Yesterday was an adventure. We woke at 5 am and left at 6 for the airport as we were taking a helicopter around the islands. After going through our pre-flight right before the four of us were to board, the pilot said he needed to cancel due to low hanging clouds. Ugh, another cancellation. Oh well we made the best of it and moved on.

Soon we were back at our hotel and Lori and the boys went paddleboarding. I staked out four chairs in the sun for them when they were done. We pretty much hung out until about 3 when we started getting ready to go to our friends house. By 5:30 we arrived at James and Francesca’s house. All three kids were there which was fun for our guys as they all know eachother. They also had friends from California with their 3 little kids. At first I didn’t know who they were but the guy, Robert was a big guy all tattooed up. Soon after we were hanging out talking I realized who he was. Robert was the former Oakland Raider lineman that was the number 2 pick in the NFL draft years ago. He’s from Iowa and went to school about 30 minutes from where I went to college. Their youngest, a boy, really took a liking to Jag. Jagger was very gracious and spent a lot of time with him. The boys also talked a lot with Robert (Gallery) and Jag asked him what he weighed in high school. Turns out he was 6’7″ and about 200 pounds when he graduated but then added another 125 in college! Jag felt better as he’s been eating everything in sight trying to gain weight. Sadly Lori and I look at food on this trip and we gain weight, but that’s ok. James and Francesca met them when they lived in the Bay Area.

Robert and his wife, who he met in college, were super nice down to earth regular people and we all had a blast. As I said earlier we had pork instead of turkey which was a nice change. We all did a toast saying what we were thankful for and it turns out this is the first Thanskgiving in 26 years James was not on the road and home with the family. He leaves Saturday for some shows on the west coast but we’ll all hook up again early December when the tour is over. Ty swam a bunch in their salt water pool and jumped off the lava rocks 33 times into the pool! We all had fun but were all tired by about 9 pm.

This morning we’re moving to a day room (a smaller room) until we leave around 3 for the aiprort. They’re giving us a small room super cheap so we have some place to put our stuff and shower before leaving. We take off around 7 and land in Denver bewtween 6 and 7 am.

Before I go, here’s a post from a 27 year old girl that passed away from cancer. Her family didn’t see the post until after she died and even though it’s long, I encourage you all to read it. Have a great day, we’ll talk to you all soon, Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless.

Death is something that everyone has to face at some point in their life. Whether it’s the death of a close relative or if you’re struggling for your life – it’s never easy to face death alone.

Fortunately, most people don’t need to think about this until they grow old, but sadly some people face up to it at a much younger age. Holly Butcher was one of them.

When Holly turned 26, she began to think a lot about death after being diagnosed with a malignant cancer.

She decided to write one last letter before she passed away, and posted the heartbreaking letter on her Facebook page on January 3rd, 2018.

Less than 24 hours after she published the farewell letter, Holly passed away, surrounded by her family.

Now her message is reaching people around the world, and everyone is touched by Holly’s words.

She starts her letter:

“It’s a strange thing to realise and accept your mortality at 26 years young. It’s just one of those things you ignore. The days tick by and you just expect they will keep on coming; Until the unexpected happens. I always imagined myself growing old, wrinkled and grey- most likely caused by the beautiful family (lots of kiddies) I planned on building with the love of my life. I want that so bad it hurts.”

“That’s the thing about life; It is fragile, precious and unpredictable and each day is a gift, not a given right.

I’m 27 now. I don’t want to go. I love my life. I am happy.. I owe that to my loved ones. But the control is out of my hands.

I haven’t started this ‘note before I die’ so that death is feared – I like the fact that we are mostly ignorant to it’s inevitability.. Except when I want to talk about it and it is treated like a ‘taboo’ topic that will never happen to any of us.. That’s been a bit tough.

I just want people to stop worrying so much about the small, meaningless stresses in life and try to remember that we all have the same fate after it all so do what you can to make your time feel worthy and great, minus the bullshit.

I have dropped lots of my thoughts below as I have had a lot of time to ponder life these last few months. Of course it’s the middle of the night when these random things pop in my head most!

Those times you are whinging about ridiculous things (something I have noticed so much these past few months), just think about someone who is really facing a problem. Be grateful for your minor issue and get over it. It’s okay to acknowledge that something is annoying but try not to carry on about it and negatively effect other people’s days.

