A Year of Change

First, let me apologize to our faithful readers. It slipped my mind that I was supposed to write the blog while Doug is out playing hunter-gatherer with his buddy. Thank you to Uncle Tom for the reminder.

Friday, I was an hour late picking the boys up from soccer and they were none too happy about it. Ty was still pouting because I would not drive him down to Vinny’s Friday-Monday…maybe he’ll understand once he himself drives in Labor Day weekend traffic.

Jagger was trying to explain the perils of driving round trip in traffic two times in four days, and that I would spend about 4 hours each way if I were lucky. A grand total of 16 hours driving on one of the most dangerous driving weekends of the year.  Thankfully, Ty shook off his attitude an hour after we were home.

Yesterday, Jagger went to Zach’s and Ty had Sonny come over. Jagger, Zach, Ethan, Matt, Lexi and Marcella hung out in Vail and then the boys went to Matt’s to stay all night. Ty had Sonny sleep over and they played, and played and finally crashed on the couch.

This morning the sleepover crew woke up at 10:20 and the crew at Matt’s woke up at 10:40, according to Matt’s mom, Alison. Alison just dropped all the boys at Ford Park to play basketball. My guess is the girls will be joining them soon. You see, they group text their location, as well as their plans and then they all join up to hang out.

Fortunately, this seems to be a pretty good group of kiddos. Some are US Ski Team bound…others are in competitive soccer, basketball and cross country. They all seem to strive for good grades and they talk about what Colleges they may want to attend. Jagger explained to me the other day that if he races on the C.C. team he can “Letter” on the Varsity team as a freshman and that will look really good on his college applications.  I really love it that he is thinking this far ahead!

Ty and sonny finished breakfast and now they are lounging on the couch. I’ll round them up and take them to Vail in a little while, as the Jazz festival, Duck races and Farmers Market are all happening today.

Mojo slept on Doug’s side of the bed Friday and Saturday night, but don’t tell the Mister. Mojo and I hiked up the mountain yesterday and his morning. He is doing so well with his training that it is actually a pleasure to walk with him.

I spoke with Doug yesterday and he saw a big Buck, but the hunted out tracked he hunters. This is sad for Doug…but all good with me.

I’m off to take the boys to town. I’ll remember that I have Blog duty this week.

Love to all and GB.

It rained most of the night and is still coming down although not that hard. In about 5 hours Luke and I will head out for our hunting camp at Pyramid Peak. It’s supposed to clear up but it doesn’t really matter except I do like to check my rifle when I get to camp to make sure my zero hasn’t shifted.

Yesterday after school we headed straight to the 4 Seasons to get Jag a haircut as that’s where our friend works. Ty and I sat upstairs in the bar eating wings and pizza and drinking root beer floats waiting for him. Lori showed up eventually around 6pm and we all snacked a bit before heading home.

The three day weekend is much needed around here. A year ago when the hunting trip was booked, I had no idea it would be Labor Day. In any case, I don’t really get to pick as much as say yes or no to the week as the State sets the hunting dates. It’s also good as I miss less work, but it’d be nice to hang out with the family too. Maybe I’ll get lucky and be home by Sunday! You never know.

I have a lot to do and a lot to pack so I’d better get moving. They say the rain will stop soon which would be nice. Have a great weekend, take some time to reflect on how blessed you are and do something nice for someone else. Remember, character is how you treat people who can do nothing for you! God Bless.

Hard to believe it’s September 1st. 2/3rd’s of the year is behind us with only 4 months or about 120 days to go until 2017. Over the next 4 months we have Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, no less than 4 birthdays (in our family) plus a whole bunch of school events, lots of sporting events, hunting a few times, taxes due (October 15th) and snow to deal with. Throw in the election, a bunch of work, 8 football games and some unknown things that will pop up, as they always do, and it’ll be a pretty busy 120 days. Kind of overwhelming if you think about it. All you can do is take it one day at a time.

