A Year of Change

The misses heads back to work today and I hope she makes it until 3pm. She did way too much housework yesterday and I’m sure she’s sore today. She basically overhauled the entire master bedroom, both bathrooms, the boys rooms, the kitchen, and yes, even the mudroom. I worked downstairs most of the day and finished up around 6pm. The boys were in rare form. I don’t know what started it but one thing lead to another and it escalated and escalated until it was way out of control. Finally everyone calmed down and we got on to dinner and then a nice evening.

It’s cold outside, about 7 degrees right now at 6am. Our glass screen door was frozen shut when I went out to get the paper. At least it’s not snowing today and is supposed to be in the mid 40’s. I picked up a new 4G phone yesterday with an actual keyboard. I decided I needed this for texting which I’m trying to do more of instead of talking these days. It’s amazing what these companies can develop. I wish we could be as advanced politically as we are technologically. Things sure would be different.

Speaking of politics, is Herman Cain done? Now I never thought he’d be the nominee but he was a breath of fresh air. Looks like his 15 minutes might just be about coming to an end. We now have 3 sexual harassment claims against him and while these are disturbing, they were a dozen years ago and could have been innocent flirting for all we know. Things sure are different these days than 20 years ago. It seems you can’t say or do anything these days without being sued or it being considered inappropriate. What bothers me more, is he didn’t know China has nuclear weapons! He really has no foreign policy experience or even basic knowledge. Of course this isn’t a required prerequisite to be President but basic knowledge is a must. I think even if you didn’t know China had nukes, if you thought about it for 30 seconds, you’d probably guess they would, right? Oh well, onto the next flavor of the month.

I’ll be taking the kiddos to school today as Mom works at 7:15. Hard to believe it’s already November 3rd, man how time flies. I think I’ll run now so I can help with breakfast as the misses is running late. She should have shown her pretty face downstairs at least 20 minutes ago! Hope you’re all well, give us a call to say hi and have a good day.

Ok, once again it’s not as bad as they say or as bad as they’re making it out to be on the news. We probably have 5 or 6 inches and it’s a wet snow, not dry or 8 to 14 inches, as forecasted. Of course all the news stations on tv are having “extended snow coverage” to maximize ratings. This is kind of a mini version of the “hurricane that wasn’t” on the east coast a few months ago. Most of these people must not have lived here very long as when I was a kid, we had some real snow storms. Even 5 years ago, we had a storm that dumped almost 3 feet on us, now that was a storm.

Still yesterday, with impending white doom heading our way, the misses and I bought some new snow boots for the oldest guy as he needed them. His feet sure grow fast! We finished most of the work on our list but didn’t get the house all cleaned up like we wanted to do. I just had too much work and the wife’s back is still not doing well. She keeps doing too much which slows down the healing process.

We haven’t talked politics for a bit so here’s a laugh for you. The misses and I were watching a local news anchor interview the President last night on tv. She asked, “what if I’m an individual and don’t have any money or a job, what do I do?” His reply was “don’t get discouraged” which I guess I can buy, and then followed it up with, “go to a community college and take some courses and get re-trained to get a better job”. Now I don’t know about you but if I’m the person the anchor was talking about, I have NO MONEY and NO JOB. How am I supposed to go take classes at a community college? How am I supposed to pay for classes or gas or a bus to get there, better yet, how am I supposed to eat or stay in my house for the months while I “re-train” myself so I can then go look for a better job? This response by our Commander in Chief shows just how detached he really is. Washington continues to spew these generalizations that are supposed to make the public feel better but have no basis in reality. I could go on and on but what’s the point. Get ready people, what I’m trying to tell you (hopefully you already know) is that you’re on your own! The government is not going to be there to save you when tragedy strikes, please believe this, no matter who you like, democrat or republican.

Ok that’s enough politics for today, we have to ease back into it or we’ll all blow up from the constant barrage of twisted words.

The kids are hoping for a snow day but I don’t think it’s going to happen. I already shoveled the walk but need to clean off the car. The misses works tomorrow and needs to get better today so hopefully she’ll get some rest. We did get all the leaves and branches out of the backyard just in time before the snow. Last thing I needed to do was “walk out the garden hoses” and put them away. For those of you that don’t know, this means walk the hose high over your head from one end to the other to drain all the water out of it so it won’t freeze. I remember this well from filling the horse trough when I was a kid.

