totallytinab

I am sitting in my house that I have lived in for almost 6 years as the moving men pack up our lives into a few boxes. (OK-A lot of boxes)  Tomorrow everything will be loaded into a moving truck and then it will all be unloaded Saturday.  Knowing me, I will have most of it organized in a week or so.

The house we are moving to will be my 5th house as “an adult”  Each represents a different time in my life.  My first house will always be special.  When we bought it, Dan and I weren’t even married.  I had just established myself on tour  and buying the house signified just that.  House #2 was my dream home. It was my favorite and I know I will always love that house.   House #3 was in Manhasset, NY.  It was the only old house we have lived in and it had its charms. I finally got it just the way I wanted it when we decided to move back to Arizona.  House #4 is a great house and I will certainly miss the quiet.  Life changes and with each life change, we have changed houses.

It’s amazing how much “stuff” you can accumulate when you have lived in 4 different houses.  We are downsizing in House #5.  We are loosing 1000 square feet and a garage space.  So for the last month, I have been getting rid of “stuff”  If I hadn’t worn it, used it, played with it, or eaten off of it in a year, it was gone.  We had a garage sale, we have furniture on consignment and we have made several non-profits very happy from all of our donations.  I discovered a few things about myself.  One, I am a picture- frame aholic.  We got rid of 4 bins of picture frames (but I had to keep 2 to continue to feed my addiction)  Two, there were double the amount of  hangers as clothes in this house.  I had no idea until I was cleaning out the closets and found a box full of them that was never even unpacked from House #3.  Three, I was saving clothes that used to fit before my accident just in case I gained all of my weight back.  So far, that hasn’t happened so GoodWill was the beneficiary to my weight loss.  (Now the pressure is on to stay this size!)  Four, even with all of this de -clutter, we still have way too much “stuff”!!

I am hoping for good things in House #5.  We are moving to a house more centrally located, closer to my work and in a nice transitioning neighborhood with no snakes!  But in a few years, we will accumulate more “stuff and life will change… Hello House #6!

Happy New Year!!

I still can’t believe it is 2013.  Where has the time gone?  I remember looking forward to the turn of the century and now it is 13 years later-wow!

The start of the new year give us a chance to look back, clear the slate and look forward.

I have not posted a blog entry in almost 7 months and I think it’s about time, uh?  OK so the goal for 2013 is 2 blogs/month.  But before I get ahead to goals for 2013, I’d like to take a look back at 2012.

The highlights:

Our family has grown by one great dog.  It’s so great to have 2 dogs.  Bosco and Bella are awesome!

I love my work and am challenged and rewarded by it each day.   I love the fact I am making a small difference in the lives of our participants.

I feel like I am almost completely recovered from my accident.  I am able to do pretty much anything I want. My pain has decreased and my head movement is decent.  If you didn’t know, you’d never know…

I saw many movies.  I love the escape of getting away for 2+hours and I love popcorn!

I got back to reading and read at least 20 books.  Thank you Kindle for making it so easy to find and download good books.

The Phoenix Coyotes finally won a playoff series!  And then they won another one!

I did a little bit of traveling.  I took a few trips to visit my god-daughter and best friend in Minnesota.  We traveled to NJ for my niece’s Bat Mitzvah (and my 1st ever too) I went back to Longwood for a reunion.  I got to go to Dallas for work.  We went to San Francisco for a long weekend and then to Prescott for our anniversary  And our annual trip back East for the holidays. Just enough travel to keep me happy.

My family is pretty healthy (knock on wood)

The lowlights:

At one point last year, I was following 4 people on CaringBridge with another that could have been on the site.  

The LPGA family lost some great people

We didn’t get to see family and friends in NJ this year in December. I only got to Baltimore once the whole year.

Lots of bad stuff happened in the country and in the world, really too much to document here.  That has been heartbreaking.

The NHL lockout

Dan’s year-end cold (he made me add that)

So as we look ahead to 2013, what can we hope for? What can we expect?  I would imagine it will be more of the same.  The thing to do is to try to control what we can control and hope for the best.  So my resolutions for 2013 are just that.  I resolve to visit, call and tell family and friends that I love them.  I will take care of myself and my family to the best of my abilities.  I will enjoy what I do and keep as positive an outlook as I can.

I wish you all the best in 2013.  May your highlights far outweigh the lowlights.

I run into things…a lot.  I fall down, I hit my shins, I bump into walls, I drop things, I dive into pools and break my neck.  It’s why I had the nickname growing up “Clara Klutz” I have never really grown out of it.  It’s who I am.

I wonder sometimes why I am such a klutz.  I am, after all, a former professional athlete.

Maybe it’s my spacial relations.  I try to walk around the table but always seem to bump it.  I didn’t mean to dive into shallow water, but…..

Right now, I have 6 bruises on my legs from various klutz attacks.  I am not really sure how I got them.  I don’t even notice  when I run into things anymore unless it’s a doozy.  Easter Sunday was one of those doozys.  We were out for a walk with our dogs.  We let them off of their leashes and I was walking after them.  I tripped and fell and scraped my knees, both elbows, and both of my hands.  That really hurt!

