A Not So Restful Sunday

Today was one of those days where all I wanted to do was relax but unfortunately that didn't happen until about 6pm.  Whenever I have to go out of town for work I like to have a restful Sunday.  I start getting sad and upset that I have to go out of town because I'd rather be at home where I can eat healthy food, sleep in my own bed with my wife and just have familiar surroundings.  There are so many things that I rely on Mandy for when I'm home and she relies on me a lot too.  It's very hard for us when I have to travel but it's something that comes with my job.  Mandy is still in the midst of her new job and I really wish I would be home to be there for her.  Luckily with our new computer we have a webcam built in which means I can take the other one we have with me while I'm out of town.  So now Mandy and I can actually talk and see each other instead of just the phone.
These Sundays are always hard for me and I wish I could stay home with my wonderful wife.
I'll be back on Friday and do this all again next Sunday. Sigh.

A New Beginning

Ahhh, where to begin? I find that I don’t have adequate words to describe how I am feeling. Maybe it is because I have not used them to describe my own life in so long. Or maybe it is that I never experienced them in this way? Regardless of what the reason is, I can only try to describe this new part of my life the best I know how. By using over the top words and actions, with slight exaggerations and complete and total abandonment to the events as they happened. I am still a Pierce despite the sign on my classroom door that reads Mrs. Fiechtner with an additional Mrs. Feekner logo (my feeble attempt to have my name pronounced correctly), and a Pierce always embellishes for effect.

Coming from a place of great sorrow and spending so much time longing for something to change I found myself relishing every bit of this new experience. Spending many hours at school way before I was expected to be there, rearranging my room, working on projects, cleaning, and just generally soaking up the atmosphere. As the school year drew closer I began to feel more and more confident in the plans that God has so clearly laid out for me and Mike in this new adventure. Don’t get me wrong I was very nervous the first day of school. I knew one of two things would happen, I would sound completely prepared and ready to teach art, or I would throw up on the senior sitting in the front row. Well, even though neither of those happened I made it through my first day with little to no issues, with a great big praise for the lack of vomit by me or anyone else in my classroom. And each day as I stood in front of my class, my confidence grew; and slowly I could feel a new woman rising in me. For the first time in a long time I could feel the presence of God leading me, and I was listening. As the words poured from my mouth one feeling kept coming back to me, “so this is what it feels like to do God’s will.”

I have to admit, as a girl who is never at a loss for words, never one to appear uncomfortable in a social situation and always quick to put on the façade of perfection, the last year and half have been the most difficult time of my life. And to be able to emerge from that with a new hope brings so much joy to my heart I feel as though people might begin to stare at all of the extra oozing out in my smile and demeanor. And although I am still very beaten and battered from the events that I never go a day without thinking about, I finally feel like instead of new blows I am being given the chance to heal. Slow as it may be, I know in my heart that this job is going to play a big part in making those wounds less painful. And in some way I feel as though this is God’s sign to me that he can create great things out of horrible situations. I think the moment of greatest emotion came for me when I was putting the final touches on my room. As anyone who knows me can tell you, the one thing in this world I am most proud of is my family, and so of course I needed to get pictures of them up for all to see. As I hung those pictures in my room I knew without a shadow of doubt that this new road that God was taking me on was going to be a success. Because with a family like mine behind me how could I possibly fail. As I hung the picture of my Grandpa Jim, I saw so clearly the collision of two paths, one of sorrow and pain crashing into one of hope and promise. And in that moment I could feel my grandpa telling me, “I am so proud of the new path you are about to walk down, and I will be with you every step of the way.”

So here I stand at the end of week one. Not blind to the struggles that face me nor standing in a pool of naiveté thinking that it is always going to be this easy. It is just me standing at the beginning of a new road, treading lightly toward the light of hope that this new journey brings. Fully aware that it is not the job that will change my life but the life giving gift of me welcoming God’s presence back into the journey. And although I know I will look back from time to time, it will be out of love not pain.

And just to spice things up, (I wouldn’t want to let the greatest story teller of all time down by not throwing in a bit of humor and exaggeration).

My week one top 5:

5. Starting my new job off by singing worship songs, listening to devotions, and taking communion with my co-workers.

4. Having one of my middle school students tell me my name was spelled wrong in the syllabus, (she really bought into the phonetic spelling, its spelled Fiechtner, not Feekner).

