A Year of Change

Be lucky you don’t have a kid in basktball with morning practices. I think this is the only one this week as the next two days are afternoon practices. Normally I don’t mind getting up this early but the past two days of practice have been hard.

Yesterday Lori and I drove down to the storage units and did our best to find 4 Christmas boxes full of stuff. Then we headed home for me to watch the second half of the Bronco game while Lori went to Beaver Creek to pick up Jag from the ski races. Then we grabbed Ty and headed out to find our tree. We had to hike up a road to get into the White National Forest to find the perfect tree. Once we spotted it the boys crawled up a steep slope to cut it down. This may be the best tree we’ve ever had. We or I should say Lori, managed to get lights on it last night but we’ll need decorate it tonight.

I’m off to Denver to go to the warehouse and then get Jag some new basketball shoes. If he gets three practices in before Thursday they have a 3 day tournament in Keensburg which is in the northeast part of the State. We’ll see. With Lori gone that’d mean it’d just be Ty and I Thursday, Friday and half of Saturday. Maybe we can hit the mountain and getn some fresh tracks in.

Time to get moving, have a great week, take care and be safe, GB.

In the upcoming school play Chicago, Ty had not one, but two parts! He’s Harry who is the husband of one of the female leads and a some sort of male dancer as Chicago is a musical. We’re really proud of him for putting himself out there on his own and going for it! Way to go!

Yesterday Lori and I battled the storm to get to Denver for Lori’s hair appointment. I ran to the mall while she was getting dolled up. Then we both went back so she could see some things I found on sale and give them the thumbs up or thumbs down. I have this cashmere cardigan sweater I love and wear a lot and surprise, they’re now on sale at 40% off! I set one aside in blue that Lori can get me for Christmas. This coming week you get triple points at Neiman Marcus and it may not seem like a lot but if you work the program right you can end up with a $500 to $1000 gift card. So we had Chris, our salesman who we’ve known for like 20 years, hold everything until this coming week so we get the points. If you look hard, even at stores like Neiman Marcus, you can find some really good deals on some really nice clothes.

Next up we hit Whole Foods in Cherry Creek as they always have the best fish and food and then headed up the hill. We made it home around 5 or so and both dogs were hungry and ready for a walk. Ty had gone to a movie and Jag, Lori and I watched a movie.

Today we’re getting our tree. We also need to get down to Eagle to the storage unit to get the tree stand and some Christmas stuff. Jag is going to the Birds of Prey World Cup downhill with Emma. The Bronco’s are on at 11 and then we need to get ready for the week. Lori just put a pork roast in the crock pot. Should be good sometime this afternoon. You need to cook it low and slow and then it’ll be really good.

That’s it, time to go, have a great day, 23 days until Christmas, God Bless.

It’s 5:20 am and I’ve had my coffee and will soon hit the shower so Lori and I can hit the road to Denver. She’s getting her hair done at 9 and I have a few stops to make while she’s getting all pretty. We had some more snow yesterday but I think we’ll be alright going down and up.

I picked Jag up at 1:45 to go to his orthodontist appointment. Looks like about 4 more months and he’s done. While leaving we stopped and bought a large bouquet of Christmas flowers at a small local shop. Then we headed back to school to pick up Ty. Jag and Emma went ice skating up at Beaver Creek and then Lori picked them up around 8. With Emma coming over, Jag was on an all out cleaning mission in his room and had me working upstairs. Apparently if you want Jag to really clean his room, all you have to do is have Emma come over! Anyhow I cleaned upstairs and then relaxed before they made it back. With our house being so small Lori and I headed upstairs so they could watch a movie and of course Ty was in his room. Harley, our guard dog, would bark everytime she would hear Emma bark so we moved her to Ty’s room for the night. Not sure when her Mom picked her up but it had to be late.

Big earthquake in Alaska, wow. Just shows you you need to be prepared for those type of things. Not sure when but there will be a really big one, probably on the west coast.

Now on to the P.C. culture we live in. A radio station just pulled the iconic Christmas song, Baby it’s Cold Outside due to the #metoo movement. Are you fucking kidding me? Excuse my language but the way things are going I probably won’t be able to say certain words in the future without facing some kind of consequence. We’ve gone crazy and all this crap will soon come to a head. Mark my words, the P.C. culture has gone too far and people will soon revolt. Personally I think the whole thing is a joke and would normally laugh it off but people are so afraid of being accused or shamed of this or that that they all bow down to any complaint by any person no matter how stupid the accusation. It reminds me of the book the Scarlet Letter from when we were kids. Wow.

Oh well, December 1st! Christmas is coming. George HW Bush passed away last night. He was a good honorable man. Hope you all have a good day, take care, be safe and GB.

Man are we all tired. Thank God it is Friday. It’s been one of those weeks that seemed like a month. Guess that’s what happens when you’ve been gone on vacation.

Ty is still sick but I think getting better. Jag is doing fine but a little stressed out over basketball. Sure wish we had a different coach. He’s so difficult that some kids quit, others decided not to play and those that did are not happy. Jag is even considering just waiting for volleyball season and he loves basketball! We’ll see.

