The Madness Begins

(c) Randy Harris, http://ggoblogger.blogspot.com/
Donald Ross, Sedgefield Country Club's original designer, overlooking the 18th green

Just in case you're somehow not aware and you're a resident of this great area called the Piedmont Triad, the Wyndham Championship is in, oh, less than 2 weeks.

What always seems like an insurmountable task has begun in earnest: preparing the course for the event. For me and my team, that meant we cleaned plastic fence on Saturday morning. 6 pallets of 25 piece fence. Four-ish hours. Lots of bleach and water. Dirty, dirty fence became very clean fence. The plastic fence team rocks, if I do say so myself. Wanna see? Visit the GGO Blog.

So, here's the plug, because I want it to do well. Buy your tickets. We've got some sort of deal at the Teeter these days. We're gonna have good players. We've got a beautiful course. We've got some of the best volunteers and staff ever.

It's a great experience. Don't miss it.

It's Your Future

(March 19, 1999)

Last autumn's leaves have been dislodged from their wintering places to race north with the wind from the south--only to be turned and blown south again. They drift and dance on end, twirling and falling into piles to disintegrate in spring rains.

Drifting with the wind is not a habit of nature alone. People with no goals, no aims, drift from one place to another in hopes that fate will put them in the right place at the right time. If decisions are not made and goals are not set, the world will make them for us.

(Makes you wonder about some people we all know?)

Peace,
Tawanka
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I'm quite surprised at what I'm perceiving as the snarkiness I see in that last line . . .

Last LOL and an RIP

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Rest in Peace, Randy Pausch.
Thanks for teaching me that a wall isn't the end,
how to correctly apologize,
reminding me that people will surprise and impress you if you wait long enough
and for making me laugh.

(My earlier post about Randy; Randy's lecture at Carnegie Mellon is below.)

It's Always the Young 'Uns

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The Dress . . .

on eBay that I'm seriously considering for one of the tourney parties:

And lest you feel like you've not laughed enough today, here's today's cat. (Promise you'll miss them come Sunday.)

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Why You Should Never WASH a Cat

(Psst . . . just in case you hadn't realized, I decided to make it LOLcats week. It's fun. And it's easy.)

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Today's LOL: Tourney Appropos

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Awww . . .

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Forsyth County Humane Society - Forsyth County Animal Control
AARF - Guilford County Animal Shelter

Today's Favorite LOLcat

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Our Role in Healing Others

[March 18, 1999 - While sitting here watching the Bulldogs of Gonzaga play Florida, thought I would put out the thought of the day. (Go Zags!)]

Other people have so much happen in their lives before we get to know them that we don't know how to meet their needs. If they have been hurt, they may box themselves in and our reach isn't long enough. But we cannot go back and make up for what someone else has done.

All of us come to the present time with some memories, some experiences that have affected us negatively. It would be hard to live in a world of hurt and not be touched by it. But we know that change can take place suddenly to heal life.

When we seek, we find. And it may be by helping others.

Peace,
Tawanka

Swoon

"The most precious thing a man can have is a woman's heart."

Or this:

" . . . a woman who is creative and dares to see all the wondrous facets of reality and experience - someone who can take care of herself regardless of a man's presence but will also surrender to love when it comes knocking on her door . . ."

*Sigh.* This is just NOT GOOD for my princess paradigm, but fabulous fodder for fantasies. ;) While it's a sure thing that I need reality to come kick my sorry butt, I'm not wishing for it's arrival, at all.

My Top Wines . . .

And wines you probably ought to try, as well. I found these at the Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar Top 100 tasting last year. I just found my notes on them, and here are the best (or at least the best, as I considered them, sometime late in 2007).