So today I have a list of things to do before leaving tomorrow. It’s a combination of work and household chores from going to the bank to getting the kids haircuts. Lori was home late again. I was actually at the hospital for over 2 hours yesterday myself as I have a small lump on my left thumb and we couldn’t figure out what it was. After some free x-rays, I hung out until Dr. Viola (the hand specialist) was out of surgery, to have him take a look at it. Turns out it’s just a ganglion cyst which is just fluid that was pushed out of a joint from working out. I’ve had them on my foot before and had them drained but never on my thumb. He said we can leave it alone if it doesn’t bother me or have it cut out at the base. Surgery is free (one of our perks with Lori working at the clinic) but we’d have to pay for the anesthesiologist and the surgery center so looks like I’ll live with it. You can’t really even see it and it doesn’t bother me that much so as long as it’s nothing that’ll hurt me, no big. Good though that I had it checked out.

It’s 5:43 and everyone is still sleeping. Mojo had breakfast and is now taking his morning siesta as well. I need to be in Eagle by 8:30 so Lori will have to drop the boys this morning. That’s about it, have a great day and welcome to September, stay safe and God Bless.

Watching the news, I guess there was a lot of rain down in the city. They’re showing flooding on some streets and hail in other parts of the front range on the tv. Up here we had a few sprinkles but that was it. It looks fine for hunting according to weather.com which is usually pretty reliable.

What’s worse is seeing all the crime on the news. Kidnappings, home invasions, robberies, murders, man, what a mess. People are desperate. More and more of them have run out of options and when you have no money, no job, and basically no hope in life, people tend to do things they normally wouldn’t do. But wait, the Pres says everything is great! Maybe it’s a little less common up here due to less people and the fact that most people have some sort of job. Also lots of people up here, as in most rural communities, are armed, and people know it.

Anyhow I was down and up the hill in a matter of a few hours. I had a meeting in Frisco so I didn’t get a chance to see my Mom as my morning meeting ran about 30 minutes late in Denver. Lots going on at work, which there always is as we get closer to the end of the year. We can see where we’ll end up financially and usually (this year’s no different) have to make a few changes to make sure we end up where we planned on ending up. This morning at 8am PST I have a Senior Management call to review YTD progress and the remainder of the year.

Meanwhile Lori strolled in about 8pm. Jag is doing really well at cross country. He’s really fast and the kid has the stamina of a gazelle. They ran sprints up the mountain yesterday and he was of course, leading the pack. Also by the way, up here when we say “mountain”, it’s really a mountain! Ty had soccer and although we haven’t had a game yet, is playing quite well.

I did manage to get the kitchen and living room cleaned up a bit. Laundry is always a constant battle with some needing to be done every single day. I don’t know how 50 or 100 years ago people would have clean clothes. I guess they wouldn’t! Times sure are different. Lots of people say get ready for a simpler life once again as things are going to eventually change, due to one thing or another. Who knows.

Guess I’ll run, hope all’s well, GB

The boys are in it, sports that is. Both had to knock off early yesterday due to lightning. Jag did do over 200 lunges once inside the gym after running a few miles outside. I’m sure he’ll be sore today.

I’m off to Denver at 6:30 and hopefully back by noon. Lots going on up here as usual. We did go to sushi for dinner last night, yum was it good.

I’m going to run as it’s 5;51 and I need to get moving, hope all’s well, GB.

Yesterday it rained for most of the day and night and the temps were cool up her signaling that Fall has arrived. Lori spent most of the day cleaning Ty’s room while I ran a few errands and did some laundry. We were hoping to sleep in for at least one day over the weekend but were not so lucky. Looks like it’ll be at least this weekend before Lori can sleep in and maybe 2 weeks for me, as when I’m hunting, I’m up at 4:30 every morning.

I have lots of work on the phone today and a lunch in Frisco at 1pm. Tomorrow I have an early 8am meeting in South Denver in Highlands Ranch. Meanwhile both boys have sports after school today, Jag has basketball tonight and cross country after school while Ty has soccer after school. I need to check on the times.

The colors are changing up here, mostly the bushes on the ground meaning the Aspen trees will soon follow. That’s early, even for Colorado. Could be a good winter. Time to run, hope all’s well, GB

Good morning! Here are two pictures from yesterday’s extravaganza. We are headed home, so we’ll write the blog in 2 hours.