I get mad at myself sometimes.  I yell, “Pay attention, Tina!”  But I always seem to drop something or run into something else.  So I have resigned myself to knowing it is what it is.   I will be “Clara Klutz” forever.

The Masters never disappoints. Year after year, no matter  who the winner, it is the best golf event and close to the best sporting event on TV.

Each year, it is must see ,destination television.  I know where I will be the Sunday of the Masters.  I will be sitting on my couch watching the drama unfold.  Even when I was playing and traveling, I was sure to make my travel plans around being able to watch the Masters.

Why is the Masters such a great event?  Fo those of us that grew up in cold weather climates, the Masters was the unofficial start of golf season.  The weather was still a little iffy, but we knew we would be playing soon and we were excited to dust off the golf clubs.

I think another reason the Masters is so great is the familiarity we all have with the course.  We know each of the holes. We can remember all of the great shots hit on all of them. We know that you need to stay left of the pin on #12.  We anticipate that anything could happen because you can make eagle on #13 0r #15. We know you can’t go long on #17 and that #18 is a tough finishing hole.  The course is so green and the flowers are so pretty.  I was lucky enough to have attended in 1996 and the course does not disappoint.  It lives up to all of the hype and actually exceeds it.

Each year there is another story.  Bubba Watson yesterday and his 40 yard hook with a pitching wedge out of the trees after Louis Oosthuizen makes double eagle on the 2nd hole in what would have probably gotten him a plaque if he had won.  Last year, Charl Schwartzel birdies the last 4 holes to break out of a pack of players.  In years past there are has been so much drama, Jack in 86, Ben Crenshaw winning for Harvey Penick, Norman blowing it in 96, Tiger winning by 12, Phil winning his first major,  and so many more….

Another Masters is in the books.  There are 3 more majors left on The PGA Tour and I will be tuned in to each one.  They will all have great stories but none will be the Masters.  We have to wait until next April for that.  I already know where I will be: sitting on my couch and watching the drama unfold.

(Written by guest dog blogger Bella)

They did it! A week ago Mommy and Daddy brought home another dog and he is still here so I guess I have a new brother.  His name is Bosco and he is huge!  Mommy says he weighs 95 pounds.  (I only weigh 65)

Bosco

The first week together has been pretty good.  I like that he is so big and you would think that such a big boy would like food as much as me. But he eats so slowly. It takes me like 30 seconds to finish my breakfast and dinner and then I have to sit there and wait for him to finish.  I am always so tempted to steal his food but Mommy holds me back.  I guess she doesn’t want me to weigh 95 pounds too!

We have been together playing a lot.  We wrestle, we chase toys and we play tug of war.  My favorite thing though is to hump.  Sometimes he lets me, but most times he pushes me away.  (I guess he’s just not in the mood)

We have been going on walks together.  He’s not as good on a leash as me.  Mommy says the family they rescued him from just stuck him in their backyard and never trained him or even played with him.  The other day, we were walking and he stepped on a jumping cholla.  Chollas are cactus plants that have some serious stickers on them. He tried to get the cholla off of his foot and then got all kinds of pokeys in his face!  I can’t believe I didn’t get any in me.  Thank goodness!  Mommy took us immediately home and her and Daddy tried to get all of the stickers out.  They couldn’t get them all so they took him to the vet.  A few hours later, he came back home and was stumbling all over the place.  It was so funny to watch him run into stuff!  I left him alone that day to let him recover and now he is fine.  We haven’t walked that way again with Mommy and we probably never will.

He still has a few things to learn, but I am being patient with him as I try to show him the ropes.  We have rules around this house and you have to follow them!  You have to sit before you go outside and before you come back in.  You have to sit when Mommy puts the leash on you.  He never learned sit, but seems to be picking it up really well.  He doesn’t steal stuff like I do.  He never takes clothes out of the hamper.  He never rips up trash from Daddy’s work trash can.  He just plays, pees a lot, and sleeps.  I need to show him how to be a little bit bad (it’s so fun!)

Life is going to be a little bit different with a brother and our family is adjusting well.  Bosco seems to have completed us and we are all really happy and lucky to have him!

(Written by guest dog blogger Bosco)

Glad to be here!  Stop humping me Bella!

This is Bella again doing a guest dog blog.  There has been some talk around my house lately that has me a little worried so Mommy said I could express my concerns with her readers.

The talk is about getting another dog.  Now I have lived in this house for more than 2 years and I am the big dog so I am not sure how I feel about another dog invading my space.  I guess there are some positives and there are some negatives so Mommy says whenever you are considering something important it is always important to make a list.

