A Year of Change

Yesterday I emptied one storage unit, what a good feeling. Now I have one left. I think I’ll have Lori post in Vail Mom’s, free antiques. I was talking with Robi yesterday about all the stuff we all took from Mom’s that nobody uses. She agreed that I should give it to someone who’ll actually use it. Anyhow I’m saving about $3000 a year with one now empty, whoo hoo! That’s like two trips to Costco these days!

Lori is in Frisco today and I’m off to the gym. I’m getting stronger each day and am now benching 85-pound dumbbells with each arm. It’s harder to bench dumbbells in two arms than weights on a single bar as each arm has to hold the weight independently. Diet is the toughest thing, working out is fun.

Today, 4/20, I think is weed day or something like that. Think it’s all about legalizing weed. It’s been legal here for years.

Jag is doing well. Ty has a lot of cleaning to do today. I think I’ll get started on the garage or the basement. I’m on a mission. Time to get going and head out. It’s warming up out there with temps in the mid 70’s yesterday. Hope it’s not a windy summer as that means a bad fire season. Be well, stay safe and God Bless.

Picked up the truck, ran to the Weather Tech factory store and hit Edwards Meats and was out of town by 11. The nice lady at the meat market asked if I was going on a trip as I had some steaks, 4 pints of ham salad, (mom’s favorite), some bacon and some potato salad. I told her no and that I now live in the mountains but was raised on meat from here when I was a kid. She quickly replied, ” so you’re one of the lucky ones”. I was puzzled and said “what”? She then said, “you got out”. I then knew what she meant. I told her, yea, we moved about 10 years ago. She then leaned forward and softly whispered, “it’s not safe down here anymore”. She said her brother and his family had had enough and just packed up and left 2 years ago but that she and her husband were stuck due to their jobs. Now I know things are not what they used to be, but she was actually terrified with that look of, can you help me or can you take me with you! It was surreal. She was probably in her 50’s and I told her hang in there and be safe. As soon as I jumped in my truck and headed for the highway, I wondered how many other people feel trapped and are actually afraid. I mean I’ve always been aware of the crap going on out there but have never really been afraid. This poor woman was full of fear like she was facing an invasion or something. Sad.

I made it home without any issues and began putting groceries away and then organized some boxes of things that arrived via Amazon or as we say, from the brown truck, meaning UPS.

Lori made it home around 3 and is in Vail today. I’m off to the gym and should be back by 8:30. I think I’ll get a jump on the garage today. Jag is doing well and so is Ty. Lori, Ty and I are headed to Gunnison to visit Western State Thursday. Hope he likes it.

Time to get going, be well, stay safe and God Bless.

Monday morning, here we go. Lots to do. First up is Denver, hope to be back by noon. Lori is in Vail and hopefully Ty will be busy on a couple projects. It’s warming up, thank God. Jag had fun at Tommy’s, and we were all set to have Dixie up, but she wasn’t feeling well. Think it was the booster shot that had her down.

On the news, California lawmakers are lobbying for a four-day work week. I’m all for that as long as salaries don’t drop 20%, ha.

We had a little rain but not much. Good week to clean the garage and get organized around here. Trying to get down to Gunnison to see Western State too but Ty has some block about the school. Someone somewhere must have said something to him, and he went with it.

Lori hid some plastic Easter Eggs outside for Ty with some money in them. Tommy did the same for Jag I think. Only two more weeks of school for Jag.

Tax Day. What a joke. We pay and pay and get less and less. Way to go Joe. Did anyone else see him handshaking with air last week? God help us.

God Bless

If you go to church on Easter, He is risen is how everyone greets each other. This comes from Jesus rising from his tomb. Quite the story if you haven’t read it. Maybe there’s a movie on today. In any case, He is risen, and Happy Easter!

Yesterday we pulled into Denver around 10:15 but couldn’t reach Jagger. He forgot to charge his phone and overslept. We headed straight to Cherry Creek and about an hour later Jag showed up. Ty found some great clothes and so did Jag. My buddy Tyrone who we’ve known for 20 years, fit both boys for suits. Jag’s was in stock, but needs to be tailored and he’s trying to get Ty’s size from New York. Lori found a couple shirts and a pair of pants at Garbarini for herself. Me, well I just went along for the ride. To be fair, I did get a new scope for a rifle I’ve been having built for a couple years that is almost finished.