3. Blindfolding my students and letting them draw sound, all in the name of art of course.

2. Being initiated as a new teacher at our all school retreat. I was asked to describe my first time eating a candy cane, but the students were told I was describing my first kiss.

1. Getting to share my job as a teacher, with the one person who has been my biggest supporter through the good and the bad of getting to this point. Mike made an amazing teacher, and the kids loved hearing about his amazing photography!

Is it really that hard?

I will forever live a life with a confusing last name. Both saying it and spelling it is difficult for people. I'm not sure why! I guess I've had my whole life to practice saying it and repeating it to people and correcting their spelling of it. I find it very entertaining to see how people spell it and say it. I've seen it spelled so many different ways: Feichtner, Fiebner, Siechtner, Fletcher, Flechtner, Fiechma, Feikner to name a few. Listening to people say it wrong my entire life I've started spelling it to them phonetically F-E-E-K-N-E-R. Funny thing is that FEEKNER has become many of my logins and usernames including flickr or my photo blog cause Fiechtner is too difficult for people to understand or spell.

Here's a recent funny story, the person at the drycleaners couldn't spell our name right so I handed him my driver's license to show him and now I will always be known at this dry cleaners as "Mr. Fiechma" because he just copied my driver's license number which includes the first five letters in your last name and the first initial for your first and middle names or MA for Michael Allen. I'm glad all of my dress shirts now have FIECHMA printed on them.

Having a confusing last name is a blessing and a curse. Here are just a few positives and negatives to having a unique last name. If you have a unique last name I'm sure you can relate:

Positive:
1. You always knew when your name would be called during roll call at school on the first day. It would go something like this, "Ellis, Everett, Fffff........." and I would chime in "Here! It's pronounced Fiechtner (you idiot)"
2. You know when a solicitor is calling on the home phone. Solicitor: "Is Mrs. Fiechtner (mispronounced) home?" Me: "No" CLICK.
3. Easier to Google yourself
4. Easy to find Usernames on websites that work. Most of the time mfiechtner or something similar is available. You'll never see me with johnsmith26@gmail.com or something like that.
5. Easy to find family history on the internet
6. People will be more likely to remember you
7. You can get a good laugh at Safeway when they try to pronounce your name when handing you the receipt. You either get the person that will try to pronounce it, the person that looks at the receipt confused and muffles their voice attempting to pronounce it cause they have no clue or the person that just looks at the receipt and looks up and says "thanks."

Negative:
1. People can't seem to find your reservation that you made. Go back to all the different spellings and try each until you find the right one.
2. Constantly having to repeat it and getting that "What the hell did you say?" look from people.
3. Mandy has to decide how to present herself in her new class. It may end up being just Mrs. F. Anyone have a suggestion?
4. Microsoft Word says that it's mispelled in all of my documents.
5. Your true friends still can't pronounce it or spell it.

Having a last name like Fiechtner has presented many challenges in my life but overall I'm happy with the name and I will be proud to pass it down to my children. I will always remind them how to say it just like my grandpa Verne would say it, with a true German accent (make sure you almost spit when saying it).

I will always love being a Fiechtner!

Move or no move?

Mandy and I are tinkering with the idea of moving further north in West Seattle. Are we crazy? It would only be a few miles more north. Sometimes Mandy gets these crazy ideas and I never know whether it's something she's completely serious about or if it's just her need for change. I've definitely learned in my three years of marriage that Mandy loves change. I'm not at all saying it's a bad thing. She has a brain that goes a mile a minute and occasionally I have to bring her back to reality. I love you Mandy! Most of the time though her ideas are great and something I would have never thought of. I'm usually pretty content with where I'm at and don't like to rock the boat. Well her latest idea of moving further north is starting to sound kind of nice. We'd be closer to some of our good friends John and Nichelle Keatley and most importantly my parents. We'd also have a shorter trip downtown and be in a nicer neighborhood (most likely).

The other idea we've had is remodeling our house a little. If you've been in our house we are thinking about tearing down the wall and pantry between our living room and kitchen which would open things up quite a bit. We'd also like to potentially add something to the front of the house. Not sure if that would be an additional room where our right driveway is or some kind of porch and additional peak in our roof at our front door. We just don't like the look of our "box" of a house.
What do you guys think?

If you haven't already done so, please go and check out my photo blog or flickr site!