Positives:

• I will have a play friend. I can’t wait for that.  It will be so fun to have someone to swim, run and hang out with
• I will have someone who speaks my language.  I can’t tell you how many times I try to make an important point and all I get in return is a smile
• I will have someone to blame if I mess up.  If Mommy and Daddy can’t prove who made the mess, they will not automatically blame me
• I will be able to show the new dog the ropes and how things are done around the house.  Oh, this is a good one!  I can show him how if you whine in the morning you get breakfast quicker and if you keep tapping at the door, you get lots of attention.  If you follow Mommy into her room at night, you get to sleep on the big bed for a little while and if you steal the laundry out of the hamper, you can use it like a pillow.  If you go in your crate when they say “bedtime” you get some extra food.  If you lay on top of the sofa like I saw the cat at my first house do, you can sleep for hours!  If you make a really cute face Mommy can’t resist and gives you people food.  If you go into Daddy’s office, you can get papers out of his garbage can and shred them for him. Gosh,there is so much I can’t wait to share!

Negatives:

• I am so excited I don’t think there are any negatives.  I heard Mommy say she is worried she has only ever had one dog and doesn’t know how she will love us both, but I know Mommy has enough love in her heart for 50 dogs!  (Hey there’s and idea I should share-50 dogs!)

Looking at my list, I would say that YES I am all for getting a new dog!  I am ready to be a big sister or little sister to whomever might be moving in.  I promise to show the new dog around the house and not share any of my bad habits-just the good ones:-)

Thanks for reading but I have to go.  I have a stick to chew and nap to take!

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes…How do you measure a year in your life?

January 12, 2012 marks the year anniversary of me breaking my neck.  Its been quite a year!  How do I measure the last year of my life?  Kind of like the song from Rent.  First during recovery it was in daylights and sunsets.  One day at a time.  With time, I got better and started to measure by walking inches and then miles.  Sure there was strife but there was way more laughter.

And now?  Well I may never fully recover.  I have some lingering pain helped by daily doses of Tylenol.  The back of my head is still numb.  I don’t have full range of motion in my neck and never will.  But if you didn’t know any differently, you would never know by looking at me that one year ago today I dove into a pool and changed my life.  I am able to work out, play golf, walk my dog, work at a job I love, and really just live my life to the fullest.

The past is the past, it can not be changed.  The future is out there waiting,  What will the next year hold?  Who knows?  But I  will continue to measure it the exact same way…in daylights, in sunsets, in laughter and in strife.

My best friend, Jacki, and I have a deal.  Each year, I visit her in Minnesota in the winter and she visits me in Arizona in the summer. Our deal doesn’t make a lot of sense to most people, but the timing works well.  I have some off time in the winter and she has some down time in the summer.

I am going on my annual trip tomorrow and looking at the 10 day forecast, I am lucking out.  The temperature will be in the 40’s when I land and the highs all weekend will be in the 30’s.  There is no snow in the forecast and not even any on the ground.  These temperatures are still really cold for me and I have plenty of sweaters packed, but it could be a lot worse.  A few years ago, the temperature did not get above 0.  It was ridiculous and I am not sure how people live that way.

Of course, Minnesotans say the same thing about our Arizona summers.  I believe we had a record number of  110 degree days this past summer.  Jacki and I once played golf when it was about 114.  She nearly passed out and I think it took her at least few days to recover.

But we will continue to honor our deal.  It gives me a small little blast of winter and it gives her a chance to feel what hell might be like.  I will pack an extra coat and she will pack a bathing suit.  The important thing is time spent together-no matter what the extremes!

It’s a new year and you know what that means?  Resolutions!  The number 1 resolution has to be to lose weight and for the first time in forever, I am OK.  I have had to come up with something different.  When we make resolutions, we reflect back and look forward.  What kind of year do I want 2012 to be?  What about myself, if given a clean slate, would I like to change or improve?

When I look back on 2011, I am torn on whether or not it was a bad year.  It was certainly an interesting year.  Immediately, you would think that any year you break your neck would be a bad year.  But I am glass half-full kind of gal.  My accident showed me so many things about so many people including myself.  My husband got a great new job.  I got a new position at work.  So all in all, things were OK in 2011.

Now it’s time to look ahead to 2012.  What do I resolve to get done this year?  First, I would like to write more in this blog.  My goal will be at least 4 entries/month.  I enjoy writing and I think updating the blog will keep me more accountable to what is going on in my life.  Secondly, I want to figure out a way to give back more. There is no greater reward than helping others.  And finally, I want to learn to live a little more “green.”  I need to do my part to take care of the environment.

I hope that 2012 is a great year! (although not quite as “interesting” for me) I am resolving to make it so.

I recently went to see Louis CK at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, AZ.   He did a bit that really got me thinking.  It was about how some people take action, while others think about taking action but really never do anything about it.  It doesn’t sound funny, but it was hilarious.  That’s what comedians do, they turn the serious into humor.

I have to admit, I am one of those that think about taking action.  I think it is my extreme dislike of confrontation.  I like things to be even and steady.  The less the boat is rocked the better.  I have great ideas and intentions, but sometimes am a little too afraid to do anything.  My New Year’s resolution will be to try to remedy this flaw. (I am going to do it too-not just talk about it!)