• Ronchi Di Manzano, Merlot Colli Orientali del Friuli, Italy, 2004
• Clos Mimi, Syrah; Paso Robles Petite Rousse, 2004
• Beaucanon Estate, Cabernet Franc; Napa Valley, 2002
• Schramsberg, Mirabelle Brut; North Coast, NV
• Greg Norman, Cabernet Merlot; Limestone Coast, Australia, 2004
• Raylen, Category 5; Yadkin Valley, 2005
• Zilliken, Riesling Mosel-Saar-Ruwer; Butterfly, Germany, 2005
• Frei Brothers, Chardonnay; Sonoma County, 2005
• Estancia, Pinot Noir; Santa Lucia Highlands, Stonewall Vineyard, 2004
• L'ecole #41, Semillon; Columbia Valley, 2005
• Qupe, Syrah; Central Coast, 2005
• Spellbound, Petit Sirah; California, 2005

A votre sante!

Might I Say . . .

that Match is just good for your self-esteem? Really it is. That's all I have to say. At least, that's it for the blog.

Otherwise, I'm realizing that I really have no time for such these days. Between the APR studying, Wyndham, the PRSA Professional Development Seminar (anyone care to be a sponsor? Hmmm?) and the crisis project I'm managing at work, I really have no time for such.

But it's fun. It really is.

The Persistent Curse of Guilt

(March 17, 1999)

Remembering is painful at times. It's easy to relive what did happen and what did not happen . . . and we try to take all the blame. We know what guilt is. Why didn't we do a better job, pay more attention, or follow a hunch? Few of us can look back and delight in memories of times past.

Would we have done things differently if we knew then what we know now? Maybe.

The best thing we can do for ourself is to forgive. Forgiving heals. It clears the way for time . . . time to build and love, renew and restore. It is a time of grace when we have done nothing to deserve it.

Peace,
Tawanka

P.S. Happy St. Patty's day!!!!!!

If the Radio Didn't Prove Me Wrong

I've got a theory: that a specific song, like books and other reading material, comes to you when you need it most. Unfortunately, the radio proves that theory wrong--or at least not accurate--fairly often for me. So, while I'm revising this theory trying to improve it's validity, I'll be listening to Andrew Peterson's Faith to Be Strong, which is resonating with me today:

Give us faith to be strong
Father, we are so weak
Our bodies are fragile and weary
As we stagger and stumble to walk where you lead
Give us faith to be strong

Give us faith to be strong
Give us strength to be faithful
This life is not long, but it's hard
Give us grace to go on
Make us willing and able
Lord, give us faith to be strong

Give us peace when we're torn
Mend us up when we break
This flesh can be wounded and shaking
When there's much too much trouble for one heart to take
Give us peace when we're torn

Give us faith to be strong
Give us strength to be faithful
This life is not long, but it's hard
Give us grace to go on
Make us willing and able
Lord, give us faith to be strong

Give us hearts to find hope
Father, we cannot see
How the sorrow we feel can bring freedom
And as hard as we try, Lord, it's hard to believe
So, give us hearts to find hope

Give us faith to be strong
Give us strength to be faithful
This life is not long, but it's hard
Give us grace to go on
Make us willing and able
Lord, give us faith to be strong
Give us peace when we're torn
Give us faith, faith to be strong
(c) Andrew Peterson

Fireworks, Baseball, Cookouts

It's late. Well, late in that it's almost 12:30 and I'm still in my pajamas, drinking my coffee. But that's the beauty of a holiday and I have no real reason to be mobile and cognizant earlier than I want these days, so why should I?

In any case, it's about time to wander down the park and be a little sociable. My neighborhood does a free cook-out every year and invites everyone to come down. Pretty cool. Good food. Chance to chat with the people you see out in their yards while you're walking, too.

Later, I'll be grilling the bounty that I brought back from the Farmer's Market yesterday: zuchinni, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, corn. Good stuff. I think we'll have hot dogs, too.

Fireworks and baseball last night; probably more fireworks and baseball tonight. And, because it's summer, darn it, I might finally get to the pool this weekend.

Happy July 4th!

HAHAHA

Tonight, I had the great pleasure of realizing that God has a wonderful sense of humor. I laughed (and when I say laughed, I mean laughed-so-hard-I-snorted-sometimes) on my way home.

All the way home. From North High Point. A good 20+ minutes. Longer, really, when you realize I was driving just below the speed limit with the top down on the Miata.

To the point where I thought I was having just too much fun. But there's no such thing. ;)