Well time to run and see if my paper is here yet. Oh yea, Herman Cain didn’t know China has nuclear weapons (they have for 50 years) and flip flopped on some sexual harassment charges for most of the past few days. Time for him to go, Obama’s only chance is the weak bumbling republican field trying to win the nomination. Whoops, sorry I fell right back into it!

Take care, stay warm and until tomorrow, God Bless, the youngest one says I should run for President, hmmmm.

What a day yesterday was. It started out with a parade at school made up of all the kids in their costumes walking twice around the school. The oldest was a zombie and I have to say, the best zombie I’ve ever seen. He had glued on scars that looked as real as any in a movie. The youngest was as you know, an Angry Bird. There were two other Angry Birds, the principal and another kid but none looked as good as he did in the costume the misses made. Both boys definitely stood out. After the parade, the kids had party’s in their classrooms. In the youngest ones class, the misses was the “party mom”. She’s done a lot this year (and all the other years), as no one else volunteered. I can’t believe more parents don’t pitch in to help, what if the misses wasn’t there? After school, the youngest told me that Mom is “the best party mom ever”, so I guess it was a success. Maybe more people don’t do it since you end up spending your own money on party stuff.

We picked the boys up at 2:45 and headed home where they played a bit while waiting for the hour of trick or treating. We ran up to Grandma’s around 5pm to show her the boys costumes and she gave the boys a few pieces of candy and a wishbone necklace and a dreamcatcher for them to both share. The oldest one wore the necklace all last night and I’m sure the youngest will want it today. Hopefully it won’t cause too much of a fuss. I then left the misses at home to rest her back and headed out with the boys to get some loot. We walked a good mile hitting house after house until each boy had at least 5 pounds of candy. Maybe it was 10, I’m not sure but I did end up lugging both pillow cases full of candy up the hill on the way home. We stopped at Uncle T and Aunt B’s who of course had special bags with all the best goodies. By the time we made it home it was almost 7:30. Both boys began to sort and trade their candy and then as ours was running short with kids still ringing our bell, the youngest started donating some of his to the bowl to hand out. Somehow this concept steamrolled and both boys began giving away their candy to kids that showed up. At first it was the things they didn’t really want and then it evolved into giving away the best candy they had. By the time the night was over, the youngest had given away ALL his candy and the oldest one pretty much too. Could we have reached the point where candy is not that important anymore? Boy would that be nice. Mom and I jumped in and offered some sort of “credits” to be redeemed later for their generosity and good choices. They still have a little (what was left over in our family bowl) but have no regrets in giving away most all of the sweet stuff. When asked why, they said things like “it’s not really good for my body” and “I don’t like the way it makes me feel”. All we could think was WOW!

We all jumped into our bed and talked about the day while watching a little tv. We slept late as it’s almost 7am now. Today the snow arrives late, as much as 14 inches they say although it’ll probably be more like 4 or 5. The misses and I need to get all the Halloween decorations down, chop up the big branches in the back yard, clean the mud room and our bedroom, and if we have time, also tackle the garage. All this and get in full day of work, get to the gym, a trip to the bank and gas up both cars. Guess I’d better get going, huh.

One last thing, Aunt Robi did post her favorite costume and here it is,

Now I don’t know what a “pink fink” is but it sounds fun. We’re very disappointed that none of the rest of you participated. I mean how hard is it really to complete this one simple request, shame shame. If you were in school, there would be no gold stars for you!

Oh well, maybe no one reads anymore. Thank you Grandma Annette and Aunt Robi. If I missed any comments from some of you, I’m sorry but they didn’t show up.

Take care, have a great day and here comes Thanksgiving!

Yesterday started out with the wife rolling over in bed and hearing her back pop which started it all. Hunched over in pain it was clear in a matter of seconds she wouldn’t be going to the Bronco game, making breakfast or doing much else at least for the morning. I ran down to McDonalds to pick up some breakfast for the boys and Grandma and then proceeded to clean up a bit and get ready for the game. With one extra ticket, the oldest guy decided he wanted to take his friend Jennifer. You might remember her as they’ve been classmates for years. She was quite excited to go.