Once you do that, get out there and take a freaking big breath of that fresh Aussie air deep in your lungs, look at how blue the sky is and how green the trees are; It is so beautiful. Think how lucky you are to be able to do just that – breathe.

You might have got caught in bad traffic today, or had a bad sleep because your beautiful babies kept you awake, or your hairdresser cut your hair too short. Your new fake nails might have got a chip, your boobs are too small, or you have cellulite on your arse and your belly is wobbling.

Let all that shit go.. I swear you will not be thinking of those things when it is your turn to go. It is all SO insignificant when you look at life as a whole. I’m watching my body waste away right before my eyes with nothing I can do about it and all I wish for now is that I could have just one more Birthday or Christmas with my family, or just one more day with my partner and dog. Just one more.

I hear people complaining about how terrible work is or about how hard it is to exercise – Be grateful you are physically able to. Work and exercise may seem like such trivial things … until your body doesn’t allow you to do either of them.

I tried to live a healthy life, in fact, that was probably my major passion. Appreciate your good health and functioning body- even if it isn’t your ideal size. Look after it and embrace how amazing it is. Move it and nourish it with fresh food. Don’t obsess over it.

Remember there are more aspects to good health than the physical body.. work just as hard on finding your mental, emotional and spiritual happiness too. That way you might realise just how insignificant and unimportant having this stupidly portrayed perfect social media body really is.. While on this topic, delete any account that pops up on your news feeds that gives you any sense of feeling shit about yourself. Friend or not.. Be ruthless for your own well-being.

Be grateful for each day you don’t have pain and even the days where you are unwell with man flu, a sore back or a sprained ankle, accept it is shit but be thankful it isn’t life threatening and will go away.

Whinge less, people! .. And help each other more.

Give, give, give. It is true that you gain more happiness doing things for others than doing them for yourself. I wish I did this more.

Since I have been sick, I have met the most incredibly giving and kind people and been the receiver of the most thoughtful and loving words and support from my family, friends and strangers; More than I could I ever give in return. I will never forget this and will be forever grateful to all of these people.

It is a weird thing having money to spend at the end.. when you’re dying. It’s not a time you go out and buy material things that you usually would, like a new dress. It makes you think how silly it is that we think it is worth spending so much money on new clothes and ‘things’ in our lives.

Buy your friend something kind instead of another dress, beauty product or jewellery for that next wedding. 1. No-one cares if you wear the same thing twice 2. It feels good. Take them out for a meal, or better yet, cook them a meal. Shout their coffee. Give/ buy them a plant, a massage or a candle and tell them you love them when you give it to them.

Value other people’s time. Don’t keep them waiting because you are shit at being on time. Get ready earlier if you are one of those people and appreciate that your friends want to share their time with you, not sit by themselves, waiting on a mate. You will gain respect too! Amen sister.

This year, our family agreed to do no presents and despite the tree looking rather sad and empty (I nearly cracked Christmas Eve!), it was so nice because people didn’t have the pressure of shopping and the effort went into writing a nice card for each other. Plus imagine my family trying to buy me a present knowing they would probably end up with it themselves.. strange! It might seem lame but those cards mean more to me than any impulse purchase could. Mind you, it was also easier to do in our house because we had no little kiddies there. Anyway, moral of the story- presents are not needed for a meaningful Christmas. Moving on.

Use your money on experiences.. Or at least don’t miss out on experiences because you spent all your money on material shit.

Put in the effort to do that day trip to the beach you keep putting off. Dip your feet in the water and dig your toes in the sand. Wet your face with salt water.

Get amongst nature.

Try just enjoying and being in moments rather than capturing them through the screen of your phone. 

Life isn’t meant to be lived through a screen nor is it about getting the perfect photo.. enjoy the bloody moment, people! Stop trying to capture it for everyone else.

Random rhetorical question. Are those several hours you spend doing your hair and make up each day or to go out for one night really worth it? I’ve never understood this about females.

Get up early sometimes and listen to the birds while you watch the beautiful colours the sun makes as it rises.

Listen to music.. really listen. Music is therapy. Old is best.

Cuddle your dog. Far out, I will miss that.

Talk to your friends. Put down your phone. Are they doing okay?

Work to live, don’t live to work.

Seriously, do what makes your heart feel happy.

Eat the cake. Zero guilt.

Say no to things you really don’t want to do.