Feekner photo

Mandy and I had dinner last night with some friends and I was told that they didn't know about my photo blog that I started so I just wanted to add a post so that anyone following this blog will know that I did indeed start a photo blog. Instead of getting into all of the details why don't you just go and check it out! Click here feekner photo or go to http://feekner.blogspot.com

Also, if you can't figure it out, feekner is phonetically how you say our last name. Well maybe not the true German way but it's how I pronounce it!

Here is a taste of my flickr site and some of the photos I've been taking. You can never have too much of the Masters and Augusta National.



Have a nice weekend!

Seattle's Newest Teacher

I'm happy to announce that Mandy has been offered a position at Seattle Christian School as their Art and Technology teacher position for high school and one middle school class. During the last 7 months of Mandy not having a job there have been a lot of challenges for both of us. There was a lot of questioning God and what His plans were for us.

When Mandy took the girls golf coach position at the same school I knew that she would do great with the kids. Mandy has a knack with kids and knows that sports is not about winning but having fun (Maybe I should listen to Mandy too). They did finish 7-1 so there was definitely fun and winning. I think she did a great job at this based on the comments I heard from some of her golf girls.




So when the Art teacher position opened up at the same school I knew it had to be God that set this up. Neither of us wanted to get our hopes up and so we prayed about it and tried to not talk too much about it. It seemed to good to be true. Mandy had her first interview a week ago and it sounded like it went well. Well they called a couple days ago and asked for a second interview. That's always a good sign! When she showed up they started talking as if she already had the job. Mandy was confused. They ended up offering her the job contingent upon follow up with her references. We knew that would be a slam dunk so today Mandy got the word. I'm very proud of my wife and so happy for her. This has been a long hard road for both of us and it's going to end with Mandy teaching art (which she loves) and coaching golf (which she loves) at a Christian school (which she loves). Congrats Mandy! You'll be the best teacher!

Bath time with Luke

Bath time with our nephew Luke. What a cute kid!

Is there a job out there?

Anyone who reads this knows that my wife is a very talented individual. Daily she amazes me with her ideas and art and passion. One of the things that has become so clear to me over the last few years and more so in the last few months is that Mandy is great with kids and teaching. She has a natural gift to work with them in a way that others can't. She's demonstrated this in her art classes that she was teaching to grade school kids and now she's doing it with high school girls for Seattle Christian school. (Who by the way is 5-0!) It seems natural for her to be called into something related to this for a full time job.

Mandy and I have been praying for the right job to come along for her. Asking God that He would show us that job and help us to be patient. We're not sure if the right job will be her selling her art, teaching kids art or something we're not even aware of. We recently started modifying our shed so she had a dedicated place to do her art. Well Mandy was applying for many jobs with no success and a lot of frustration and hurt but recently had a phone interview for the Children's Museum in Seattle and everything about it sounded great! Both of us were so excited and we thought it was God's answer to our prayer.....well apparently it wasn't meant to be. Turns out they need someone next week which conflicts with her golf schedule. I don't get it! It's so frustrating and my heart breaks listening to my wife and her disappointment. All I want is for her to be happy. I just want her to know that she's not a failure and her gifts are so great and she has so much to offer this world. I just want to go to these places that she's applying and tell them everything about Mandy and why she would be great!

One thing I'm learning in this situation is that we have to continually rely on God and His plan for our lives. We can't do this on our own as we will fall short. Mandy, God has big plans for you as we heard last night and I don't want you to lose sight of that! I love you Mandy!

Back to Reality

Well it's back to reality. Going back to work has been difficult because ever since I've gotten back I just want to look at my pictures/video or think about the Masters. Unfortunately with Mandy's surprise came the reality that I actually did have to do the taxes. I now know to never believe Mandy when she says that she's going to do them. Although I think after this surprise she could probably make something else up pretty easily. It was a great trip and it's nice to be back! I'll always have my memories.....and about 2,000 photos!

Masters Top 10

This is Mandy writing:

Wow, where do I begin? When I starting thinking about this last blog, it became less about deciding what to write and more about what to leave out, because honestly how do you sum up a week such as this? There are so many experiences I could tell, so many things I could describe, but for your sake and because some things are better left as a memory I have created a top ten list instead. Let me set the stage for you; imagine Mr. Billy Payne standing on the podium looking spiffy to the tee (no pun intended). No, no let me back up, I just realized only a few of you have any idea who Billy Payne is, so he will not do (commissioner, of the Masters by the way). Ok, instead imagine Angel Cabrarrea waiting to receive his green jacket. Ahhh crap he doesn’t speak English. Alright I’ll just cut right to it, let’s just imagine who we all really wanted to win, I think his voice would suit my top ten best, Mr. Kenny Perry (large sigh, bogey on 18, really). There he stands in his imaginary green jacket, he takes a deep breath and announces, “I dedicate this win to Mike Fiechtner, who is quite possibly this biggest Masters fan of all time,” he continues, “his dedication to this tournament is unparalleled. From his countless hours researching ebay, to his willingness to take vacation days just to watch us on TV, all this only matched by his extensive Masters spreadsheet. Mike, this top ten is for you!”