We all went to lunch at Cherry Creek Grill which is one of our favorite spots. It was fun and I could tell Lori was in Heaven sitting between the boys and having fun family time. We then dropped Ty at Jacks’s where he hung out until Will arrived from the airport as he was in New York on a school trip. He picked Ty up and they all hung out in Denver for a while before driving up the hill. I picked Ty up about 10 pm in Edwards.

Lori and I stopped at Matsu for some sushi on the way home. No snow but some good rain. We did have a small fire down the highway, about 25 acres, that shut down the highway in the afternoon. It must be all the wind causing the fires around the State as I thought we had lots of moisture.

Ty’s on Spring Break next week but has a lot of work to do. We might go to Arizona next Thursday for a couple days, we’ll see. I am in Denver tomorrow swapping cars. Time to get to the gym. Happy Easter! I sure remember Easter when the kids were young and even when I was young. There was this one brunch at The Palm in Scottsdale with mom and dad when we were kids. It was like out of a movie with tables of food everywhere. I can still see the dessert towers with cookies, cakes, candies, fruit tarts and more. it will forever be etched in my brain.

Enjoy the day and live in the glory of God!

At 8 am Lori, Ty and I are off to Denver to meet up with Jagger. We’re going shopping and out to lunch. Looks like some wind and maybe an inch or two of snow way up high. Hope none shows up here at the house.

Ty was home by 10 and Lori went to bed early. I dropped him at school at 3:30 to make up a test. Then James and I hung out for a couple hours. He’s off tomorrow for about a month touring in South America. He says he’s always a bit nervous but gets through it. Funny after 40 years of doing what he does, he still gets a bit nervous.

Time to go so we can get moving. Easter tomorrow! Jag and Tommy are hanging out and we’ll get Dixie up here for a meal. Make it a great day, God Bless.

Thank God this week is almost over. Ty has a public service day today where they pick up trash on I-70 but we’re making him stay home. He has a deep chest cold and we told him he can’t go. We gave him hot tea and Vicks Vaopr Rub and sent him to bed around 9 last night.

I thought James was off today but he leaves Sunday. Not sure how I mixed that up. He and Ty had a good call yesterday. He said Ty’s a pretty serious kid. Seems like it was a good conversation from what they both said.

Easter is Sunday. Jag is going to Tommy’s which is great. Tom is selling his corvette as I guess the dealer called saying they had lots of people wanting one. When I told Ty he immediately started listing off cars Uncle Tommy should get. I don’t even know all of them. I think he texted Tom some suggestions.

80 degrees next week! There are already some wildfires in Southern Colorado. Hope it’s not a bad fire season. My new truck is in and getting prepped now. I have black wheels, black running boards and badges (replacing the chrome) being installed and also level all my trucks which is sort of like a front end lift. It’s taken a few months for this one to come in and I’ll be keeping it as with the govt. mandating all new cars get 49 miles to the gallon or higher in 2025, this is one of the last good years. I think next year or the year after they want kill switches in all new cars so they can stop any car anytime. Talk about government control, wow. Good news is they’re giving me $3500 more for the suburban I bought January 31st than I paid. And that’s with 11,500 miles on it! Crazy.

Time to get moving, enjoy the weekend and may God Bless you!

Went to the gym yesterday and up early headed there again. I took two tests yesterday just to make sure I was negative. James and I hung out for a bit and tonight we’re all getting together for cigar night. Tomorrow he leaves for a week of rehearsals and then is touring South America for 3 weeks! A guy’s gotta work.

Ty was out at a movie and then with friends until about midnight. He’s off today again but has a call with James as he’s interviewing him for some English project on being famous. James and I talked yesterday about it and unbeknownst to Ty, this conversation will hopefully turn into more of a self-discovery for Ty about what he wants to do with HIS future. We talked yesterday afternoon about how in today’s World an 18-year-old kid with 80 years of life in front of him is somehow supposed to know what they want to do with their life! Makes no sense. James didn’t go to college, (he started a band at 17) and has been through this same thing with his three kids. Sometimes it’s easier to talk to or listen to someone other than your parents when you’re a kid. Jag’s had numerous deep conversations with him too about life in general. He’s super helpful to the boys and will do anything he can to help of course. Hope Ty gets a new perspective on the future as I know he’s uncertain about just what lies ahead. I’m lucky to have such a close friend that the boys respect and will listen to.

