Week with Mom

Ok, well I can safely say that neither I nor my mom will be moving to New York City anytime in the near future. I believe I made the statement last time I was there ( a few weeks ago with Kelley) that I would not be driving into the city again. Well, I went back on that, as my mom and I drove in on Sunday night to have dinner with Sara and Michael. Someone told us that there wouldn't be any traffic coming into the city on a Sunday night...riiiiiight!! I think it took us about an hour if not a little longer, to go about 12 miles into the city. We stayed in New Jersey and went through the Holland tunnel to get to the city. My mom got her first taste of New Yorkers right on that drive over as people nearly run you off the road as they switch lanes, or to avoid letting you in their lane. I can't tell you how many times I got honked at. Although, that's not saying too much, as everyone honks at everyone for pretty much everything. I think I sneezed incorrectly and someone honked at me. There was a car that put on his blinker and I let him in and he waved at me through his window. I told my mom that I bet he wasn't from New York, and sure enough he was from Rhode Island. So, that was an interesting experience. The next day we rode the train over to New York from New Jersey and then rode the subway to get to different places we wanted to see. We kind of did the fast sight-seeing trip through the city. We saw Times Square, The Empire State building, Wall Street area, the Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, and the new construction of the World Trade Center area. We were both pooped by the time we were training it back to New Jersey.
That was our sight-seeing experience after the week of golf in Gettysburg, PA. It was extremely hot and humid and the course was anything but flat. My mom was a trooper, but I think we both lost a lot of salt in those few days. The first round resulted in 6 caddies that didn't make it. They either fainted, felt dizzy, or just couldn't do it. This should tell you how great my mom did!! I am not sure exactly what she thought of her first Futures Tour event, but she definitely got a taste of the life of a Futures Tour player for the week. We stayed in some very interesting hotels...we both had some fun reactions as we pulled up in front of them. I am very opposed to paying more than $70 for a stupid room with a stupid bed and a stupid shower!! As you can tell, I think hotel rates are ridiculous. Therefore, we stay cheap when Kailin's got anything to say about it.
After our trip into the city, we drove through White Plains, NY and we were able to visit a host family that I stayed with about 5 years ago at another tournament. It is so neat to me that I can call people up that many years later and get together. It was fun to see the kids all grown up, the oldest even going to college!!! WOW! We hung out in Albany for the afternoon, doing our laundry at the local laundromat and preparing for our 4:30 a.m. wake-up the next morning to fly out. My mom went on to visit a family member of hers and I flew to Albuquerque.
I spent the week off in Albuquerque and Las Cruces. I played a lot of golf, spent a lot of time in a Verizon store (long story...inside joke!!), and even got to go to the White Sands National Monument. That was a neat experience and if any of you are ever down in that area, I would recommend taking the time to see it.
I am here in Albany for our final event and then I will set out on the 4 day drive back to Albuquerque. I'm sure I'll have lots to write about as that happens and at the end of this event. Thank you again for your continued support and contact through emails and I will write again soon!!
~Kailin

In Gettysburg...Ready to go!!

Ok, so I played on Sunday again last weekend, great news...it would be even better though if I would post a low number and move up the leaderboard rather than down. It's coming...soon!! Like now! I went with a friend to the Baltimore Ravens (football) game last Sunday night. She has a friend that plays for the team and got us tickets. I felt like I was at a high school football game in October. I say that because for those of you in Oregon...you know how cold and wet it can be that time of the year. It was freezing!! Unfortunately, ever since Sunday, that is how the weather has been. It's been overcast and on and off raining for 5 days now. I think tomorrow, finally, it's going to break away and it's supposed to be 90.
I have played on this course all week and feel very ready to go. I picked my mom up last night in Baltimore and she got to see the first of many glamorous days in the life of a Futures Tour player. It was a little crazy around the golf course the last couple of days with pro-ams and getting the carts ready and wow, I can't even explain.
I will be playing this weekend for little Peaches. For those of you who don't know, Peaches (our little Bichon Frise) has been with us since I was in Kindergarten. Wow...she was 19 or 20!! That is a really long life for a dog. About 3 or 4 years ago the vet told us she had 3 months to live, and we were fortunate enough to have her this long. Even as I say that, I get teary eyed and can't believe she's gone. I guess it doesn't matter how long you have to prepare for losing someone or something you love, you can't prepare enough for when it actually happens. She has been a great member of our family, along with us for so many volleyball and golf tournaments and I can't even tell you how many times she has gotten into food of ours that we left somewhere on accident. Peaches never missed out on any kind of a meal!!!
This week's for you Peachy!!!

A story worth sharing!!!