We made it to the game and into our seats with nachos and giant cokes 15 minutes before kick off. 4 paratroopers were hovering about a mile above the stadium floating on the wind heading downward towards the stadium floor. After this during the national anthem, 2 fighter jets came zooming by. This would turn out to be the highlight of the afternoon! The first half was full of endless eating that included suckers Uncle T sent and then some “dots” ice cream. The game was a lopsided affair that was almost comical. During halftime, the youngest asked if we could go followed by the oldest saying “yeah let’s go” and then Jennifer saying  she didn’t care but “we would beat traffic”! So we all headed for the car and were home 15 minutes later where the second half was spent carving pumpkins and playing outside. Jennifer stayed until about 6pm when her Mom finally picked her up. She’s a pretty good girl that’s been a good friend and classmate of the oldest one for I think every year he’s been in school. She was also wearing the scarf we brought her back from Venice as it’s now one of her prized possessions. Now Uncle T, I’ve gone to great pains in my writing here not to use the word “girlfriend” as when I used this before, you mentioned this to the oldest guy which got me in a lot of trouble. So, I’m counting on you to be the older wiser more mature one and NOT mention the word girlfriend at all.

Mom gave it her best college try but was really still in pain when we arrived home. She spent most of the afternoon putting together craft packages for 23 kids in the youngest guys class as she’s the “party Mom” for todays festivities. We’re not sure how she’s going to do this as she’s still in bed and hurting. Hopefully she’s a bit better this morning since I have conference calls starting at 9am. Wouldn’t you know it, this is the first week we decided to move the call to 9 from 8 so I won’t be able to fill in as party Mom.

I did manage to rake the leaves in the front yard during the second half yesterday and need to chop up the big branches in the backyard and rake those leaves sometime today as the snow returns Wednesday and Friday, supposedly in force. Our storm resulted in 3 million without power in the northeast and 11 people dead. Mother Nature at her finest, it’s been some year for weather.

Mom’s now up and walking around like a little old lady with a cane only she doesn’t have the cane! She’s working on getting the party stuff together as I write. The youngest is helping her get things ready. The oldest one is a zombie today and the youngest is an Angry Bird which if you don’t know what this is, check out the internet as it’s a big deal these days. The misses made his costume as the stores have been sold out for weeks. Mom just sneezed loudly followed by a louder scream of pain from her back.

Tonight will be full of kids in costumes and trick or treating. The little guy is now carving another pumpkin and I just yelled up to wake the big guy. Time to run as Mom needs help with breakfast or something. Enjoy the ghosts and goblins tonight and try not to eat too much candy! After this it’ll be Thanksgiving and then Christmas before you know it. I love this time of year, the weather, the holidays, the smell of turkey or pumpkin seeds roasting and the overwhelming sense of family. It’s kind of the one time of the year when you can go back in time to one of those Norman Rockwell type paintings no matter where you live or what’s going on in the World. Enjoy it while you can, it’ll go by fast, I promise!

Take care and have a Happy Halloween. I haven’t seen any comments on your favorite costumes yet, where are you people? For me it was being an Army Major in my dad’s old Army coat (which is still upstairs in the closet) and these German paratrooper or pilot boots he got somewhere. I wish I knew where those boots were! They were black leather lined with shearling and pretty warm. For the misses, the one that came to mind first was Tinker Bell when she was a teenager and then being an angel on horses when she was a little kid. What about you guys, especially those of you older than me! I’m really interested to know what you all dressed up as. Don’t let us down!

Oh wait, Grandma Annette did post her favorite costume so here it is:

“My mom made all my costumes & my favorite was Cinderella with feathers (pink) in my hair and a long dress with a really full skirt. I was 5 and beautiful. I have a picture to prove it. Hey I think I figured this out!”