10. The excitement of driving past the hallowed Magnolia Lane at 12:30am (although Mike had on rose colored glasses I was surprised to see that it was in the middle of suburbia strip mall ville.)

9. Walking through the merchandise tent looking at all the cool Masters memorabilia (yeah I spent an arm and a leg, but how many times do you get to buy Masters stuff, oh wait….. ebay)

8. The first look at the course. (It was just like a painting laid out before us, hills and trees and flowers and the giant score board! Ahhh as they say the closest thing to heaven on earth.)

7. Walking the whole course and listening to Mike tell me all kinds of useless facts, “oh, did you know this is the only hole with a palm tree (hole #4), ahh this is the hole where Sarzen got his double eagle, this is where Greg Norman came up short and his ball rolled all the way back,…. (You get the point, and don’t be deceived I loved every little tid bit)

6. Getting autographs throughout the week, and standing in the line watching all the players walk to the driving range. (The irony is that I didn’t get any of the autographs while standing in the line, although we did get 8 new autographs, and I was able to get 2 of them. One was Bernard Langer as he was walking off the practice green, he was right in the crowd and not many people noticed him. And Charles Coody, he signed on the back side of the club house, against Augusta National rules, oooooo. Yeah, Yeah who is Charles Coody, winner in 1971 duh.)

Ok here comes the big disclaimer. I recognize the fact that with each number I am sounding more and more like Mike. But I assure you this is all me, granted Mike has clearly affected my state of mind. Although no where the same level as Mike, with some hesitation I must admit, I too love the Masters. Yeah I said it, so what.

5. Mike getting Larry Mize to personalize our flag (he always puts a name or a verse when signing) to say Mandy with my favorite verse below it, better than any flowers or chocolate ladies. To make it even more special Mike went to great lengths all week trying to get this signature, finally making friends with his caddy he was able get him to sign. And you must understand Mike has been working on this flag for many years now, collecting around 20 signatures, and only missing about 8 champions who are still alive. It is a big love of his, therefore very special to me.

4. Watching past champions drive down Magnolia Lane for the champions’ dinner Tuesday night. How could you do this you ask, well, que Steve the Sheriff, our good friend who guarded Magnolia lane. This number could not have happened without him. Like everyone we met this week Steve could not have been any nicer, he went above and beyond for us. We meet him on Tuesday at the end of the day right after being asked to say some words for a European Tour show on the Golf channel. We thought that was pretty cool but what followed top that by a thousand. Because of the cold weather the champions’ dinner was held inside this year, which consequently meant Steve did not make us leave when we were supposed to. As we began to chat he told us stories of players, past champions, members, the works, things only an insider would know. And sure enough we got to stand there long enough to see many of the past champions drive up for the dinner. So dressed to the tee, we saw Woosnam, Faldo, Nicklaus, Palmer, Crenshaw, Weir, etc…

3. Sitting on 18 the final day. We watched all the drama unfold, heard the roars from Phil and Tiger, and even got on TV a few times. Overall an awesome place to be, no thanks to Mike and his mad dash to place our chairs in primetime spot! He and thousands of his friends were vying for a very small amount of space because there are no bleachers on 18. So we waited at the gates until 8:05 and the dash began, I was left in the dust but reaped the benefits of my hubby’s long legs and determination.

2. The par three tournament, again finding awesome seats on 9, this time I scored the prime time spot. We got to see Tim Clark and Gary Player get hole in ones (Player’s was actually his third shot after going in the water), we enjoyed watching all the player’s kiddos caddy for them and putt the final shot for them. We watched Fuzzy pick a little girl out of the crowd to putt his last shot for him, about a 15 foot side hill putt, which she made on one of the fastest greens in the world! It was so fun taking pictures and watching, a very fun relaxing day. Check out the picture I took on the Masters website of Nicklaus, Mike claimed it but I took it!

