A Year of Change

Ty’s off to to work and Lori’s outside spreading the 20th bag of mulch we bought yesterday to put around the trees. We managed, or should I say she, did most of it yesterday. My job was to get the bags out of the truck and place them by each tree. I bought a little four wheel wagon that’s really cool. It’s hard plastic and was $150 bucks, but worth every penny. It’s called the Gorilla and I love it.

It’s a little smokey here today so there must be a fire somewhere. Marty and Melanie are coming over around 3 this afternoon. We’ll probably go to the gym and do some more stuff around the house before then.

We’re headed to Cabo Wednesday. We have some great reservations for dinner as they mostly serve fresh fish and authentic Mexican food. I’ve never been and it’s been 30 years or more since Lori was there.

Jag is studying away for his test that he’ll take in a couple of weeks. Then he’ll be able to trade in the markets. Ty has been talking with Auntie Kristin who is helping him with his pending move to California. Looks like it’s finally happening sometime soon. Casting calls these days are pretty much done exclusively online. I told Lori yesterday, watch, the kid will be the next George Clooney.

Great day to celebrate. One of the best things I’ve done in my life, if not the best, is to be a dad to my two boys. Having a kid is easy but raising them to be people that actually make the World a better place, is a whole other thing. Not sure how we did it, but we somehow succeeded. Both boys, as we all know, are good men that are kind souls who care about other people before themselves. I’m a lucky man.

Time to get moving. Hope everyone has a great day and Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there and to the uncles and other men that influences the lives of those younger than them. Lord knows there’s a lot of kids running around, misguided, who didn’t have the benefit of a dad while growing up. You see it on the news every single day. Every kid deserves a dad growing up and there would be a lot less problems if they all had one. I think you get what I mean. Enough said. Again, enjoy the day and thanks and cheers to all the dads out there, even those that are no longer with us.

God Bless.

This morning at 9, we’re having two new screen doors installed. Harley ran through one a couple months ago and the other was damaged by wind. It’s been two months since they ordered them as our doors are wider than standard doors. They cost $3400! Unbelievable right? Insurance paid $2500.

I ate a couple enchilada’s last night with a few of Lori’s cottage cheese and lemon pancakes which are protein packed and really good. I’m off my fast until next month when I’ll do it for another day or two just to stay healthy.

Marty and Mel made it home last night around 7:30. They did the entire drive in one day leaving from Montana at 5:30 in the morning. They’re coming over tomorrow. While in Montana, he bought a Blackstone Griddle and kept telling me how great it was. Coincidently, Ace Hardware sent me an email with a big sale on griddles and grills for Father’s Day, so around 11am, off I went to see Peter, the manager at Ace, who walked me through how to use it and helped me load one into the back of my truck. Nate, our neighbor, helped me lift it out of the truck when I got home. I seasoned it up while watching the soccer game and it’s all ready to go! Lori rolled her eyes when she got home from work as now we have a grill, a smoker and a griddle, ha. It’s super cool and wasn’t expensive, about $500 with all the extras. Now I can cook smash burgers or breakfast or whatever and it’ll be like I’m camping, ha.

We need to head to the gym so we’re back by 9 for Eduardo who is coming to install the new screen doors. Ty is working again today and tomorrow and already has 50 hours in this week. He’s powering out to save money to move to California. We’re getting him some intros to hotels in Santa Barbara for a job. Kristin is helping out too. He’s wanting to get into acting and Kristin said most casting calls, since covid, are now online! Look for Ty in the movies soon, ha.

That’s it, time to get moving, have a great June 20th. We won the soccer game yesterday, whoo hoo. Best we’ve done I think ever in the World Cup. God Bless.

US plays Australia in Seattle today at 1 this afternoon. We’re not big soccer guys but we did win last week and not much else in sports is going on these days, so we’ll have it on. Go USA!

Democrats probably won’t be watching as about half of them hate America, nice. Not sure why they just don’t leave. If I hated the country where I lived, I’d move. When you really think about it, it all comes down to good verses evil. Good will win out in the end, I promise.

Ty’s working as usual. Lori has to go into the office today and I have calls this morning. It’s a little cooler up here. I’m almost back to my fighting weight of about 202 pounds. I told Robi about my current 5 day program and of course, she laughed saying this is the best one yet. No matter what you do, everyone needs to fast now and then. It doesn’t have to be a long time either. Even skipping one day of all food and calories does wonders for your body, just one day! I’ll stop now as we’re all too old to be told what to do as when we get this age, we don’t listen very well, ha.