Thanks for being first! Take care and God Bless,

Today we’re heading to the Broncos Lions game which starts at 2pm. It’s supposed to be mild but will still be in the 30’s and 40’s in our seats which are in the shade for most of the game. This morning we’re carving pumpkins because tomorrow is the big day and we just won’t have time after school. We have 4 to carve which is 1 less than we had yesterday. Our rancher friends from Encampment Wyoming were down in Brighton ordering up a half a dozen saddles and tack for our friends ranch (where they work) and then came by for some dinner and a visit before making the 3 hour drive back home. The boys were all excited to play with Dali, their 3 year old daughter, but it turns out she stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa who are visiting from Hawaii for a month. Anyhow our oldest decided he’d send 1 of his pumpkins home with them for their little girl. How nice is that! We also sent along a pumpkin and ghost cookie that we bought for her as we thought she’d be here. From Saratoga to Denver (the closest big town to where they live, if you can call Saratoga a big town)  and back in a day, is a long drive.

The boys were outside for most of the day while the misses cleaned up in the morning while I ran some errands. As you know, tomorrow is the big day. There’s a parade in the morning at school, then the kids have parties in their classrooms and once home, it’ll be a rush to get their homework done so they can go trick or treating. I don’t know about you but I can remember vivid details of a lot of Halloweens when I was a kid. They sure are good memories. Let’s play a little game, think back to when you were a kid and let’s all post a comment about your favorite costume. I’ll then include them all tomorrow so we can all see each others favorite memory. Don’t let me down now, it’s not hard to post at all. If you need help or just can’t do it, call us and tell us your favorite and we’ll get it in.

The oldest is still sleeping while the youngest is reading the toy catalog’s that came in the morning paper. I’m going to sign off now as I need another cup of joe to offset the few adult beverages I had last night. I might try to get to the gym as well as I haven’t been in a while. Hope you all are doing well, let’s hear from you on your costume, I know you all have one! Take care and God Bless,

Wow, only 65 days left in the year. I’m sure this all conjures up different thoughts for all of us but for me, I’m freakin out with all the work I have to do! You can take off another 10 days for Christmas week and New Years meaning I only have about about 55 days if I’m lucky, super.

Now to yesterday, man I was tired. I awoke at 4am thinking my flight was around 7:40 when in fact it was 8:40. That mistake along with no line at security put me at the airport way too early. I landed in Seattle around 10:15 and was to the office by 11. It was a good and bad day. Good in the sense that we just hired this younger guy (young 40’s) with a ton of relationships and industry knowledge who is going to be a huge help in taking us to the next level. Bad in that we had to let our guy in Colorado go. I hired him in March and feel really bad but he just didn’t grow into the managerial side of the job. It’s sad to let anyone go but when you bring a guy on, (had him quit his current job) and then have to cut him right before the holidays, it’s just not a good feeling. Monday I’ll begin to do what I can to make sure he’s taken care of. For the Company (which has to be my priority) it was the right thing to do.

I jumped on an Alaska Airlines flight home at 5:55 as United didn’t have a flight leaving that late. Luckily I was in first class. Now I haven’t been on another airline than United for a long time and let me tell you, this was really nice. Not only was it a new 737-900, the flight attendants were super nice with a sense of humor. The best thing was that for a mere $9.95 I could get on the internet with my laptop! This blows the “you can’t use your cell phone theory” all the airline impose. It was really an enjoyable flight that was over in no time. I made it home by 10:15 and was really tired.

The boys and Mom went to Treat Street at the high school (free candy) last night with a thousand of their closest friends because the kids for some reason probably won’t get enough candy on Halloween. The misses made the youngest an Angry Bird costume that is adorable.

Also I had to laugh as Aunt B commented after reading yesterdays post.

“Ok enough with the “love fest” already! HA, You’re both gorgeous:)

She was referring to me saying how gorgeous the misses was but now since she mentioned me, you will see this comment at the start of every post for the rest of the year. hell, she might even win some, I don’t know,  Major Award, for the best post of the year!

We all slept in until after 7 this morning. I need to get moving, I don’t know for what but just need to get moving. I invited Grandma over for dinner tomorrow night, we hope she comes! We owe the oldest guy some money so I need to go to the bank this morning and get him his cash. I think he’s going to buy himself an e-reader (on of those electronic books) which is great as then he’ll be reading even more.

November 1st is right around the corner, Thanksgiving and then Christmas before you know it. Tomorrow the whole family is going to the Broncos football game, we’re all excited to see Tim Tebow play!