I’m off in 20 minutes for the gym and to take Harley to daycare and Lori will take the boys. Yesterday I did make it down and I met up with a 20 year police officer for Lakewood PD who is also on the Swat Team. I had donated a bunch of stuff for Jeffco PD’s auction back in September and one of the items I secured was a pair of Metallica tickets in Vegas up front. Well this guy, who is a big fan, bought them. He wanted to meet me as he wanted to thank me and had a few gifts for James and I. I met him in the Target parking lot and he was dressed in a flannel shirt and shorts with a t-shirt in an unmarked like jeep. Turns out he also is on the Drug Task Force. Anyhow he gave me a couple sets of these cool challenge coins and some Lakewood PD patches. One coin had Metallica lyrics on one side! Now that’s a fan, guess the whole department is. He’s also an armorer (fixes firearms) and invited us to go shooting with him and the team. He also has some great property in southern Colorado on a river for fishing. We might just take him up on it. Super nice guy, I’d post a picture of us but I think he’s undercover most of the time. Anyhow he was super apprecative for what I did for him and law enforcement in general. We talked for a while about how the police some years ago, thanks to the democrats (his words) became the bad guys. They put their lives on the line everyday for you and me and yet the democrats blame them and not the criminals, that’s just really messed up.

Time to go as I need to get moving. Lori and I and maybe Ty are coming down tomorrow. I think Jag is staying up here. Ty was in a “call back” for the school play which is Chicago. I guess he stood up on stage and sang two songs on his own for tryouts, wow! Your kids amaze you every day.

Take care and God bless.

This morning I woke up early to more snow, a lot more snow! There must be 4 or 5 inches of new heavier wet snow out there. Good news is it’s warm enough that it just brushes off the windshield and hasn’t really froze. I was heading to Denver today for a restuarant chain opening at Colorado Mills at 5 but that now looks iffy. A buddy of mine is on the board of TAG Restaurant Group which is a bunch of great restaurants from Larimier Square to Rino and other hot spots. Tom, you should go! It’s called Los Chingones and I can put you on the VIP list.

I picked Ty up at 10:30 and took him back to the doctor. We’re kind of worried about him as he has that deep barking seal cough. I first noticed it on the plane home. This time the doctor gave him Amoxicillen. I kept him home after the doctor and we finally got him asleep around midnight. Lots of hot tea with honey seems to help. He’s slept well since about midnight when we put a humidifier in his room. I hate to wake him for school as he’s had no sleep for days but he can’t miss anymore school. He’s trying really hard but when you miss school, you fall behind. First though, we have to get him well. I’m letting him sleep until 7 which is about as late as we can go with the snow.

Jag skipped practice last night and this morning. He needs new shoes plus with him not getting to play in the tournament, it doesn’t matter if he’s there this week. Of course the coach wants him there but I told him it’s his decision. The coach even sent me an email saying Jag should come to the games this weekend even though he can’t play. This isn’t going to happen. We have zero weekends after this one as a family with no commitments until Christmas so we need to get some stuff done around here like go cut our tree and then get it up.

Next weekend Lori is going to see her Mom. The following weekend is Jag’s birthday but he’ll be studying for finals all weekend and then it’s Christmas. It’s coming fast and will soon be here and then be gone for another year. We do have a sleigh ride booked for the 22nd at 4 Eagle Ranch.

The Rolling Stones are coming to Denver! We bought about 9 tickets yesterday and are in section H, rows 9 and 14 which are right in front of the part of the stage that extends out into the crowd. The show is May 26th, the Sunday before Memorial Day. We’ll sell (and hopefully make money) on half of the tickets. They were anywhere from about $800 to $1000 and more per ticket and people were going crazy for them. It’s like all work stopped until people got their tickets! Lori said everyone at the clinic from doctors to PA’s to nurses and patients were all trying to get on line to get tickets. It’ll be a fun time and the first big rock concert for us as a family, we can’t wait.

I have both cars brushed off and one running as I thought I was taking Jag early. I have plenty of work to do around here so it’ll be an office day for me. Hope everyone is well, take care, be safe and enjoy the season, God bless.

It’s almost December! These days the holidays seem to come and go so fast. When we were kids it seemed like it took forever for Christmas to get here. Funny how things change as you get older.

I was in Aspen yesterday for work and made it home around 6:15 pm. Lori and the boys were home and I brought dinner from El Korita in Basalt. The boys are moving slow this morning as usual. Lori’s off to the gym and I’ll try to go later but don’t know if I’ll make it as I have another wine event today from 1 until 4. Luckily though it’s here in Vail today.

Hard to believe it’s almost December. Before we know it, it’ll be 2019. I still remember every moment of 12/31/1999 with Lori on a beach in Seattle with a big bonfire waiting for Y2K. It’s been like 18 years since then and it went fast! Hope the next 18 are a little slower.

Time to get shopping for you all. You need to let us know what you want or you’ll get some kind of gift card, probably to a sporting goods store for a new fishing pole as that’s what I think everyone wants and needs. So get your list in asap!

Time to go, have a great day and God bless.