Don’t feel pressured to do what other people might think is a fulfilling life.. you might want a mediocre life and that is so okay! 

Tell your loved ones you love them every time you get the chance and love them with everything you have.

Also, remember if something is making you miserable, you do have the power to change it – in work or love or whatever it may be. Have the guts to change. You don’t know how much time you’ve got on this earth so don’t waste it being miserable. I know that is said all the time but it couldn’t be more true.

Anyway, that’s just this one young gals life advice. Take it or leave it, I don’t mind!

Oh and one last thing, if you can, do a good deed for humanity (and myself) and start regularly donating blood. It will make you feel good with the added bonus of saving lives. I feel like it is something that is so overlooked considering every donation can save 3 lives! That is a massive impact each person can have and the process really is so simple.

Blood donation (more bags than I could keep up with counting) helped keep me alive for an extra year – a year I will be forever grateful that I got to spend it here on Earth with my family, friends and dog. A year I had some of the greatest times of my life.

..’Til we meet again.

Hol

It’s turkey day, whoo hoo. Now we’re having Hawaiian Pork but that’s ok. I do like turkey but we don’t eat it that often. Tom will have to have a turkey leg for me. Today we’re taking off early for some fun and will head over to our friends house around 5:30. Tomorrow we’ll head home. There’s snow at home and in the forecast so they say.

Yesterday we played some basketball, hit a beach or two and took the boys parasailing. Jag has come a long way with his game and easily dunks the ball too. His outside shot has really improved. He looks good. Back to parasailing, they took off in the ocean speed boat but when they came back we found out they didn’t get to go as it was too windy. That’s the second day in a row they had to cancel so we just got our money back. They did get a cool boat ride and saw about 30 dolphins racing alongside their boat.

That’s about it, it’s 5:10 am and time to get moving. Have a great day and God Bless.

Yesterday around noon I headed down to Wailea to meet Alan from my distributor for lunch. We had headed to the pool about 10:45 and I didn’t think we had gotten all that much sun. While getting ready I noticed I was a little red. Oh well, that’s Hawaii. When I made it home I grabbed Lori and the boys to go to Monkey Pod, one of our accounts and favorite places to eat. Funny thing was I was at the Monekey Pod in Wailea for my meeting so it was back to back visits to the same restaurant concept.

We had a nice early dinner and then headed home. That’s when I saw Lori. Now if I was red, she was glowing like the sun red! She burned herself pretty bad from too much sun. She’ll need to stay in the shade today for sure.

Jag is going parasailing today at 10. This is where they hook you up to a parachute and pull you behind a speed boat and you’re a couple hundred feet in the air over the ocean. Should be fun.

Then I’m not sure what we’re doing. We have an invite to go down to Kehei for paddle boarding but we’ll see. Oh I did run in to the girl with the bug on her forehead, the boys and Lori were right, it was a mole. I don’t think she recognized me, ha. Have a great day, God Bless

Yesterday was a nice sun filled day. We started off by picking up Sammy around 10 and then headed to Paia for some big waves and lunch. After the kids were pounded for an hour or so, we went in to town for lunch. Then it was off to our side of the island for some pool and beach time. Around 4 we started to get cleaned up. Sammy ended up going with her parents to Star Noodle while we headed to Freida’s for dinner. We were all tired and headed straight home afterwards for an early night. The sun does that to you.

It looks like another nice day here. I have some work to do and need to pull a rabbit out of my hat to close the year. I have a couple calls coming up now so time to run. Hope everyone is well. We found a few Christmas presents yesterday for a few of you so we’re getting a little bit of a start on that. Take care and God Bless.

Here we go, Thanksgiving week. Dixie is going to L.A. to hang out with Kristin, we’re of course here and not sure about anyone else. Tom has his tree up and Denver and most of the mainland are cold. Arizona is probably ok though.

Last night we went to dinner with Kim, Don and Sammy, (Dr. C, his wife and daughter). We had a nice time at Monkey Pod and celebrated Don’s birthday which is tomorrow. Today we’re grabbing Sammy and heading to the North Shore and then will come back here for some pool time, maybe hit a beach for some snorkeling and then are going to Freida’s, a great Mexican place, for dinner. So Sammy is spending the day with us. She’s thrilled as she loves the boys and would much rather be with us than hanging out alone at the house with her parents.