1. Being blessed enough to share the opportunity of a lifetime with my amazing husband. Words can describe how thankful I am for his love of me, and well, The Masters. Because it is that love that made all of this happen, truly an unforgettable experience, unlikely to be topped in this lifetime.

Masters memories I'll never forget!

This week has been quite a week and I'm trying to make the best of everything and take everything in. I never expected to get some of the experiences I'm getting. Here are a few of those stories.

When golf fans think of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters there are certain things that come to mind, one of which is Magnolia Lane. For those that don't know this is the road that leads from Washington Road to the clubhouse. The drive is lined with large trees that are over 100 years old. It is a drive that players always talk about. Unfortunately for the fans you aren't able to drive down it or even walk down it during the tournament. During the practice rounds people are able to take pictures of it from the one end but that's about it. Well during the week Mandy and I have befriended the sheriff that guards the front of the clubhouse and the end of the Magnolia Lane. Each day I've stopped by and said hello and he's shared some really neat stories of his time working. We waited with him Tuesday night til about 7pm and watched about a dozen of the champions come for the champion's dinner. Well today I stayed til the very end of the day and after all of the players were done I was at the front trying to get Mickelson's autograph and I joked to the sheriff that maybe he could drive me to the local IHOP where Mandy was supposed to pick me up and drive down Magnolia Lane. He said sure. So unlike every other one of the 30,000+ fans, I was able to drive down Magnolia Lane.....yes it was in the back of a cop car but at least I got to experience it.



As many of you know, I have a Masters flag that I try to get as many of the champions to sign. Today was a great day for getting some of the autographs. I was able to get 4 more today from Jackie Burke, Billy Casper, Nick Faldo and Larry Mize. The best story comes with getting Larry Mize's. I had been trying to get his autograph every day and was unsuccessful. I had a chance to talk with his caddie for about 10 minutes on Tuesday he took my business card and he said that if I didn't get his autograph this week he'd email me and we'd figure out a time at the senior tour event in Seattle. I had talked with his caddie a few more times today and also on Wednesday. Well today after Larry Mize finished his round he was hitting balls on the range and his caddie saw me and said "hey Mike"....at this point we are on a first name basis. He came over and grabbed my flag and said that he'd get his autograph for me and bring the flag back out to me. There were probably a half dozen people trying to get his autograph and so I felt pretty special. He personalizes the flags and so I had him make it out to Mandy and he's also a christian so I asked his caddie to have him write Mandy's favorite bible verse: Matthew 6:34. It was nice to meet his caddie and have him do this for me.



Everyone at the tournament has been so nice and I'm having the time of my life. How many people can say they have driven down Magnolia Lane, chatted with Masters champions who won in 1956 and 1970 or befriended the caddie for the 1987 Masters champ? I'm sure there are several but now I'm one of them!

A few Masters photos

Just a few photos from the Masters. The first is of a guy they pulled from the crowd at #12 and let him hit a tee shot. He stuck it 10 feet from the flag....great shot.



Ben Crenshaw's tee shot:


Jack Nicklaus and his grandson during the par 3 tournament:


Mandy and I at the back of the clubhouse:


Greg Norman.....don't blow it again! Mandy is rooting for him to win.


Mandy stretching before going in on Tuesday. As you can see we are first in one of the lines....would you expect anything different from me! This was about 6:45am.


Mandy and I at the tee of #12 at Amen Corner:

I'm a part of Masters history!

I decided to post one of my photos on the Masters website after Tuesday's round and they put it on in the "Patron Photos". I was super excited to see that they selected since they tell you when providing the photos that they receive a lot and only post a select number. Also, have to give props to John Keatley for teaching me everything I know about photography and lending me his super duper lens. Thanks John!

Here is the link on the Masters website and also I'll post the picture on the blog:

http://www.masters.com/en_US/news/photos/2009-04-08/200904081239216750.html?glryid=2009-04-08/p20090408