Well we’re up early as Jag has basketball and has to leave at 6. Somethings going to have to change as we made it home from basketball around 7:30 last night. The schedule needs to somehow change as the coach has already lost all the kids. Jag might not play this year which would be too bad as he’s really a lot better than last year and can dunk at will.

Meanwhile Ty is on the verge of pneumonia. He has that deep guteral cough and needs to get to the doctor today. He also has a ton of work to do and is a bit lost. Lori is going in to school today to see what she can do to help.

I have a big event in Aspen today from 1 to 4. I’ll probably stay until 3 and then take off for home. Same thing tomorrow in Vail. Throw in a ton of orders across the Country and Lori’s mom not feeling well and we’re not having a good kick off to the holiday season so far. Time to run, hope all’s well, take care and God bless.

If you didn’t read yesterdays post, click at the top left above todays title on “Snow!” after you read this to see it.

Today we’re all back at it. Lori at work, the boys at school and basketball and me at work and driving to return our rental car in Glenwood. We ned to leave in about 43 minutes meaning I need to shower, take the dogs up the hill, get the boys up and ready and fed and warm up both cars. Ty has a deep cough again so he’ll probably need to go to the doctor after school.

We also need to get on our shopping. Most of ours will be done on line as that’s the easiest, cheapest and has the best selection. We all should have bought Amazon stock 20 years ago!

It’s cold outside but that’s ok, it’s winter in the mountains. We have a sleigh ride booked December 22nd which should be a blast. Throw in Jag’s birthday, an overnight trip or two or three for me and maybe one for Lori and we are super busy the next 3 weeks. Oh yea, I also need to get like $2.5 Million in orders before the end of the year, ugh. Take care, be safe and God bless.

Well, it snowed and snowed and snowed. By this morning we had a foot of the white stuff. Thankfully it was a dry snow which is easier to shovel. Tommy pointed out I mispelled a few words last night, ha, I was tired.

We woke up at 8:20 and I Had to hurry and clean off a car to go get Mojo. He was excited to see me and then as soon as I got home, Lori and I took off to get Harley and get nin a quick 2o minute workout. Harley was super excited and at first didn’t recognize me as I had on dark sunglasses. Then she was all feet and kisses to us both.

The boys are moving I think. Mom’s making French Toast for them now. We have some work to do around here to get ready for the week. Lots of laundry and homework and cleaning up.

Read on for the thought of the day, interesting take on kids and social media in general.

The detrimental impact of social media has been documented in a recent study at an Ivy League university. Those who reduced their usage of social media saw a significant decrease in depression and loneliness. The data proved spending hours per day on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media is damaging to the mental health of college students.

Social media is nothing more than virtue signaling and peacocking by people trying to pump up their own egos. The incessant narcissism broadcast by the “beautiful” people results in others comparing their lives to these shallow egocentric elitists. When normal people spend their days comparing their plain lives to the fake awesome lives of strutting egomaniacs, they become depressed and unhappy with their own lives.

Until people put down their gadgets, spend time living in the real world with real people and stop idolizing shallow faux icons, they will become even more mentally unstable. This seems unlikely, as young children are handed tech gadgets while they are still in their designer cribs. The masses will never willingly put down their addictive devices and deal with real issues in a real way.

Until this selfie society undergoes a drastic reversion to reality, likely spurred by a debt implosion and civil or global conflict, people will continue to mindlessly wander the earth staring down at their smart phones, getting dumber by the minute. This madness will stop when daily survival becomes more important than Kanye and Trump’s latest tweet. Until people are more concerned with where they are going to obtain their next meal than the number of likes they are getting from posting a picture of their latest trendy restaurant meal, the madness will continue.

Hmmm, God Bless.

Well, we finally made it home. We landed about 6:35 am and headed to baggage claim where we had to wait for what seemed like an hour for our luggae. Soon we were in our rental suburban and on the way up the hill. Tom had told me about the weather the night before so I wanted to get moving as soon as I could.

After a quick stop at Chick Filet we were heading home. We stopped in the snow in Frisco to replenish our supplies (food) and were home by 11. Then it started really snowing. It’s 5 now and it just stopped we think. We did get about 6 inches though and the interstate is closed in both directions. This means Harley and Mojo will come home tomorrow.

Now a quick word about flying coach, IT SUCKS! Ok that’s two words but man is it bad. Not only do you get little to no sleep in those tiny seats but the people (and I really do try not to judge) are just classless. They throw crap around, take off half their clothes, especially shoes and yes even socks, and fart out loud not even trying to conceal it! I told Lori never again, and by God I mean it.

We had a great trip. There’s always a few moments of disagreement but it was a nice break for us all. Now we’re in holiday mode as a month from today is Christmas Eve, We need to try to get our tree soon, maybe tomorrow although we don’t have a permit yet. It looks Christmasey outside, that’s for sure.

Nice picture of our frinds salt water pool and the rock Ty jumped off of 30 some times on Thanksgiving!

So we’re thankful to be home in one piece and hope everyone is doing well. I hope you all read the post from yesterday. I know it was posted earlier this year but thought it important. More to come. Take care, be safe, love to you all and God bless.