Golf Sunday, A Date, and Some Quick Family Time

So this is golf Sunday and for the second Sunday in a row, I'm playing as a single to join a group. There is always some concern about uncertainty. Who do I play with? Are they going to be good golfers? Will I suck out there today? I hope the people I end up playing with are nice. I alleviated all this by reminding myself that Scott and I have been playing just the two of us for more than a year now and we've pretty much been always teamed up with nice people. I can't think of any exceptions actually.  And so I headed off to an earlier-than-usual tee time because that was the only tee time I could get just days before.  The tee time was 8:20. Not too early but early enough where I knew we would get done before 11 AM and that's a good thing because I had lined up a date afterwards for a late lunch. And so cutting to the chase, I was grouped with a two-some and a lady playing by herself. And so I felt better about my golf abilities, also reminding myself that the last time I got overconfident playing with 2 guys much older than me, I played terribly. And on hole 1, I whiffed right off the bat. What-in-the-heck? I barely was able to shoot a 6 on the first hole which I had gotten par on for 3 consecutive weeks just a few months ago! I hit the tee shot better on the next hole, but whiffed again from the fairway on the way to a 7. Way to start today's game. A 5 on the next hole par 3 did not help me feel better. Finally on Hole 4 I hit my first really good shot, a 200+ blast from the tee. Got on in 2. And proceeded to 3-putt to a bogey. Damn. Blew my chance for the par. On the next hole, I whiffed off the tee again before I depostied a 5-iron from the fairway well past the hole on the way to another double bogey. 5 holes halfway done and I only have one decent hole. I can play better than this couldn't I? Not on Hole 6 though I hit another good tee shot. Right in the middle by the halfway flag, I whiffed again way right. I NEED to shorten my swing and keep it relaxed from the fairway!!! I got on in 3 on Hole 7 but again 3-putted to a double bogey. Hit the tree on Hole 8 and did another double bogey. And then had my best tee shot on hole 9, but whiffed the shot right after and then blasted the next shot pin high but way wide right. I only 2-putted that hole but still hit a double bogey. So I did not play well and I did not focus on my shots, I was just up there hacking away. Fortunately, the people I played with WERE nice, so much so they asked for my phone number to invite me to play with them again. That's always good... maybe I join a new group? At least we got done before 11 AM just like I thought...

So i texted Candace to see if we could move up the 2 PM meet-up. And she moved it to 1 PM IF we went to Olive Garden in Torrance. DEAL! I had time to swig down some pineapple juice and then made tuna salad for the week before taking off right after noon and I got there in 45 minutes. I didn't really have much of a breakfast so I was a little hungry. Candace had just come from church and looked pretty good. The sobering thing to me was how much older I look in the picture I posted and so being with someone like Candace who is my age, well I could overlook her own signs of age that are perfectly normal. This isn't my dating days when I was in my early 40s living in Beverly Glen. We had a perfectly nice lunch catching up and then we went on to Coffee Bean after where I turned into Yoda. Candace has similar beliefs as I do with metaphysical stuff and so doing muscle testing right then and there at the coffee shop wasn't too strange.  We left after hanging out for 3 hours and the funny thing was as soon as I got home and gotten sat down on the couch, I get a call from Johnnie. He wanted me to bring the fishbowl I used to use for Goldie that I am no longer using obviously. It was just sitting there for over a year on my kitchen table. I guess they had bought some goldfish. Sigh. More fish. But I was happy to bring the bowl on over. So quite spontaneously I ended up spending a little time with Johnnie and Lisa on a Sunday night which never happens. I was a little short on patience because i was tired actually. I had had a long day. It wasn't lost on me that here I am spending time with my 'family' not even an hour from coming home from a date. It was like the Universe was reminding me that they are definitely around. I hung out until 7 PM, helping Johnnie with his Family Tree project. It occurred to me that I didn't even know very much about my own family, particularly my father's side. Heck I don't even remember the names of my own grandparents! That's embarrassing. Now I'll have to ask Grace to help Johnnie populate his tree. I went on home and watch House of Dragon's latest episode. Had dinner from WHole Foods hot buffet. Watched some more Roswell. It was a long Sunday but it had been a pretty good week actually. I thought about what I was grateful for all week as I drifted off to sleep. And asked for more of the same for next week...