quirkeejames's Blog

Yesterday was Father's Day and I didn't write a tear-jerking or funny post about life as a dad. Almost every dad blogger and their dog wrote one and they were all great! It's not that I dropped the ball on my duty as a dad blogger, it's just that I feel like every day is Father's Day being home with my kids. They are all special, even the stressful ones. OK, so maybe I was a little bit lazy on writing the post. 

Today was an exceptional day after Father's Day since Tiger Woods forced an 18 hole playoff yesterday by sinking a putt at the last possible chance he had. Surprised? Me either, and neither was Rocco Mediate who is probably one of the nicest guys on the PGA Tour.

Thanks to this extra round of the US Open, I pretty much did nothing productive all day except unload and load the dishwasher. I did spend some quality time chatting online about the playoff - one of the places being Kevin Robbins' staff blog at the Austin American Statesman where he was live blogging in a chat room. There were some technical difficulties with the program there so the conversations were limited, but it was still a great idea. 

I guess I did do something else productive today: I got a haircut and went to the bank to pay the mortgage. But other than that it was just an extension of yesterday and every other day when my life as a father is better than life without my kids. 

All I can say right now is WOW! Augusta National Golf Club is incredible and being at a Masters round - even a practice one - is an experience that will never be forgotten. I can't wait to get back there again. I have many photos to share but since I took about 700 of them it will take me a while to pull out the best for sharing. For now I'll leave you with a teaser shot out of the windshield on Wednesday morning:

Sunrise - Road to the Masters

If you can't wait for them to post here then you can visit my Masters 2008 album on Flickr where the photos will land first. I will post more photos and travel experiences here including the day in Augusta to my flight home from Dallas to Austin, where I met a fellow golf lover who was more than happy to discuss the Masters with me and what life is like raising daughters. Nice to meet you, Spencer, and I hope we meet again.

My regularly scheduled daily photo posts will be a few days behind as I will not have a computer with me. In 2 hours and 30 minutes I'll be boarding the plane to get to beautiful Augusta, Georgia. I didn't sleep much last night. While in bed I turned on the Golf Channel and watched Masters Highlights from previous years. Around midnight I dozed off and awoke at 5:00AM to the sound of my wife leaving for the gym. I tossed and turned in bed with a pillow over my ears to muffle the sound of a cricket outside the window who insisted I get up and get ready to go!

Wednesday recap and photo post will be here on Thursday!! Look for me on ESPN and the Golf Channel! I'll be the young Bob Newhart look-alike with a big camera in my face. 

Yesterday's post from my Daddyshack.net site:

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Last September on my 35th birthday I received this email from one of my Uncles:

Nephew James,

First, let me convey Happy Birthday wishes to you on this momentous milestone. Unfortunately, this also means you no longer can be considered a kid in any sense after passing this one. You are totally and 100% an adult. I hope your kid years were fun and produced a lot of good memories; second, for your 35th birthday present, I would like to get you started on your new “midlife” memories.

Your Uncle Bob, father and I have agreed to reprise our 1998 Augusta trip that we took with our dad, to once again visit 73rd The Masters golf tournament next April on the final practice round day, Wednesday. Wednesday is also the day of the Par 3 tournament! As you are the sole Grayson-blood grandson descendant of your dearly departed grandfather, we three have jointly resolved to invite you to accompany us on this 2008 trip as the replacement / surrogate / successor for your Grandpa. (Nay! Instead, “next generation”, establishing a legacy, …) We surely hope that you can fill out our foursome, and walk on the hallowed grounds of the American holy grail of golf with us.

That's right, people! I'm going to The Masters!

The most awesome thing about going to the practice rounds is that they allow cameras on the course. If I were to die for some reason after next Wednesday I'll definitely be going to Heaven with a smile on my face having been able to shoot photographs at one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world! This is a photo I took of a painting print that hangs in my son's room.

The painting of #16 at Augusta is by Brent Hayes. I picked up this framed print at a Goodwill auction a couple of years ago for $18.00! I'm going to stand in that same spot and take a photo (with dozens of people in it) to frame and hang next to the print.

This is going to be really fun!