Have a good weekend and take care, hope all’s well. God Bless

What a fun party, not so much the actual party but hanging out with our friends, old and new. We arrived at Denver’s Union Station (the old train station) which is currently not in use. We walked into a tent to be greeted by a tray of champagne filled glasses with gold floating in the bottom of each glass. I passed while the misses grabbed a glass. You then walked through 20 foot high streamers of silver ribbon set up as walls that you followed to the elevator which took you upstairs for the cocktail hour. There we were greeted by a martini bar (my idea which they apparently decided to use) and then walked the upper level which was a silent auction. It soon became really really warm with all the people crammed into the small aisles of the upper level which rimmed the building looking down on the main level.

Our friends Libby and Carl showed up first and then our realtor friend (her date cancelled late) and our new friends Bogi and Solla. After hanging out a bit, we moved downstairs to our table for dinner. Without going into too much detail, it was a great night with everyone. After dinner the live auction began and the acoustics were so bad we couldn’t hear a thing. This seemed like the perfect time to duck out as it was already 10pm. We were home and in bed by 10:45 and it’s now 5am (been up since 4:15) and I need to leave in a hour for my flight.

Now back to the party, you all should know how beautiful the misses was last night. Now we all know she always looks good, but last night she looked spectacular. I’m pretty lucky but don’t tell her. You know how these things go to her head, ha ha.

I land back in Denver at 9:30 tonight so I’m in for a long day but that’s ok, I can handle it. I need to jump in the shower now so I’m going to sign off. Maybe the misses will write a bit later. Hope you all are well, take care and God Bless,

In almost every yard around here, some sort of tree or branch has broken off from the weight of the heavy wet snow and landed in the front yard. We are not immune as we have 3 giant branches and a half of a tree that came down in our backyard. It’s about 10 degrees outside now so all the moisture is frozen. Today it’s supposed to be cold but will finally warm up tomorrow. Of course, I’ll be in Seattle where it will be raining.

The boys had early release yesterday and spent much of the day outside. The afternoon was filled with typical brother vs brother confrontations over one meaningless thing or another. Nothing out of the ordinary, just brothers being brothers. The day was finished up with a good dinner and everyone was in bed by 7:30.

We’re trying to figure out how the misses can keep working during the coming holidays with all the time the boys will have off. You see, this is also a pretty heavy travel time for me as I need to go and meet with at least a dozen distributors to set up 2012. This is further complicated by the launch of our new Andrea Bocelli line of wines. This involves a whole new group of distributors in many cases, so I’m kind of on a road show from now until mid December. We might be witnessing the end of the misses career at Whole Foods very soon. She’s looking for other sources of income where she can work from home right now. When she’s gone, we’ll miss the “love card” or discount card the most. It’s hard to give up our 20% discount, we’re basically addicted to it. She’s been having lots of back and neck problems from having to stand on her feet for 8 hours at a register all day. It’s really becoming an issue as she usually needs a day of rest on the following day to just get back to normal. All this for $10.50 an hour. Those of you that don’t have to get up and go to a 9 to 5 job, should feel really lucky, trust me (or her), it’s no fun.

I’m back on the wagon trying to eat healthy and drink next to nothing. This will be difficult tonight as we have the annual Museum of Contemporary Art dinner. We’re taking our two doctor friends, Libby and Carl and then our uber realtor friend and her new beau who’s the in house counsel for the largest oil and gas firm in Denver, and a new couple who are from Iceland that recently moved to Bachelor Gulch (the Vail area). They also have homes in NY and London we’re told but are supposed to be really fun and down to earth. Their names are Bogi and Solla, how’s that for a couple of names! I guess she (Solla) is also some kind of doctor. Anyhow we’ll be ducking out by about 10pm as I have a 8am flight in the morning.

Both dogs are sleeping at my feet and the misses has an appointment to get her hair fixed up this am and so do I at a different (cheaper) salon. We should both be back by 10:30 or 11am.

We hope all’s well with you all. We’re on post 299 today meaning by Saturday it should be the 300th day of the year if my math is right. (we started on Dec 31st) Not much time left in the year, it’ll be 2012 before we know it.

