I hope everyone is enjoying the Memorial Day weekend. We had horrific storms last night. My daughter Carajean had lots of damage to their Lake Travis home-site. She said the walkway to their boat dock broke, causing the dock to be blown onto the entrance to the community boat ramp. She was waiting for the "boat dock guy" when we last texted. The winds were said to reach 70 mph at times, causing lots of damage all over the area. The only things I noticed here are lots of tree branches in my yard and on my deck. There were many power outages all over Austin and lots of flooded low water crossings remain closed today. Thank goodness our road did not flood this time. In 2018, Lake Travis flooded enough that Mansfield Dam had to have another gate opened. This is what happened to CJ's boat dock that time:
Son Matthew and his wife Amy are playing in a golf tournament today at their club. Apparently wet and soggy greens are not much of a deterrent! At least the weather today is cooler than the 90 degree heat we've had this past week.
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Erick
The Independence Brewing Company recently held a theme song contest. The winner gets 1,000 bucks, a year supply of Native Texan beer, and studio time!" My grandson-in-law Erick sent me the following video that he and my grandson Tanner made to enter the contest. I was disappointed when they announced the final winner. Erick's video (he wrote the lyrics and music) had previously been chosen Number Four of the top five videos. They then had a "people's choice" vote to decide the winner. I didn't know about it in time to gather votes for theirs. I'm not on Facebook, which is where they
Tanner
announced the runoff. Tanner did a great job of filming and editing. He's done a few remarkable videos since he was around age eleven or twelve. I think that their collaboration on this one shows that they could come up with a "winner" without it being in a contest. Check out their entry:
Erick, a talented musician, is a founding member of the Colombian Funk band Superfonicos. The pandemic has curtailed most of their performances. However, they recently had a gig at The Empire here in Austin. Hopefully, they will be filling their schedule with many appearances as the lessening of the COVID-19 restrictions proliferate and many of Austin's music venues are reopening. Here is their official video, with more to be found on YouTube: Superfonicos - Suelta Makes you want to "shake your booty" and tap your toes, doesn't it?
My son Matthew and his family never seem to run out of fun things to do together. Matthew first loved to play golf as his father did, so it was only natural that he taught his son Travis to play as soon as he was big enough to hold his own golf clubs. Travis just finished his Freshman year on a golf scholarship at Lubbock Christian College. As the two of them spent more and more time together on the golf course or watching tournaments on television, it wasn't long before Matt's wife Amy took up the sport as well. Their daughter Kelly is more into dance and music, although her mother tells me that she is a pretty good golfer, too, when she chooses to play. However, I hear that she is a terrific golf cart driver. Kelly just finished her Freshman year in high school. I see Driver's Ed in her future!
From time to time this past year I kept hearing about Amy's golf experiences. After hearing about her "wins", I decided to ask her about them. You can tell by her responses that she is very excited about the game of golf. Not to mention the fact that there is money to be won! If the teams weren't "computer-generated" I'll bet she would be a popular choice as a team mate! I'm not really up on all the golf terminology, however, there are probably enough golfers reading this who will understand the lingo! Way to go, Amy!
"I won first place with my team of three players at the weekly HumpDayHustle, which is a fun social golf league open to all adult Golf Members of the club. It is a three-Person Scramble, ABC Computer-Generated Teams, with a Weekly Powerball drawing following the round. My team also won the Powerball drawing. If no one wins the Powerball that week, the pot keeps building until a team wins. The pot got up to $1,600 and my team won. So I won a total of $663 from my First Place win and the Powerball win. I am the only female on the three-person team and the men benefit from having me on their team because I get to hit from the Red tees, which sets them up nicely to have a chance at eagle and mostly birdie chances on each hole."
