+ last night, i played some golf (well, actually it was a golf lesson…but fun nonetheless)…tonight i have a softball game…tomorrow night i’m playing poker at my brother-in-law Chad’s place. Golf, Softball, Poker…it’s the “Trifecta of Me-Time” that few fathers/husbands can lay claim to without drawing the ire of their spouse. Erica, she’s the best, and she’s knows I’ll pay her back in spades…

+ So last night my father-in-law treated Chad and I to a golf lesson last night up at The Rockpile in New Holland. We started with the basics: grip, aim, and setup. It was definitely needed. The only club i swung all night was a pitching wedge, but i could feel much improvement from before. Feeling confident that my grip and setup was where it needed to be, i was able to focus in on one or two swing thoughts that seemed to be working to make consistent contact with my clubface square. i think we’re going back next week, teaching pro Mike Spease was really easy to work with. (and turns out Mike has a golf ettiquette teaching cassette for sale…who knew?)

+ Our vacation in Rehoboth Beach was short, but great. Two perfect beach days. Really enjoyed being with the kids and wifey so much, though i do admit to needing a break from the kiddos come wednesday. That Parker is a character, I’ll tell you what.

+ My buddy Jeremy wants to head up to Queens with me to check out a Mets game. I’ve never been to Shea, but i’m all over this trip if we can make it happen (Shea Stadium is closing down after next season). Baseball, Road Trip, and hanging with a good friend…there’s another great trifecta right there. I was excited to hear from Jeremy that his CD, Recovery, has been selling well and is generating some buzz in his hometown of Nashville. Even though i own a copy of it that Jeremy let me download, i still wanted to own the artifact, so i bought one today. chances are that copy will be loaned out more than it will sit on my shelf.

+ Back to golf for a second…I went to a driving range over lunch today and was disappointed to find out that they take cash only. Cash only? I don’t understand how any business would refuse credit/debit cards. It’s preposterous. Needless to say i had no cash on me and just left.

+ Author Don Miller has a Flickr page now with some cool shots from his recent trip on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. After looking through his photos, I emailed him, incredulously saying “You played at St. Andrews???”. “Definitely didn’t,” he replied, adding that he “loved that i thought he had”. well, what else was i supposed to expect when i saw the picture of the course among his other photos?

+ Parker has been ALL about baseball lately. Yesterday he played baseball on Jordan’s Wii for quite a while. When i got home from work we played outside for a half hour. Then before he went to bed, i checked on the score of the Red Sox game for him…which was 8-0 in favor of the Sox at the time…and we high-fived in celebration. He’s totally brainwashed into being a Red Sox fan, but it’s ok. The end justifies the means, fo sho. And he’s really been hitting the ball well lately in the back yard. I think he’s going to be a pretty good little leaguer.

+ Sad to report that i had to replace my Hughes DirecTV TiVo DVR last night with a DirecTV DVR (R15). No more TiVo in the living room (I’ll still have it in the basement on my HR10). I’ve heard nightmares about the DTV DVR, with regards to both the software bugs and the user interface. My buddy Jake recently replaced a broken TiVo with DTV’s HR20 and he “hates it”. I really hope TiVo and DirecTV will kiss and make up before they finalize the divorce papers. I doubt it though…

enjoy your thursday everyone…