Ok, 10am, we’re home. As Lori said, it was quite the affair. We made it to the Temple (Jewish for church sort of), about 3:45 as Warner (Ty’s friend who moved to D.C.) was dropped off by his driver from the airport. There were probably 400 people there and the ceremony was very interesting and educational. Emma, who is 13, basically ran the service. She read in english and hebrew and has been studying with a teacher for over a year. The Rabbi was funny and entertaining and kept things real. After the service, we all went into a large room where a reception was held. Besides great food and drinks, there were all kinds activities for the kids. They must have had 8 tables set up like Las Vegas. There were blackjack tables, roulette and other games. Ty and a few buddies sat down at a blackjack table where the dealer handed out $1000 in chips to each kid. 30 minutes later, Ty had $50,000! Now only if it was real money. There were also other things to do, too numerous to list. After about an hour or so, everyone headed out for Infinity Park in Cherry Creek. You can see the room below. The kids were all up front at long tables while the parents all sat at assigned tables throughout the room. There was a DJ complete with a stage, concert style lighting and 6 dancers leading the kids and later, the adults in dancing, on a huge dance floor.

The food was amazing. Matsushita, the World famous sushi restaurant chain from New York, catered one station all night long. There was also an Italian station, and then a steak (tenderloins) and salmon station, and that was just for the adults. For the kids, they had a taco station, sushi also, and and a hamburger (slider) station as well.  Once that was over, the desserts were amazing, assorted milkshakes in mini glass old fashioned milk bottles, fresh chocolate and cherry crepes, cake and more. Definitely over the top. We can fast for a week!

All the while there were giant video screens on all four sides of the room playing family pictures since the kids were born up until now. Emma has a sister in Jag’s grade and a brother a year or two ahead of him. They of course all were there and a bunch of older kids from school. Lots of girls from Jag’s class but no boys, as they decided to stay home.

We sat with Ty’s theater coach and we learned two days ago, that after the auditions, he was chosen to play Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off! Mr. Jones, the theater director, said Ty is just fantastic and he never knew him until Ty came up to him in the hall one day, stuck out his hand, shook Mr. Jones’s hand and introduced himself. Now theater up here is a big deal and even though some of the other kids are quite seasoned, he’s sure Ty will do great as he said Ty had no fear during the audition. We also learned that apparently no less than 6 girls have a huge crush on Jag, some even older girls! I guess on the camping trip, one of the teachers had to kick three senior girls out of Jag and two other boys tent one night, ha ha. It was all innocent but apparently, according to the teachers, there’s even some boys in 10th, 11th and 12th, that in the teacher’s words, “hate your kid”, as the girls all like him, too funny. It’s all harmless so far, but look out in the coming years. Who knew, as Ty says, that Jagger is such a ladies man!

We made it back to our hotel by 11. We were going to go to the pre-season game and leave Ty and Warner at the party, but ended up staying. I did call a buddy at the last minute, who came and used the tickets. After all, it was only pre-season and it was really good we stayed and bonded with a bunch of the parents from school.

This morning we woke up at 6am, showered and had breakfast and then Warner’s driver picked him up to take him to the airport for his 10am flight back to D.C. We then headed up the hill and after a couple of stops, (coffee and groceries), were home by 10. Lots of cleaning to do now so time to run, hope all’s well, God Bless.

p.s. doesn’t Ty look grown up all dressed up! All the parents said how Lori and I sure make great looking kids! I know, I know, it’s all Lori!

Today in Denver is Ty’s classmate Emma’s bat mitzvah. It’s at a temple near the University of Denver and then they rented out the entire facility where they have the National Rugby Championships each year over in Cherry Creek. Now Emma is Ty’s age, 12, but there are over 400 people coming! Should be quite the event.

