Saturday Splendor!!

Yesterday evening was spent with dear friends at the very “kid” friendly restaurant of Souplantation. We took advantage of the latest coupons from that establishment which made dinner for 8 extremely affordable. I must admit the web offers from Souplantation make it very difficult to stay at home because the pricing was very competitive to staying at home. We had a very nice dinner the 8 of us with the girls sitting together along with the boys sitting together and the adult at the end of the table. It does seem just like yesterday when we had to assist both our children with these types of restaurants (buffets) but now they are very self reliant.

With dinner concluded we continued the evening with a nice stroll around the local lake. The evening air was very comfortable and this is a very peaceful serene setting. Walking around the lake talking was a wonderful way to conclude the evening. There are the little touches that I have missed so much in the past two years and I will continue to savor these touches each and every time.

I had to be up early this morning because another good friend of mine had invited me to a golf tournament in Palm Springs. Palm Springs is about an hour and a half away so I had to leave the house very early for the very early tee time. I was honored to be asked by this very good friend and it was a wonderful way to spend the morning. I had played this same golf course two months ago with two other good friends as we spent the weekend golfing. Palm Springs this time of year is very hot (110 degrees) but the heat didn’t matter to me. Here I was lined up to play in a golf tournament sponsored by a Fortune 50 company. I have come a long way in a short period of time which is all due to recovery.

The golf game went well with only three us playing in the best ball tournament and no real “A” player we finished at one under par for the day. This was a day for the people who work for this very good company and I witness the camaraderie first hand. I have played in countless of these types of tournaments over the years and most of these occurred through my previous employer where my misdeeds happen.

I was going through a box in the garage the other day and I came across a photograph taken at one of these tournaments and in the photograph along with me were high level executives at the bank where all my misdeed were discovered. That is all in the past and all of the misdeeds are now behind me (once again) all thanks to recovery. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to play in this tournament had it not been for recovery; there are some many “had it not been for recovery” that I have lost count. My life continues to get better all thanks to recovery.

It was a very good day and I made it back home in time for my daughter’s softball practice. We once again attended practice as a family and my son brought along a friend. I stayed with the boys watching them in the skate park while my wife watched my daughter practice. I did catch a few glimpses of the practice and my daughter was hitting the ball all over the place. She was hitting the ball well and talking with her coach after the game she has high hopes for our daughter as the third or fourth hitter along with possibly playing shortstop. My daughter does have very good range in the field and is coming along quite nicely.

The rest of the time I was with the boys as they rode their scooters around the skate park. This is a concrete structure built for skateboards and scooters where a great deal can go wrong which would cause bodily injury but the boys stayed injury free. They stayed injury free because they were so cautious going around the structure. I watched two other boys who were no more than 5 years old go up and down the ramps without hesitation. I guess it is all about practice which builds confidence. This was very fun watching the boys and after they were done with the skate park I followed them around the park on my bicycle.

I am enjoying my new bicycle because after we came home from practice I went on a bike ride with my son and daughter. We went around the very nice lake where a there were a few photo shoots going on as the sun was setting. We rode for almost an hour and returned home to a very nice dinner my wife prepared while we were out. It was a very enjoyable day which started early on the golf course and ended with family, life does get better in recovery!!!