It’s been a little cloudy but is supposed to clear up now for the week. We’re all getting sun though as you still tan even through clouds. Lori and I are going to the gym after she gets back from the little store down in the lobby where she’s getting half and half and lattes for us. Both boys are still sound asleep. Don was telling us at dinner last night what great kids we have. He said “no really, you two have done an incredible job as they are really good kids”. That’s always nice to hear about your children. He also said they have good genes, ha.

It’s so nice here with the warm weather and humidity. When we get back though, I’m going pheeasant hunting. I love the cold and four seasons a bunch. The holidays will be in full swing as Christmas is a month from this weekend. Hard to believe it’s almost here. We’ll have to get busy shopping as soon as we get home. We also still have Robi’s birthday present to send. We need your new address!

That’s it, hope all’s well. Take care and God Bless.

Yesterday was sort of rainy but of course still like 80 degrees. It never really gets cold here, at least all the times we’ve been here. We had lunch at Monkey Pod which is one of our top accounts and it was fantastic! Dinner was at our favorite, Star Noodle, and of course also fantastic! So the island redeemed itself food wise with great food all day.

Dr. C and Samantha (his daughter in Ty’s class) had their flight delayed out of Eagle so they missed their flight to Hawaii and ended up in Los Angeles. They’re in the air now and shsould land around noon if I had to guess. Ty was on his phone on Snpachat or Instgram or one of those apps, talking with her most of the day as he does with friends every day. I think Sam is hanging out with us today or tonight or both.

Lori and I are going for a walk. Jga is sleeping and Ty is awake. It looks a little nicer outside today but could still be a little rainy. Then it’s supposed to get sunny. Lori joked the rain yesterday probably saved her chest as she got a lot of sun the other day. I told her I’m not eating until Thanksgiving. James and Francesca’s caretaker is this Hawaiian guy who is wrapping a whole pig in some palm or bannana leaves and burying it in the ground with hot rocks to cook it all day like they use to do hundreds of years ago. We can’t wait, should be really good! Also we’re not huge turkey fans so Hawaiian pork sounds great!

My buddy Jeffrey who I’ve known 40 years (remember he moved here 10 years ago and is known to the pros as the Guitar Doctor and plays with Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith and others) worked a show last night but we’ll get together with him and his wife Karen in a few days. He always says we should move here which I’m sure Lori would love but we know it’d get old real fast. Or I should say at least I know that, Lori’s not so sure, ha.

Time to go, hope all’s well and yes Ali, we are shopping for you for Christmas! We know you’ll love a grass skirt to wear in the snow back home, ha! Miss you all.

God Bless, Aloha.

The day started with a couple conference calls, one with a couple of guys in my Company and then one with Universal Music Group, Andrea Bocelli’s Worldwide record label. I was done by about 8:30 and then it was off to get Ty’s hair done. We were back by a little after 10 and then hit the pool. We hung out until around 1 or so and then cleaned up to head down island to Wailea.

Around 3:30 we made it to Wailea and stopped at the Shops at Wailea and walked around and bought some gifts. Then it was off to Morimoto for dinner. On the way out of the shopping area there was a woman sitting eating some food and she was waving her hand around her head as if to wave away a bug. I noticed her and then saw she didn’t get the bug as it was right in the middle of her forehead. I thought it might have been one of those stones middle eastern women wear but it moved so I was sure it was a bug. I got her attention and said “you have a bug on your forehead” and was walking towards her to help her. Lori and the boys were yelling “dad, stop”. I though was motioning to her, as I now had her attention, that she had a bug on her forehead. Finally I heard Lori telling me, “Doug, it’s a mole!”. So I stopped and said to the woman, “ah nevermind” and we walked on. Fortunately she was foreign and I don’t think understood me. Now in my defense, I still think it was a bug as I know it moved but Lori and the boys, laughing their asses off, swear it was a mole! Also I was genuinly trying to help her, right? Oh well, I guess we’ll never know. But I’m sure it was a bug as it moved. Jag told me, “no dad, you were moving”(walking) which made it look like it moved. Oh well, I was just trying to help.

Next up was Morimoto, the famed Aisan restaurant at the Andaz which is a luxurious part of the Hyatt. The meal started off great with killer apps but when Lori’s fresh snapper came, it was so over done, we sent it back. Jag and I had Waygu steaks that were so salty with soy sauce and ginger that even though good, we agreed we preferred a Whole Foods steak on our own bbq. Of course the desserts were great. Most places here in Hawaii serve warm malasadas which is just a fancy name for doughnuts. The always come with sauces like carmel and chocolate and the kids dip them. So Morimoto didn’t live up to its reputation. The manager came over and apologized and sais she showed the chef the fish and was so sorry. Anyhow we made it home by around 10:30 and crashed.