Masters Day 1 - Mike's perspective

Coming into Augusta was like a dream. Part of me felt like I had been here before based on all of the books I've read and pictures I've seen. As we started to drive down Washington Road at 1am in the morning last night I was so excited to see the front gate knowing that we'd probably only see the Augusta National Golf Club Members Only sign. As we slowly drove by I couldn't help but smile. I couldn't wait for Monday. We arrived at our apartment that we were staying at for the week and was very surprised at how nice it is. We finally lay down to sleep around 2:30am and I don't think I fell asleep until 3 or 3:30am. I couldn't stop thinking about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do.
We got up at 5:50 this morning and I gave Mandy 40 minutes....no girl time getting ready! She was great and we actually left before. Arriving at the parking area I felt like we were parking for Golfer's Disneyland. Everything was all set up and there was a line forming outside the front gates. We waited patiently outside and had a few conversations with some other random golf addicts. About the time we were let in the clouds opened up and let out a quick 20 minute shower. Luckily during this time we were going through the merchandise tent. This merchandise tent was awesome!!!! So many cool things! If I was independently wealthy I probably would have bought one of everything. All of these things I had only seen on ebay were right there at my fingertips. We walked out with a small dent in our wallets...although that was expected.
The food was soo cheap! And actually pretty good....when I asked them what kind of beer they had they said....Masters special brew....which means....Augusta National doesn't want to commercialize the Masters tournament.
Ok so onto the course.....oh my gosh! Mandy and I walked onto the course which brings you out in the middle of the first hole and the first thing I noticed was how perfect the grass was....I have no idea how they do it but it was like carpet. We walked up towards the clubhouse and I was in shock....it is so surreal. I told Mandy it was like being at Disneyland times a thousand. We stood there and took it in.....oh and by this point the weather had gotten a lot better and there was no more rain the rest of the day.
We started walking the course and the first thing I notice is that TV doesn't do the hills justice. Hole number 10 is straight downhill....it's amazing. We walked over to Amen Corner (11, 12 and 13) and I just can't believe my eyes....it's amazing!! Absolutely beautiful!
I'm not sure what else to write....I'll probably right more throughout the week but for now I am just trying to soak in everything. I was in awe and can't wait til tomorrow....set the alarm for 5:50am.

Mandy's Time Stalk, I mean, Talk

12:30am We cross the Georgia state line, Mike gasps and squeals.
1:00am We cross the city lines into Augusta, Mike laughs because I missed our exit.
1:10am We slowly approach the hollowed ground of Augusta National (via strip mall suburbiaville, not what I expected!)
1:11am We slowly drive by the famous magnolia lane, Mike cries, not really, but he was excited!
2:30am Laying in bed unable to sleep, both excitement and time change
3:00am Still awake
5:50am Time to start the adventure, I better hurry my allotted 40 mins is slowly dwindling!
7:00am Arrive at the gates, ahhhahhhahhhahhh (that is church worship sounding music)
7:45am Finally allowed to get in, glad we got there so early, although we were first in line.
8:30am Check out at the merchandise tent, which put a big dent in the bank account. (Not that we haven’t already done that)
9:45am Ahhhahhhahhhahhh, the music plays as we approach the course, I pinch Mike, we squeal (quietly of course!), I shake Mike, we smile, and finally I remind Mike how awesome I am for planning the trip!
10:00am The first of many trips to the very prestine bathrooms, no port a potties here!!
10:45am We stare gazingly onto Amen Corner, what a glorious splendor to take in, Mike takes his 300th picture
11:30am We head to practice area after walking the whole course, on the way a little boy says “this grass is so soft, and it is real!” I pinch Mike again.
1:00pm Mike and I stake out our spots to get autographs.
1:30pm I am the coolest, I got Bernard Langer’s autograph on our undated Masters flag with all the past champions, Booya!!
1:45pm Mike takes his 500th picture
2:00pm We spot Nick Faldo about to have lunch outside the clubhouse, we watch and wait with anticipation! Although they are not allowed to give autographs on this side of the clubhouse (rules, rules, rules) we remain hopefully and wait.
2:15pm Nick runs inside the clubhouse, then comes back out. Mike tries to make eye contact so he can get an autograph, no luck.
2:20pm Nick enjoys some yummie soup as a starter, still no autograph, not even a chance.
2:30pm Nick enjoys a delicious hamburger! Still nothing, chance getting smaller!
2:35pm Tiger shows up on the green behind us, all attention turns to him, Mike leaves me on guard and goes to take his 600th picture
2:45pm Nick devours a piece of pumpkin pie, starting to feel like a stalker, chance miniscule!
2:55pm Nick leaves, boo, all that stalking and nothing to show for it. But hey I just watched a Masters champion eat an entire meal. Geeze Mike is rubbing off on me!
4:00pm Head to the 16th to watch some players skip balls across the water, very fun!!!
5:00pm 3 hours of sleep + Mike’s fast walking + excitement + the anxiety of trying to get autographs + 20 mile an hour winds + sunburn = although a very fun day, one that needs to come to an end sooner than later.
6:00pm Grab our expensive loot and end the first day of the most magically week of Mike’s life.
7:00pm Back at our apartment we’re staying….final picture count for the day: 855.

