I captained a World Team Tennis 3.5 Team this summer. We played in the second session out of Dwight Davis in Forest Park. We did very well until a communication mixup in the last week had us default a couple of courts. Regardless, we won the session and earned the right to go to a national qualifier. Our final record was 5-1.

I'm Back in the States

I finished my tour on the USS ESSEX and made my way back to the US from Japan. I'm currently going to school enroute to TRANSCOM (Scott AFB). Still getting plenty of golf in, but the handicap seems to be climbing. It will be a challenge to keep it below 10. The best way to lower it is to play more. I'm enjoying a KZG driver that I'm hitting right now, but it needs to be more predictable.

Things Are Kinda Slow

Leave has been relatively uneventful. Yesterday we went to a spa and went in the onsen (Japanese hot tub) and had a massage. It was very nice. Since the beginning of the holidays we've built three puzzles. Actually I built two and the family built a Disney puzzle on Christmas day. The one I finished today is of animals. I gave it to Whitney for her birthday last year, but this was the first time that someone attempted it. The rest of the family looked at me building it and kept moving. This puzzle was difficult because all of the pieces were cut to different sizes and the rows swirled and did not have a perceptible pattern.....I wonder how they got the animals to pose for the painting.

I also built a traditional family puzzle. It is a wooden puzzle that we had in my family as a kid. Part of the charm is that there isn't a picture of the puzzle in or on the box. I took a picture of it when I was done; so, I'll be able to print out a picture of the completed puzzle to assist the next builder.

The puzzle that the family built on Christmas Day was a Disney puzzle. We bought it for the purpose of having a family puzzle to build around the Holiday. It has a ton of Disney characters in it and the whole family enjoyed it since you could pick up any piece and identify part of a Disney character. It took a day to put together. I think we will keep the tradition of having puzzles on hand in December.

Fukuoka Flea Market

Today was very windy and rainy; so, we looked for something inside. We found it at the Yahoo Dome in Fukuoka. We had been there before to watch the Softbank Hawks beat up on the Seibu Lions, but that was quite a while ago. We went to the Market to look for fleas. There were a lot of clothes, Dragonball Z plastic toys, and food. We found some Obis (what you wrap around a kimono at the waist) that were a bargain and picked them up. Should provide some nice accents around the house.

Ranmas

We have been looking for cool ranmas while we've been in Japan to take back to the States with us. Ranmas are carvings that are built into Japanese homes above shoji doors (there is a shoji door in this picture to the left behind the ranma) to allow airflow from one room to another. There are various forms. Some are simplistic stick patterns and some are ornate carvings. They are usually one half inch thick. We saw some on Monday that were three inches thick in a Japanese antique store. In the back of the store, I found two that had even more relief. The 3D effect in them is really impressive. It doesn't really come across in the pictures, but it reminds me of a museum piece. I look forward to incorporating them into the eventual dream home.

LSU Blows Out Defenseless Notre Dame

41-14! The pundits were right that LSU was going to win. They had the margin wrong.

Our defense looked a little slow as Walker scampered for over 100 yards in the first half. The adjustments that Coach Miles made were very effective in shutting the ND offense down. Once they became one dimensional, LSU licked their chops and waited for Quinn to make a mistake.

It is hard to believe that it took LSU this long to hand the ball to Keiland Williams. We would have been unbeaten if we had put him in the gameplan with a more significant role against Florida and Auburn.

I don't think that JaMarcus Russell will return. My assumption is the NFL will analyze his skill and tell him that he would be a top 5 pick.

It was another GREAT year. I'm looking forward to next year and looking at the schedule to figure out which games that I/we will be attending.

Great Day for Golf

Was able to play golf at Ocean Palace Golf Course down in Nagasaki today. A fantastic track. I woke up and it was raining. I wasn't very optimistic that it was going to be a great golf day, but I was committed to getting in some golf regardless of the conditions. I was driving my daughter to babysit, and she asked me if I was going golfing. Since it was raining, I responded "I was supposed to." She said, "too bad." It didn't look good. The rain continued to fall as we made the drive down to the course.

The most striking feature of the course is how much money it must have cost to build it. I think it was built in the 80s when there was a golf course construction bubble in Japan, and memberships were exorbitant. It has the longest golf cart long suspension bridge that I have ever seen (pictured in the photo), and there are huge stone walls around the island to contain the four holes that are out there. I played with Mike Little and two of his friends from. I was pleased with the 81 that I shot. After the round of golf we took a soak in the spa in the club house. Although the round cost over $15K Yen, it was worth every penny. The sun came out at the end of the round, and the 50 degree temperature made the round very enjoyable. Hopefully, I'll be able to play again this week.