Wish we’d get some rain. Hope we don’t have any bad fires as it’s really dry. My friends that own a store in Cody Wyoming that make custom leather tooled belts and stuff, are in Aspen for Aspen Food and Wine, doing an in store pop-up at Kemo Sabe, the cowboy shop that sells hats and boots to tourists. Hailey (Trajan’s wife) sent me a picture of a white alligator purse that Ernie, who made our belt buckles, did the hardware for, that sold yesterday morning when they opened for $26,000! Unbelievable. We were talking about how quick it’d sell. Hailey said it was gone by noon, and then said, “man, I love this town”, ha. Lot of money for a purse, right.

Marty and Mel will hit the road for home from Montana today and be home tomorrow. They might come over Sunday for Father’s Day as we’re both without any of our kids. I think Ty is working. I get to start eating again tomorrow so good timing.

That’s it, time to get moving. Have a good Friday and God Bless.

Must have been in the 90’s up here yesterday. I was out of Denver by noon and didn’t really notice it, but it was 82 degrees at 8 o’clock in the morning as I made it into town. The highlight of the day was hanging out with Brook in Elizabeth at his shop, Powder River Hat Company. He came in early and opened the shop to take care of me. His dad was a Denver Bronco in the early 60’s. We have a lot in common but he’s a dozen or so years younger than me. He reworked four of Lori’s and my hats and measured me up in case I want him to build me one. He’s seeing what pelts he can get. Next up, down in Parker, I stopped by to see Jim who is my favorite bootmaker. Both Brook and Jim are part of the Cowboy Trades Association, which is a group of traditional artists from saddle makers to bootmakers, hatmakers and more that make things in the old the way, the way they did 150 years ago. I met these guys as the silversmith who made my favorite buckle I bought 4 years ago, and who made Lori’s Christmas present last year, (a sweet ladies buckle), is part of the group. Jim started working on my boots last October 14th and they should be done hopefully in a few months. I stopped in to say hi and he showed me my lasts, which are the handmade models of my two feet and had me confirm again the leather colors I chose last year. Super excited. I posted this link before but check it out again. It should open up to a two-minute video to tell you about these guys. Really talented men and really good guys. Jim and Brook are now good friends more than they are someone who makes something for you. Us old guys need to stick together.

COWBOY TRADES ASSOCIATION – SUPPORTING TRADITIONAL COWBOY ARTIST AND ORGANIZATIONS.

Jim, my bootmaker, is the guy in the glasses, Brook is the guy working on hats in the video and Ernie, who made our buckles, is in the brown shirt at the end. I try to support these guys in any way possible as without them, the old ways and a part of American history will vanish.

I’m holding off on a new car, at least for today. Even with the massive discount, I just love my truck too much. I should buy the Mercedes and keep the truck, but I don’t want any debt.

I have calls this morning from 10 until 1 and Lori is working out with Stacey at 9:30. We’ll probably go to our gym first and then she can go workout again. Ty works at 7.

A week from now we’ll be in Cabo. It’ll be nice to be by the ocean and have fresh seafood daily. It’ll be a quick trip as we arrive at noon Wednesday and fly home around noon on Saturday.

It’s almost 6am now and time to get moving. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care, be safe and God Bless.

Today I have a couple stops at one of my custom cowboy hatmakers and then a stop at the bootmakers. First up is a little work in Denver. I should head back up the hill around noon at the latest if I’m lucky.

Ty went to a concert last night with Maddie, his old girlfriend. Apparently, she quit drinking, but they’re just friends, hmmm.

Marty is having fun working on the house in Montana. They head home Friday. I worked out super hard yesterday with heavy weights. I’m sure I’ll be sore by tomorrow, if not earlier.

Hitting the road by 6am this morning so time to go. Have a great Hump Day, GB.

We made it to Denver after stopping for rock scaling on Vail Pass. Lori had her checkup and I had my stitches out. We made it home around 4. Harley had a bone in the morning and somehow brought it inside, which of course, resulted in ants! We managed to get rid of them and as of this morning, we haven’t seen any more.

A month or so ago I was looking at some new cars as I’ve been trying to get a diesel Suburban. I was also looking at the Mercedes GLS 450’s which are luxurious cruisers around the same price. Last night, one of my dealers, after some emails back and forth, offered me $16,000 off! This is a huge discount on a current model year car. I’m trying to decide what to do. Trade my truck, keep my truck and get the Mercedes, or just stand pat with my truck. It sure would be nice to have a comfortable cruiser like the GLS. Ben has one he bought around six months ago and loves it. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Ty is working again today. Chef Bob fell off the wagon at work yesterday and got drunk and the paramedics had to come as he passed out. He’s been in rehab three times. So sad. Molly, the other owner, is flying back early from Wisconsin. Luckily Ty was there and has been working every day as he’s one of the only ones that can really run the place.