Ty just woke us at 5:30 for breakfast as apparently he’s uncapable of making a bowl of cereal on his own, ha. Guess we’ll go to the gym. Hope everyone is well, take care and God Bless and watch out for bugs on your forehead as I will let you know if you have one!

(I still think it was a bug…)

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity with us going strong until about 10 at night. We started out in Lahaina for breakfast and then bought the boys some flip flops. Then it was a quick trip back to the villa before taking Lori to our friends house where she and two ladies hung out for the day. I went to pick her up around 3 and when I arrived, her and Monica were way out in the ocean on stand up paddle boards. Francesca and I waited by the pool (they have a salt water pool, very cool) for the girls to work their way back in. Lori cut her foot on rocks or coral when coming in but should be ok. We then rushed back so Lori could change and then I dropped her to meet the ladies as they were off to the fun little town of Paia for some shopping and dinner. Meanwhile I left Jag at the hair salon where I had got a haircut as they put some light blond highlights in his hair. He and Ty were going to put lemons in their hair to lighten it in the sun but I had Nicole (who cuts my hair here) just comb through some subtle higlights. Ty is getting his done this morning, ha.

Meanwhile Ty was blowing up a giant pinapple floaty and headed to the ocean. He saw a whale breach so they’re starting to arrive. Then after watching the Green Bay Packers blow a lead, the three of us headed to Star Noodle for dinner. We have reservations there I think tomorrow but they take walk ins if you wait. We ended up waiting 45 minutes but it’s worth it. I then dropped Ty at home and Jag and I headed back to our friends house to pick up Lori. The three of us made it home a bit after 10. Lori and I both said we ate about a weeks worth of food yesterday. Tonight we have a reservation at one of the islands best places down near Wailea. We’ll get some sun during the day.

I have a conference call at 7:30 and then at 8 and then I should be done. Lor found a new bikini yesterday which looks great on her. The humidity is nice as no dry skin here. Here’s a comment from Robi, thanks for sharing.

Well we made it to Maui around 1 in the afternoon. The flight wasn’t bad at all (of course First Class helps) but they didn’t have tv’s as some planes just want you to use your hand held devices like phones or computers. Lori watched movies but Ty and I and Jag couldn’t get ours to play, ugh. Anyhow the boys slept some as they were tired and I did some work.

After landing it was straight o Costco for $400 worth of provisions. Then off to our villa. The last time we were here we didn’t really have an “ocean view” villa and actually had to have the hotel move us 3 days into our stay. So this time, after emailing the General Manager a few weeks ago, and being a Platnium Starwood guy, we ended up with about the nicest two bedroom on the property. They even had gifts for us and food and drinks and a personal note from the property GM in ur room waiting for us welcoming us back, yeah!

The boys went straight to the pool as they had changed in the airport into their swimsuits. Lori and I, after unpacking, managed to get about 30 minutes of sun before we all walked next door for dinner. We could have just gone to sleep but Jag was starving which he is about every hour. After dinner, about 7:30, we went to bed. We woke up at 5 which is I think 9 am Denver time and we’re drinking Kona coffee. Too bad we missed Robi by a few weeks. it would have been fun to see her here. Here’s her comment from yesterday,

After a day of non stop packing, cleaning, running errands and more than you could imagine, we left Vail around 4:45 for Denver. On the way we stopped for some food and hit Nordstrom to return a sweater of Lori’s that didn’t fit. Then it was off to the Westin at Denver International Airport to settle in for about 6 hours of sleep. 3:45 comes early but that’s what time you need to get up for a 6 am flight.

Thankfully we’re in First Class the whole way which is two legs. The first to San Frnacisco and the second to Kahalui Maui. We should land about 12:30 Hawaii time. Then we’ll grab our rental car, hit Costco for supplies (sushi and our favorite Meloni bars which are like melon popsicles) and head to our villa on Kaanaplai Beach. The boys should be in the pool or ocean by 3!

More to come tomorrow. Hope everyone is well, we’re looking forward to this break as we’ve all been working hard. Take care, be safe and God Bless.