Lori is working from home today, I think. We need to hit Costco for some food and the hardware store for some stuff too. No new snow, thank God. Jag crushed it at the crew tryouts, of course, and apparently is on the team as he was told to show up for practice tomorrow. It’ll be really good for him. Time to get moving so we can leave at 6:30 for the gym. Take care, be safe, it’s scary out there these days, ugh, and God Bless.

The snow came in hard and heavy. It had a lot of water content which is good, but it sure made it heavy to shovel. I did manage to get most of the driveway cleared by mid-afternoon. No new snow overnight and it should be 70 by Friday. Hopefully this is it!

Lori is in Vail today and Ty’s school is closed today and tomorrow for testing for Juniors. Jag was picked up at 5:30 this morning for crew tryouts. He’s done at 7:30. He’s super excited to give it a try and the coach is super excited to have a 6’6″, 180 pound kid tryout. He’s calling me at 7:30 to let me know how it went. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t make the team. They do travel to Pac 12 schools to compete.

I just took another freaking test. If I’m positive I’m thinking these tests are not working as they’re supposed to. We’ll know in ten minutes. The way I see it is if I could shovel the driveway with no issues, I cannot be sick. It was a big workout.

Good news! I’m finally negative! Time to go, I’m headed to the gym! Make it a great day, God Bless!

Ok, first up is snow, not a whole lot, maybe a few inches but throw in the wind and it’s ugly outside, especially for April 12th. Hopefully this is one of winters last blasts. April is the second snowiest month though, right after March which is number 1. On top of the weather, Ty has a bad cold. He came home around 4:30 yesterday and skipped lacrosse which he needed to. Last, I’m still freaking testing positive for the vid! Cannot believe it, it’s like Day 5 or 6. I’m so over just hanging out doing nothing.

Now to inflation. Record high price increases are everywhere. Of course, Biden blames it on Putin, pushing the phrase, Putin’s Price Hike. They must think we’re stupid. Their theory is if you say something over and over, even if it’s not true, sooner or later people will believe it. Not sure it’ll work this time as they’re so incompetent in even their messaging. First inflation was transitory, remember that? Then it was covid’s fault and when that didn’t catch on, it’s now Putin. Wonder who’ll they’ll blame next, probably Republican’s somehow.

Lori will take my car and drop Ty at school and then go to work for a bit. She’ll need to pick him up after school. The snow seems to be getting heavier outside now with about a foot forecasted for Vail. So over that too! Whoa, hold on, just got a call and Eagle County Schools are closed today due to the weather! This is the first snow day we’ve had that I can ever remember. Right now, I-70 is also closed between Eagle and Edwards due to a crash as well. Maybe Lori won’t be going anywhere.

Last up, don’t believe all the propaganda you see on the news. Hard to believe we now need to even question our own media but even they have been making crap up, or should I say pushing the crap the administration is making up, for years. No matter what side of the political aisle you’re on, ask yourself when was the last time the media said anything positive about Republicans? They vilified all of Trumps kids, with baseless charges, yet Hunter Biden has been getting away with numerous crimes for years. Looks like he’ll finally get his though. The truth always wins out, sooner or later. Point is, think for yourself. In the 70’s we had bumper stickers that said, Question Authority. Time to bring those back!

God Bless.

Finally last night I had a whole night’s restful sleep. First good night’s sleep in 4 or 5 nights. I haven’t had a test this morning, but I can tell I’m on the mend, no matter what it says. Just hope I’m not still contagious so I can drive Ty and help Lori. Ty seems like the one who should test positive, but he keeps showing negative. Poor Lori had zero rest, even when she was sick as she still had to work. Then of course, the last three days she’s had Kristin here, had to do everything for her mom’s birthday, drive Ty everywhere with me down, and of course, still take care of me. It reminds me of my Mom when I was young, seems like she never got a break. The life of a mom, they always put others first.

I’ll take the last test we have this morning and hopefully be negative so I can take Ty and get to the gym. Jag has something like two and a half weeks left of school in the year. Hard to believe he’ll be halfway through college. He’s doing really well. He’s going to take some summer courses too, of course.

Not sure what we’re doing this weekend. I’d like to throw us three on a plane for a quick trip to Arizona but will need to see how everyone is doing. We need some sun. Ty’s AP Government teacher had a massive heart attack I think on Friday. He was flown to Denver. Hope he’s ok. He’s really young, probably 40 at most. We should know more today.

6:30 and Lori and Ty and Harley are still sleeping. Lori has been sleeping in Jagger’s room with me positive and of course Harley sleeps with her. Time to get moving. Take care, stay healthy, and God Bless.