still adding...

new additions: blow up penguin and lights/ snowflakes in the right dogwood

it's a typical situation in these typical times. too many choices. everybody's happy, everybody's free. we'll keep the big door open and everyone'll come around.

so no photo tonight, just a story about my very enjoyable evening.  mike and i went out to dinner with my mentor and his wife to discuss my future in the golf industry. because i work for a golf non-profit, even though i work outside and teach kids all day, i am not in a suitable environment to earn my pga (or professional golf association) membership. golf pros at country clubs, reps for golf companies, golf tournament coordinators, and basically anyone with any power in the golf world has those three letters "pga" next to their name. in the competitive golf atmosphere, having those initials is equivalent to having the letters "md" in the real world. 

i have been struggling with whether or not to pursue my pga membership for a while since entering this job, even though my first question when i was hired was to ask if i could keep my amateur status (something that goes away along with the ability to play in amateur tournaments such as my club championship and state and nationwide amateur tournaments when you gain a pga card).  i was not sure if i wanted to make golf my career, and i did not want to lose the opportunity to play in such tournaments like i enjoyed so much during high school and college. but now, i am realizing how much i love being around the golf business and would like to spend my life in it.

i have attended national first tee conferences and it seems as though everyone in the national office and many with power in chapters across the country have those letters next to their name. i do not want to hurt my chances of progressing in the first tee system or the golf world by not taking this opportunity. the problem, like i said before, is that i am not in a conducive job for attaining my card in the three years it takes most pros to gain their full pga status. i do not work at a "green grass facility" aka a driving range or golf course... even though our learning links has both, and i do not have a supervising pga member to watch my 6 months of work. basically, if i left my job (if you look back at past blog posts, you will see how much time i spend outside on the course teaching and learning) to sit at a public driving range, watch tv, sell buckets of golf balls, and make minimum wage all day i could gain my work experience. are you kidding me?!?! 

my mentor, gary, basically laid out this whole situation and we decided that it would not be the right decision for me to leave my job. gary was instrumental 12 years ago in forming the first tee of ct and has been a pro for over 40 years. needless to say, he has a love for both the first tee and the professional golf world, so he is probably the most knowledgable person i know about my situation. he was also the one who brought me into this job (but that is a story for another time... maybe tomorrow). all in all, he helped me find some female professionals in the area to talk to in the mean time, and i plan to observe their teaching methods next summer. 

what this has taught me is that i love my job and my life too much right now to give it all up for three letters. while i do understand their importance and how much i could gain by going through the program including instruction techniques and credibility, i believe that right now i will take in as much as i can from intelligent and experienced people such as gary and continue teaching my kiddos as best i can.

when that fast car picks you up, you will have no choice

replacing Mikey's sparkplugs unsupervised!

i lived a million miles of memories on that road

gobble gobble goo and gobble gobble giggle

i am thankful for so many things in my life this year including happiness, health, unconditionally loving parents, a wonderful house full of roommates, great friends, a job that i love, and of course a loving boyfriend who was there to spend every moment of this wonderful thanksgiving of chaos with me.

i feel so lucky to have shared so many memories with so many people today.

i am thankful i was able to meet my newest cousin, one month old samson,

i am thankful for the opportunity to see all of my family today, even though that meant many hours in the car... approximately 300 miles driven today to be exact,

 i am thankful i was able to see my boyfriend's beautiful goddaughter celebrate her fourth birthday and spend time with his whole family,

and i am thankful that my love enjoys adventures as much as i do and did not think i was nuts when i suggested braving walmart at 10 pm "just to check it out."

it's the most wonderful time of the year!

i love making desserts! i don't say baking because these cute thanksgiving turkeys didn't need to be baked. it was also my co-worker's birthday!

oh baby you can leave me tonight on the loose end

tying up loose ends from the weekend... awesome set list from the dave and tim show and a video of jeff up in a tree

(sorry, not sure what happened to the sound  :( )

you know i keep my fame and i can't forget that tree

[insert any dave matthews lyric here]

and there is just one thing that i almost forgot: oh, see, you and me, we lay awake in lust and rust in the rain and pore over everything we say we trust

i sure love holiday themed cookies!

just an old fashioned love song, one i';m sure they wrote for you and me

sharing some breakfast with my kitten and holy cross vs uconn women's bball!

sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'

christmas music all the way to shopping in new bedford and newport creamery :)

my little purrito

cause i live and breathe this philadelphia freedom

this is my kitten, roxy. we have a video of her playing under the blanket but it's too big to get off my phone. so cute.

remember, remember

guy fawkes day... posted a day late. my roommates decided to burn an effigy of guy fawkes. you can't see jeff, but he is holding it up, so the flames went to like 6 feet high. 

she's touch, smell, sight, taste, and sound

going out to teach golf lessons now... and it's going to be 40 when i'm done and there is still snow on the course. i found these pictures today of an event almost exactly 5 months ago. can't believe i was wearing a sweater then in like 70 degree weather.

i love you oh so well like a kid loves candy and fresh snow

the world has lost her way again

everyday i'm shufflin

night time sledding, complete with headlamp, into the brook. so fun.

it's the end of the world as we know itttttt

what a weekend... ok fine, i admit it. i was wrong. this storm is INSANE. here is what has been going on since saturday morning:

i had a golf lesson saturday morning at 10 am until 11:30 and it was colddddd, then i came home to two of my roommates watching tv. my boyfriend was (supposed to be) at work all weekend and we decided to all go to lunch at wendy's together.  this was when it started to snow. little did i know that would be the start of a lot of fast food... after wendy's, we came home and tried to watch some tv... then the power went out.  

at this point it was 4 pm and the three of us walked around the house aimlessly trying to figure out what to do.  for the rest of the evening we took walks around our block and listened to the trees crackle. it was crazy, every 30 seconds or so we would hear a tree break and we would frantically look around trying to figure out from which direction it was coming and run away from it. we almost got hit by a few falling trees. scary.

we played cards on saturday evening and spent the night in the basement since all of our bedrooms are on the top floor and a tree came very close to taking out one of the roommate's bedrooms earlier that evening.

we woke up on saturday morning to chaos.  there were trees everywhere. we decided to take another walk around the block.  it was a disaster area. 

that was sunday morning. now it's tuesday afternoon.  still no power, no internet, no cell phone (for me with sprint at least). they even cancelled halloween! however, that didn't stop boyfriend and i from dressing up! we have played a lot of cards, watched hocus pocus last night, and have been running our heat for an hour or two every night with the help of a generator so we don't freeze.  our roommate has been chainsawing up a storm, and it has definitely been an adventure.  

i'm back at work this afternoon (but we are spending our time talking about the storm). so my posts will be sporadic while the power is out, and since east hartford schools don't have school all week, i don't anticipate having power anytime soon.

i guess my golf season is over :(

the boys walking around the neighborhood

that's not supposed to be there

gotta stay warm somehow

happy november, everyone!