Ok, so I know I just sent out my much needed and anticipated weekly blog, however, this was a story I just could not keep from sharing. This morning Kelley and I went to the course to practice, luckily before the storm hit and then had the afternoon to spend at the house. We proceeded to take the two sea-doos out on the Y River which is directly in the backyard. This was our second outing on the machines, so we felt pretty comfortable in knowing what we were doing. At some point during our ride (probably one of the furthest points away from the house we could be...5 miles) my machine decided that it was not going to work properly anymore. As it turns out, something is lodged in the pipe or some technical term that I do not know, and it should be fixed very easily. However, at the time, we were quite concerned as to what we did to the machine. It was running, but would not gain any speed and would just rev the engine. We considered jumping in the water to try to get whatever was lodged out, however, there are jelly fish in this water and neither of us wanted to get stung. So, we cleverly hooked the machine up to the other machine to tow it back to the house. I am quite impressed with myself that I could tie knots that would hold. That is such a guy thing to know how to do, and I wasn't sure that I could do it. Then began the humiliating, hilarious, and ridiculously slow ride in towards the house. I am sure people were having a good laugh at us, seeing as how we were maybe going 5 mph. It was a very long ride. We found ourselves quite delirious by the time we were getting to the house. We were making up songs, laughing at ourselves, and we even created names for our machines. Big Red and Yellow Sub!! Yep, we're pretty silly. So, after getting ahold of the Patten's son, he convinced us that this stuff happens often, and we should not be worried or concerned that we did something wrong. Good news is that we're ok and hopefully the machine will be too. Bad news is that our enjoyable afternoon on the machines was cut short.

Also, as a side note, the story I told about falling in the hole on the dock...well, it turns out my injuries are a little more extensive than I had previously thought. When I went to hit balls yesterday, I realized that my left arm was very very sore and tight. I thought maybe it was from riding the sea-doos the day before. Kelley was not sore, and neither was my right arm. As it turns out, we discovered that when I fell, my entire left side hit the dock on the way down, hence the soreness in my arm. Again, great news that no serious injuries resulted. What a joke!!!

Catch up time...

I know, I know...I haven't written in a while. It seems that these weeks are all starting to blend together, and by the time I think about writing on the previous week, we are well into the current week and I have more to write about. I keep telling myself that I need to post a blog and it continues to slip my mind. I will just give you an outline of the last few weeks.

I was in Albuquerque for our week off and had a great time being a "normal person" whatever that means!! I went back to Albany, NY to get my car and my friend Kelley and I drove to Concord, NH on what appeared to be back highways, at 10 pm...quite the adventure. We found the house and slipped in quietly around 11:30 that night. The next morning I woke up with bites all over my legs. Yep...it was nice! We still aren't sure what the exact cause was, initially we were thinking bed bugs, but I just don't know. After putting a cover on the mattress, I didn't have any more problems with the bugs. There were 6 of us sharing a bathroom that week and it was small living for the week...needless to say, it was nice to pull out of there on Sunday.

Then on the way over to Morgantown, WV (11 hours) Kelley and I stopped to see my good friend Sara and her husband in New York City. We stayed one night with them in their apartment. I definitely confirmed the fact that I am not a big city girl. Way too many people, way too many cars, not enough space. I definitely missed the open land and mountain views of home while we were there for the night. I just couldn't do it!! Also a quick note to say that when my mom and I go to the city next week to sight see...we will be taking the public transportation into the city as I hate driving there! People just make their own rules and lanes and oh my goodness do they ever like their horns?!! Makes me nervous.

I played last week in Morgantown, WV and we had some more than interesting weather. When we arrived, the course had already seen 12 straight days of rain...so the course was wet to say the least. For the days leading up to the tournament, we had huge storms every afternoon. And I mean huge!!! Thursday's practice rounds were all messed up because the course was nearly unplayable. The back 9 was even closed. I happened to have the first tee time Friday morning, and boy was it wet!! I played well for 2 days...well, for about 33 holes. I had a few oops' and they ended up costing me making the cut.

Now on to the good stuff....I am in the most gorgeous, relaxing, fun, awesome place ever. Through friends of friends, I have housing this week in a huge home on the water in Queenstown, Maryland. They have 5 girls staying here this week, if that gives you an idea of the size. 2 boats, 2 sea-doos, a pool...wow!!! Kelley and I went sailing with a friend of hers the other night ( a first for me...and I decided that it's just too much work when you can turn on an engine and drive a regular boat!!!) I know, I'm boring. Yesterday after our day on the golf course we came back and went on the Sea-Doos. Funny story on that real quick. They have a rubber/plastic type of ramp/dock that they store the sea-doos on. Well, we were putting the covers back on them and I was walking behind the machine pulling the cover over the back. There is a rather large hole in the dock (one that's supposed to be there) and I backed right into it, fell into the water, hitting my whole left side on the plastic dock on the way down. Good news - no serious injuries...it could have been bad! Bad news - I'm going to have a bruise covering my entire left hip and leg. It hurts to roll over in bed!!! Good one Kailin!!! I am told that is a first, so i guess I will leave my mark on this house after all. Our plan today after practicing this morning, as the course is closed to us for the pro-ams, is to come back and enjoy all of these fun toys and relax!! My bed might just eat me this week...meaning, I just melt into it! So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are living the life this week!!!

I promise to write more often, this week when the week is over...I promise!! My mom is coming to caddy for next week's mandatory caddy event in Gettysburg, PA. She gets here on Wednesday and I'm very excited! Come to think of it, I don't think she's seen me play as a professional! Not that it's any different...still a golf ball and a golf course! But, I don't think she has. We should have a lot of fun and plan to see some fun stuff while we're over here also!

Living rough in Queenstown!!! ~Kailin