Amy went on to say, "Matthew and I have been playing a great deal of golf since the pandemic started. I have joined the WGA (women's golf association) at River Place CC and have met a lot of new people. I have two great coaches (Matthew and Travis) that have helped improve my game over the past several months. I have played in two women's tournaments thus far. My first tournament ever was The Blind Date Scramble and my team came in First Place. In March, I played in the Shamrock Scramble and we came in Third. Matthew and I have signed up to play in a tournament Memorial Day Weekend. The WGA and MGA are teaming up for their First Annual Charity Golf Tournament. This year's tournament will benefit Mealson Wheels. I am super excited about this event. I just enjoy being in the great outdoors and being with wonderful people, playing a game that I have come to love."
I wish them luck at the tournament this weekend. Affirming clear, blue skies.
My granddaughter Ashlyn is on her way to becoming a Physician Assistant. Just one more year. She is also a talented writer and speaker as well. Therefore, she has been asked to give speeches when she serves as a Maid-of-Honor at weddings. Even though she was in the middle of finals week when she wrote the following, she did so for her best friend's wedding earlier this month.
"If I could sum Shaylee up in one word it would be JOY, because that is the feeling that people have when she is around. Over the
years, I have to admit I became protective of Shay because there was a time
when life was stealing her joy. She was having a difficult time deciding what
to do with her life after 14 or so years of fully devoting herself to
gymnastics, which was understandably so. While she still managed to make
everyone around her feel joy, I could see she was draining herself of her own.
The dynamic of our friendship at that time from the outside looking in, and
from Shaylee’s perspective, has been Shay looking to me for life advice of any
kind (as if I actually know what I am talking about), while Shaylee has always
made sure we were having a good time. Well, what Shay and a lot of people do
not know, is that I have looked up to Shay my whole life. She leads by example
in many ways that she does not realize. Shay loves deeply and will do anything
for her family or a friend, she lifts people up and reminds us to not take life
too seriously, she has an empathy for people that I strive for, and not only
does she manage to make everything fun, but she also brings out the carefree
and fun side of everyone she is with.
This is one of the videos on YouTube showing Shaylee's talent:
"When Shay met William last year, I was no longer living in Amarillo and Shay was working at the Amarillo club. She would call me excited about this cute guy who would often come in for lunch or dinner and inevitably flirt with her every time. She would go on about how confident and sweet he was, and that he seemed like an actual 'good guy' that had pure intentions. I have to say, this is something I took with a grain of salt because I pretty much didn’t trust any guy with Shaylee since that is the protective friend that I am (nothing against you William). They go on a couple of dates (or trips I should say) and Shay is very obviously infatuated with him. She hints to me that it is getting serious, so I think I have to meet him as soon as possible before she really falls for him. Well, when I finally met William and saw them together as a couple, it hit me how good he was for her. It was made clear that he loves her and truly sees the Shaylee that I know and love so much. He appreciates what makes her so special. I then started to realize Shay wasn’t calling me as much needing help or advice on anything, she was no longer drained of her joy, and gained back that passion for life that I had not seen in a couple of years. As a best friend, how could I be mad about that?
SHAYLEE
"Shay and I made a pact a long time ago that if we weren’t married by age 50 or so, that we would get married (to each other?). Well, William. You beat me to it. I guess I will let you have her on the weekends. I’m only kidding, I find great comfort in knowing she is in good hands with you, William. Cheers to the future Wares! I could not be happier for the both of you."...Ashlyn
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Ashlyn always makes a beautiful Maid of Honor. I can only imagine what a wonderful bride she will be. She's smart, beautiful, and has a great sense of humor. It will be interesting to hear what someone says in a speech at her wedding!
I am finally rising up from the grief our family has suffered since last fall when my oldest child, Craig, left us unexpectedly in his sleep. Our family is valiantly moving on. Siblings, cousins, and his own children are putting their lives back in order. A memorial to this loving man will be held on the anniversary of his passing in October.
There have been many happy as well as sad occurrences in recent months. I intend to do my best to document some of them in the near future.
Leaving you with this adorable photo. The one on the left was Craig's pet, named Floki. He was adopted by my granddaughter Audrey. Olive on the right is Ashlyn's treasured cat. They all are currently "visiting" at my daughter's home on Lake Travis. I'm told they sometimes have a raucous play time.