Wrap up:
Ahhhhahhhhahhhh, pinch, walk, shake, pee, picture, pinch, laugh, shake, pinch, pee, walk faster, take more pictures, pee, stalk Nick, walk, sit, pinch, ahhhhhahhhhhahhhh!!!

There are worse things...

Disclaimer: As many know I have a tendency to exaggerate, but please note; all statement that follow are TRUE in their entirety. As weird and hard to believe as they may seem, yes folks my husband IS this crazy.

We are at T minus 3 hours before we depart for the wild and crazy adventure, and I thought it would be a good idea to let you all in on my big secret. Mike is certifiably insane about the Masters (ok, not such a big secret). I will attempt in a brief but well documented way to describe the last week to all of you, mostly for laughs but maybe a little bit for your sympathy. At Mike’s parents’ house Friday Karen looked at me several times and just said “Mandy, I am sorry,” that is a pretty good description of what I am going through.
“HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, um, um, what hole do you want to go to first, huh, huh, which one, Amen Corner, I bet it is Amen Corner.” This all said with an attempt to sound genuine, because we all know it doesn’t matter what hole I want to see first, and I am ok with that. I have had to remind myself many times this week that I created this “Masters Monster” on more levels than one.
The text message read something like this, “This is better than any Christmas, EVER”! This was followed later that day with “falling asleep is harder than it ever was at Christmas.” The next morning brought a very interesting story about Mike’s method for not thinking about the Masters so he could fall asleep. “The first thing that came to my mind was Martha Stewart, so I tried to imagine her show, but before I knew it she was explaining how to properly decorate with Masters flags in your home.” “So when that didn’t work I decided to think about the Price is Right, but wouldn’t you know the item up for bid was a Masters flag.” (In case you think I am starting to exaggerate, I assure you I am not).
“I am excited to see the front nine, I don’t know much about the layout. Well, except for 1, 2, 8, and 9. Oh and #3 is a par 3 and #4 is a par 4…, so it will be fun to learn more.” This type of information has been flying around our house like poo in a monkey pin. “Did you know Jack was color blind?” “Did you know that Clifford Roberts didn’t let some guy be a member because he had too many kids?” “Did you know if you have a coke can when you go in they will ask you to pour it into a Masters cup?” Magnolia lane this and amen corner that, and autograph this. These helpful tidbits of information have only been interrupted by LOUD outbursts of squealing, laughing, jumping, wooing, wowing, and many other insanities.
What you might find amazing is that in a year my husband finished maybe one book along with a slew of other half read books. But in a period of one short month he has read 3 and half books about the Masters. You might also like to know that a tight wad every other week of the year, there is no mention of budget when it comes to the Masters tournament and memorabilia. My husband who can be a bit shy when it comes to meeting new people had no problems calling a complete stranger to talk Masters (he is also a Masters freak and was helping Mike learn the ropes.) Let’s just say when you are passionate about something it can change your perspective.
So all this probably comes as no surprise to you, but what you may not know is that I am excited too. This is mostly because I just love seeing my husband like this, but also because I am ready for some fun in my life. I can’t describe to you what this experience has been like so far and I can’t wait to experience what is in store for us this week. So if there is one thing I can say it would be that there are far worse things my husband could be obsessed with.
(This has been edited by the Masters Monster…..oh and Mandy Amen Corner should be capitalized and Masters does not have an apostrophe!)

The Spreadsheet...

As Mandy and I prepare to leave on Sunday for the trip of my life to the Masters I started to think about my obsession and when it started and the results of it. One of the things that came to mind was "the spreadsheet". Most probably know that I'm an individual who is pretty anal and likes to be organized so it should be no surprise that I use an Excel spreadsheet to track purchases and prices of the Masters items I see come across ebay. I remember when the spreadsheet started out with only one tab for the Masters annuals that I saw sold on ebay. I would keep track of selling price, bids, date sold, shipping cost, starting bid, buyer. All of this so I could wait for the book to be at a reasonable price for me to buy. I wanted to be a smart buyer. I came to realize that there could be some money made on ebay because of people listing things incorrectly. So as I started to work on my collection of Masters annuals (published from 1978 through 2008 and each year after) I ended up buying duplicates to sell and make a profit. From this point on the spreadsheet took on a life of it's own. I started keeping track of the badges each year and then started a new tab that was titled "Other stuff." I put everything else interesting in this tab. I now buy and sell things on ebay and keep some of the more rare items for our golf room.