Nice up here and hot in Denver. Hotter tomorrow. Time to go, have a great day, take care and God Bless.

Lori has a derm appointment at 1 and I am getting my stitches out. Brian and his son Tyler made it to Glenwood around 8:30 last night and Lori told them to just stay there and let’s visit this morning. They should be here sometime around 8 this morning.

Nice day yesterday. Not too hot which was nice. Looks like 100 degrees in Denver by Wednesday.

Looks like the Iran deal might finally be done. We’ll see as you can’t really trust those guys. Ty’s out the door and Lori is on the shower. The Rockies scored 23 runs yesterday which is a record. Sounds like a football score as you don’t normally see that many runs scored in baseball.

Time to get moving. Have a great middle of the month day. It’s also Tax Day but as I said a day or two ago, I paid them on Friday. What a waste. Taxes should be illegal. When income tax started, it was a temporary thing but in 1913, 3/4 of the States ratified the 16th Amendment and the great steal was on. Property taxes are another rip off of the people. Once you own and pay off your home, there should be no more property taxes. Oh well, the people in power only care about their power, so this probably will never change.

Time to go, enjoy writing that check! God Bless.

Denver looks cooler today, but it still looks like the mid 80’s up here today. Ty’s off to work and we’re sitting here drinking our morning coffee with the door open to cool down the house.

Yesterday Lori cleaned out Jag’s bathroom and we took it easy. I picked up sushi for dinner, and we watched a little tv. Not sure what we’ll do today. I said let’s go to Denver as it’s only going to be 70 degrees down there. Looks like the 90’s most of next week.

Cousin Brian and his son Tyler arrive sometime tomorrow. They’re on a 12-day trip I think to South Dakota. Lori and Brian basically grew up together. Lori does have a derm appointment at 1 tomorrow, but I’m not sure if we’re going down or not.

That’s it, have a great Sunday, back at it tomorrow. Won’t be long and we’ll be halfway through the year. God Bless.

Reflecting on the past few months, I noticed how we’ve made changes to our decision-making process. The short story is we’re now making quick, almost instant decisions. Sometimes when you do this you get one or two wrong but moving quickly and the progress that comes with it, outweighs any decision that doesn’t work. Plus, if it’s a bad decision, better to know right away, (the fail fast philosophy) and pivot to another direction that has a better chance of working out. I’m making decisions so quick, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea or change and can’t get back to sleep. At my age though, this is the way to go, ha.

Last night, the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team beat the heavily favored team from Paraguay! You got to love sports as anything can happen. Jagger went to the White Sox baseball game with a bunch of guys from work, fun. Ty’s working today and tomorrow and is almost out the door.

We paid our estimated taxes for Q2 yesterday. There goes $30,000 we get nothing in return for. It’s nice outside and a little cooler this morning. It’s dry everywhere but our yard looks good, especially in the back. We’re only watering twice a week due to the low snowpack and the high cost of water.

I’m trying to find a Chevy Suburban in diesel. They make them but are hard to find. The closest one I found was in California. Maybe one will pop up.

Not sure what we’ll do today after the gym. I should go wash Lori’s car. Up now is the gym, have a great Saturday and God Bless.

Seemed like a long week. I think it’s because we flew home from Chicago late Sunday night. We’re looking forward to the weekend. Ty works today and I think all weekend as he had Monday and Tuesday off.

Yesterday afternoon we ran up to Edwards as Zach at my go to tennis shoe store ordered up a pair of Asics for me. Lori ran into a couple stores and found two cute summer dresses for our trip on the 24th.

It’s still dry up here but the wind has gone way down. We should get some showers on Sunday. Looks hot in Denver next week.

Everyone is doing well which is good news. Jag did have a stomach ache yesterday after work as a bunch of them went out for apps and drinks. I have a little headache from working out.

Monday I’ll take my stiches out! I’ve healed up well. Lori’s cousin Brian and his son Tyler, are coming through on Monday on their way to South Dakota on a boys trip. Not sure if they’re here for lunch or dinner.

6:30 now and it’s trash and recycling day. Time to get moving. Have nice day! God Bless.