Take care, God Bless and have a great day,

Last night the first snowfall of the season rolled into town around 10pm. It’s a heavy wet snow, so heavy that it collapsed the tent that Uncle T and Aunt B put up for Mojo to protect him from the rain while we were in Italy. All the branches of all the trees are also bent over almost touching the ground. I’ve already knocked the snow off the trees in the front yard but the back will have to wait until sunrise.

Yesterday my excel class was really good. I made it to Uncle T’s by about 4:45 to pick up the boys. We rushed home to quickly clean the house before Mom arrived home from work. The oldest jumped right in and vacuumed the house while the little guy emptied all the trash cans and picked up clothes and shoes. She had to go back to work at 9:45pm for an hour meeting and made it home by 11pm. I can’t believe they have meetings that late.

Tomorrow is supposed to be field day at school but I don’t know with all this wet snow and cold temperatures. Obama is in town today to collect some more money for his reelection efforts. He’s in that mode where he’s trying to give everyone money to buy their votes. Yesterday it was some kind of homeowners relief in Vegas, but only for those current on payments, underwater, and here’s the big one, only if your loan is with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. If everyone who had loans with these two government agencies WAS current and WAS underwater and DID refinance, it would impact about 1 million out of 11 million homeowners underwater. Once again, we’re left out in the cold. Today, trying now to get students to vote for him, he’s proposing cutting rates on what students owe on their loans. I wonder who’s next, maybe homeless guys on street corners will all get vouchers for free whisky to keep them warm on the coming cold nights. I’m sorry to jump into this but I just wish he’d go away. There are 16 bills that would help the economy and create some jobs, sitting in the Senate but they won’t vote on them (thanks Harry Reid, the man who said the private sector is fine and that it’s the government employees that need help, even though their average salary is $125K compared to about $45K in the private sector????), as they do not want the republicans to get any kind of victory. You see it works both ways. I’m afraid we’re in for a long painful ride the way things are going.

Alright back to our little corner of the World. Tomorrow we have the museum dinner and then I’m in Seattle all day Friday. Lots of work today getting ready for my meeting so no time to dally. (can’t remember when I ever used that word?) Hopefully the misses is feeling better today. We still need to get the boys costumes ready for Monday night. The youngest keeps changing his mind daily on what he’s going to be. We’ll keep you posted.

Time to run and get everybody up. I need to brush of the cars too and then hit the trees in the backyard. Hope everyone is well, take care and we’ll see you tomorrow.

Today I’m in school for a day. I’ll be wrapped up from 9 until 4 taking an advanced Excel class on the other side of town. The misses too works so once again, Aunt B and Uncle T are coming to the rescue. They will pick the boys up from school and bring them home until we both arrive around 5pm. Thanks much!

Yesterday the misses wasn’t feeling well and had to spend the morning in bed.  I had lots of work to do and finally finished up around 6pm. She managed to get the boys homework done and dinner made and I did the dishes which helped clean up the clutter a little. Tonight the snow begins to come in with the high tomorrow in the low 30’s. Hope it’s not too much.

We have our big museum annual gala Thursday night and I just made reservations to fly to Seattle Friday morning. The dinner is supposed to go until midnight but we’ll have to cut out early so I can make my 8am flight. Thankfully I arrive home at 9:30 Friday night.

I hope the misses is feeling better today. She wasn’t doing very well at all yesterday. I have both dogs in now and as soon as I’m done with this, I’ll feed them and head out to the gym. It’s now 4:21 in the morning so I have lots of time.

Lots of bills to pay (just had to decide which not to pay) as we got hit with that $8K tax bill which really screwed up our lives. We were, for the most part, cruising along doing pretty well, and then out of nowhere, Bam! $8K to the government. Oh well as part of my new de-stressing life style, I’m trying to just dismiss it. After all, it’s only money or a credit rating or whatever happens when you can’t pay some bills. I refuse to lose any sleep over it. That’s probably not a good idea but I decided if you can’t pay, you can’t pay. Nothing I can really do about it so why get all worked up, right. I’m sure I’ll be back on my feet my the first of the year.

Well, time to run as all this debt and bill talk is getting me bummed out. Hope everyone is doing well. Have a good day, take care and God Bless.