You may be laughing at this point and thinking that I'm a complete dork, but this dork has made several thousand dollars of profit from buying and selling on ebay.......oh wait I forgot about the cost of the other items that I keep. Either way it's something I love to do. The spreadsheet has grown into a huge workbook (11MB) with formulas and even it's own Income Statement with revenue, cost of goods sold and net income. I'll be filing my 10K soon with the SEC. Ok maybe not....but really, it does have and income statement! Why do I write about this obsession of mine and subject myself to the ridicule to come from family and friends....I'm not sure.

Cutest dog ever!

Seriously....our dog is the cutest! I dare any of you to show me pictures of a cuter dog. I snapped these shots today as Flip Flop was lying around. I love this dog!

Dream of a lifetime! My trip to the Masters!

I'm not sure when my obsession with the Masters started. It may have been during the 1997 Masters when Tiger Woods won his first Masters or Phil Mickelson's quest for his first major championship win which was finally realized in 2004. Many people ask me why the Masters...why not the US Open, PGA Championship or the Open? I think it is the fact that the same course is used every year and there is so much history on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National. The tournament has been played there since 1934 with so many amazing winners. Each year I watch the entire tournament and dream about what it would be like to walk the course and see all of the different holes and witness the presenting of the green jacket.

I've had an obsession with the Masters for a long time but my obsession with collecting Masters memorabilia started in 2001 with my first Masters flag. Now 8 years later I have many more flags and a whole shelf full of Masters books. And some of you may know of my "spreadsheet" in which I track all of my purchases and other things I wish I could buy. I used this spreadsheet to buy extra books and sell them for a profit on ebay. My ultimate goal for my memorabilia is to get as many of the Masters winners to sign my undated Masters flag.

Collecting Masters memorabilia and taking Thursday and Friday off of work so I can stay at home and watch the entire tournament are one thing but to attend the tournament is my dream and up until last weekend I was never sure it would ever happen. Last Sunday my wonderful wife took me on a "scavenger hunt" that she said was from Valentine's Day. I took her to Vancouver BC so she didn't have a chance to do this "scavenger hunt". Throughout the scavenger hunt on Sunday I had no idea where we were going and was having fun trying to figure out all of the clues. When I walked into my parents house thinking that I was getting the final clue I saw my mom and brother on the computer and didn't suspect what was about the happen. I turned the corner and saw all of my friends and family who had shown up for an early 30th birthday party (my birthday isn't until May 17). I was completely shocked and when I saw that it was a "Masters" birthday party I was even happier.....I still didn't know what Mandy was about to tell me. When she told me that we were going to the Masters I lost it.

My dream....the number one thing on my "Bucket List"....the place that covers our walls in our tv room. Ever since Mandy told me I haven't been able to sleep. I've been researching where to go and what to see each day. Mandy has limited my talking about the Masters to 10 minutes a day. I can't wait to go and am so thankful I have the most amazing wife. Mandy, thank you for giving me this amazing gift! You are the best wife ever!!!

Photography - My new obsession!

First off we haven't posted any new blogs lately and I would like to start up again. So here goes the first in a while. This last December my lovely wife bought me a new camera. I'm not sure entirely what got me so into photography, maybe it's the few pictures I took with my point and shoot where I thought to myself, "I should be a professional." I think meeting my friend John Keatley was also a reason I got into it because he does it for a living and his photos are amazing. Knowing it was a big purchase I had to research which one was going to be perfect. I didn't know a lick about photography terms like ISO, f stops, aperture, auto exposure bracketing. I spent hours researching which digital SLR I should get. Mandy can attest to my obsession with researching it. I borrowed books from the library on different cameras to try and figure out which was best. After a long time I finally decided on the Canon EOS XSi. It was going to be a Christmas present and so Mandy ordered it online. Unfortunately it came one day about two weeks before Christmas while Mandy was away. I answered the door and the UPS guy handed me a big box that said B&H video. Mandy knew I wouldn't be able to wait 2 weeks so she told me to open it early. Ever since that day I've taken about 4,500 photos. It's become my new hobby and I love to take my camera every where I go. I absolutely love it. Being a left brained person with little creativity this is my way to try and be creative. So without further ado, I'm posting a few of my favorite pictures. Also check out my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32585671@N05/