First up we need to get Ty new soccer shoes and shin guards and we need to stop at a few other places while in town. We’re trying to make it to Grandma’s as I said I’d bring the boys by but I wasn’t really thinking as Jag isn’t coming down. He’s staying home with Mojo. We’ll go to the ceremony at 4:30 and then take Ty and his friend Warner (who moved back to Washington D.C. but is on a plane alone right now to come to the party) to the party. Then Lori and I will go to the Bronco game and go back and get Ty and Warner by 11pm. I have two rooms at the Marriott in Cherry Creek, one for Ty and Warner and one for Lori and I. Warner’s flight back to D.C. is at 10am in the morning so a driver will pick him up around 7am tomorrow and we’ll be on the road early back to Vail. So it’ll be a whirlwind trip but I think every kid in the 7th grade is going except one 0r two. The family is one of the nicest there is and extremely well off so I’m sure it’ll be over the top. Just serving dinner for 400 plus people is a chore in itself. It’s also be our first bat mitzvah.

It’s nice and cool up here, just how we like it. I managed to get my computer work done yesterday and Lori worked again until around 7pm. Both boys had a good first week at school. Jag starts Club Basketball (a private invitation only league) Monday and practices are Monday and Wednesday from 7 until 9:15pm. So after school from 3:30 until a little after 5 he has cross country and then will head home for a bit before basketball. Ty has soccer everyday but Wednesday after school from about 4 until 6 so we’ll be doing lots of driving and need to find some parents to carpool with.

I need to get to the gym before we head down the hill so I’d better run. Lots to do, hope you all are doing well, it’s in the 30’s up here which for August is cool. Take care and God Bless.

Well last night when Lori was leaving work around 7pm, she walked outside to snow! I went to the gym around 6pm for an evening workout and it was raining and cool but no snow. When I was barbecuing around 7:30, and holding an umbrella over the bbq in the rain, it had cooled off. The rain was pelting me in the face and I felt it on my bare legs as I was in shorts, but it didn’t snow. So anyhow, snow’s a coming, it won’t be long. We’re supposed to get a bit of a warm up next week which is fine with me as I’m hunting but a little weather is ok too. I’d much rather have snow than rain though, any day of the week. Especially as when it rains up here in the Fall, it’s just as cold as snow, only a lot wetter. Oh well, I love 4 seasons, it’s part of life, so bring it on!

The first day of school went well. Both boys like their teachers for the most part. There’s always one or two that they’d rather not have. I dropped them at 7:50 and was in Denver getting my truck serviced by a little after 9. I left town around 11:30 and was back up in the mountains by 1pm.

Today I have a couple important emails I have to get done. I’ve been so busy that I keep putting them off. Today I absolutely have to do them. Guess I’ll run, have a good day and weekend. GB

I picked up both boys yesterday around 3;30pm. They were tired, wet and ready to come home. Both had lots of fun. Ty rappelled 70 feet down a rock face and Jagger paddle boarded down the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon. While some may consider this “just fun” there is a reason for the orientation trips. Having them at the beginning of the school year builds comradery between the students and teaches them how to work together to accomplish a common goal. When you’re a kid and you’re soaking wet trying to set up a tent in the rain and make something to eat, it doesn’t matter if you’re one of the cool kids or one of the jocks or something else, you’re all just wet and hungry! So, good stuff. Today, actual studies begin so time to get moving.

Lori has to be at work at 7 for a meeting. She received a great email from the head of the clinic yesterday that complimented her for being such a credit to the clinic. She sent it on to Dr.C who replied that Dan (who sent the email) knows quality when he sees it! That makes it just a little easier to wake up early in the morning.

I’m so disgusted with politics and frankly with the American public for even considering voting for Hill. It just proves my point that a slow drip desensitizes people. If my dad, grandparents, or anyone no longer with us, magically came back and saw what was going on, I have to believe they’d be in shock. I’ll leave it at that as no point in getting worked up over it.

I need to run down the hill to have my truck serviced today. I’ve drove like 6000 miles in the last 3 months! Yesterday I was in Buena Vista at the range and am all sighted in and good to go out to 600 yards. It rained a bit on the way but was dry when I arrived and meet my hunting buddy.

There was a good amount of snow on the peaks above about 13,000 feet. I passed no less than 10 mountains over 14,000 feet on my way. Weather and the big country up here just makes you feel alive. Every day I’m in awe of the beauty and massiveness of the mountains and feel real lucky to be living up here.

It’s 6:11 so time to get the kids up, here we go, another year. We still cannot believe Jag is in High School and Ty is in Junior High, unbelievable. Enjoy your day, God Bless.