Golf and Lakers

So after last week's rain cancellation, today's usual sunshine was much welcomed. And we're heading to Roosevelt for this morning's golf game. I had, of course, a monster game last time we played here. It was like I was unconscious and out of my mind and I am clearly hoping for more of the same today. Cutting right to the game, the first hole I had 3 straight 'meh' shots but after the 3 I was at least on the green with a long par putt. And though I missed said par putt, I did make the bogey putt to start my game off just fine. I was all over the place on Hole 2 and managed just one good shot so that hole went nowhere. But on Hole 3 I landed my tee shot right on the green. I would miss my par putt again but at least I got another point. On to my favorite Hole 4. In this Hole, I missed my 2nd shot right into the bunker which threw off the entire hole. You know how a game hinges on one or two shots that you wish you could get back? This was the shot. A bogey or better and I would have had a nice game already. So what happened on that shot. I wanted to duplicate the shot that I had in a similar situation on this same hole 3 weeks ago when I belted the shot almost pin level. I did not focus on that shot and obviously focused instead on what was going on in my head. Which was to choke to shot. I did not slow my swing down. I did not relax. And had a blow-up hole. And I did not recover on the following hole either, topping out the tee shot. I was off my rhythm. Fortunately, I did recover on the next 2 holes, getting a bogey on the funnel zone Hole 6 after a nice tee shot on the right side that landed 80 yards from the green. I overshot it with my next shot but at least got it in 4. Same with Hole 7. Way short on the tee shot but the next shot was pin level and 20 feet out. I made it in 2 for another bogey. I was already up to 4 bogeys today. No pars though. Hole 8 I actually got on the green in 3 shots. But 3-putted and missed the bogey. And finally on the last hole, I got my bogey and finished with 5 bogeys. Not a bad game really. I will definitely take it. And then after that I went to Sidewalk Grill for lunch.

With morning all done, I went home and tried to get caught up. Finish laundry.

Catch up on journal. I was doing this because Yadira and Dexter were coming by at 4:30 and we're all going to the Lakers vs Wizards game. A Laker game at least once a year has now become a ritual for the 3 of us. Yes we do feel a little bad that we don't invite Lisa. But then again, not really. We just have a much better time I think and we don't have to focus on whatever it is that she's focused on that is not typically about the game or anything else important. As it was Dexter got to my apartment early and then Yadira followed suit by 4:15. And we were headed downtown by 4:30 PM. That would have never happened if Lisa were with us. The game isn't until 6:30 PM we know but this way we could have a leisurely dinner downtown and not even worry about being late. I was surprised at how many people were downtown on a Sunday nght though. So much so I had to do 2 rounds before I found parking on the street. But find it I did and it was a half block from Panini Grill too. So guess where we were going for dinner LOL. I know I had already had kabobs for lunch. And Dexter and Yadira are buying my dinner considering I bought the tickets. Although... this is actually their Christmas present from me. I do appreciate their friendship through the years, even as Lisa and I had split up. There was simply too much history already, some of it we even brought up tonight. The farting incident in San Francisco. The trip to Sedona and Grand Canyon one Thanksgiving. The trip to Palm Springs. Yes absolutely we sure do have history. And we note that we went to the Lakers-Clippers mega game a week before the NBA and the rest of the world shut down for the pandemic. If COVID was going to get us, that would have been the time I thought. And now here we are. Dexter is doing much better now that he is no longer walking around with a bag attached to his stomach and now that he has decided not to get his gall bladder removed. Sounds extreme right? Anyway all that stuff from the past year was behind us today. Today we enjoyed a nice dinner at Panini Grill where I had the flatiron skirt steak. And then we walked over to Crypto.com and made it to our seats 10 minutes before game time. We had some pretty good seats too. As far as the game itself, we may have been without AD but we still bolted to a double digit lead by halftime. It was a lead that they lost with some lackadaisical play in the 3rd quarter. But they at least came back to life again to take the lead back. It became way too tight in the last 5 minutes. And the game got tied up with 24 seconds to go. LeBron got doubled and almost lost the ball. But in the ensuing scuffle, he got the ball back and rifled a pass to an unguarded Thomas Bryant right under the basket. Game winning dunk. We WIN!!! It was a nice exclamation point to a pretty good game and another cool Laker watch for the 3 of us. I made them buy me a taco from a taco truck on the walk back. Might as well take advantage LOL. And then we went on home. A nice sunday for sure.