday.  Greens fees are not chump change, so that sounds like an interesting package.  And I like the sound of the lazy rivers water feature there at the hotel.  After a day on the course, I can picture myself floating in an inner-tube down a lazy river!  Sounds like a perfect 19th hole to me!

It seems that Myrtle Beach golf packages are selling like hot cakes this year. Since BP has messed up so many of the other beaches people are flocking to Myrtle Beach for fun in the sun and the ocean. I’ve always enjoyed spending time at Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach is my favorite area of all.

Did you know that you can go to http://www.myrtlebeachgolf.net and book your tee times and your accommodations as well? A one stop shop kind of place, well worth checking out. We still have a little bit of decent weather left in us, at least I sure hope so!

I reserved a bit of my tax refund money for a nice summer vacation this year, it has been a long year and a vacation is way over due. I found a great Myrtle Beach hotel online at http://avistaresort.com. The Avista Resort is one of the many oceanfront resorts located in the North Myrtle Beach area and it has been designated as America’s “Number One Family Beach” I like that it is only two walkable blocks away from the famous Main Street that has such a wide variety of things to see and to do.

There are tons of resorts in Myrtle Beach that can be checked out on the Internet, what a great way to find the best one to suite my needs and wants. I look forward to playing a few rounds of golf while I’m there. I come from a family of golfers and we used to always make time to play a game or two during the family vacations back in the 70′s, it’s a good sport for the whole family to enjoy all year round.

I’ll make sure and take plenty of pictures and will post a few here shortly after my return.