A Year of Change

Well my Mom has a big birthday this week, number 80 to be precise. She doesn’t want anything special, especially a surprise party, she’s made that very clear to me! The big day is Thursday and so far we have no plans. She’s super hard to shop for and doesn’t really want or need anything which makes it that much harder. We’re thinking of getting her a goat or a llama, she’ll never see that coming!

Today the youngest has d.i. and basketball practice after school. We’re also supposed to get some snow. Yesterday morning I ran a few errands including a stop at the gun show. Boy was it was packed! I told the wife that the crowd was very diverse. There were lots of older folks, let’s say from 60 to 80, lots of people my age or middle age meaning in their 40’s and 50’s and tons of young family’s with children in tow. There were lots of guns, and every single one required a background check at tables set up all around the show, despite what the liberal news tells you. The shocking thing was the high prices, guns that used to sell for $1000 were now $3000 and cases of ammo that were $400 are now $900! Those in the industry say the President is the best salesman they’ve ever had. People are scared that they’re going to lose their rights to purchase whatever they want so they are out buying and boy are they buying. The high prices are there because people are willing to pay it. The industry has had a years worth of sales in the past 6 weeks, all because of the fear that government is going to ban certain kinds of guns.

No matter what you think, banning guns is not the answer. Just look at Chicago, 7 murders again yesterday and 13 shot in total and over 500 murders last year! This is from a city with the strictest gun control laws in the country. Everything is illegal there yet the criminals still have guns and continue to kill people. In fact, Illinois, New York and California have the highest rate of gun crimes in the country and all three have the strictest laws, hmmmm. You don’t see a lot of gun crime in Montana, Oklahoma, Texas or Wyoming where they have the highest rate of legal gun ownership now do you. Oh well, laws are not based on fact these days but rather emotion. As Rham Emanual famously said, “you can’t let a good crisis go to waste”.

After the gun show I stopped into the western store as we had a pair of boots we bought the oldest in September of last year that sat in his closet and he never wore them. They were a size 8 and he’s now a 9 which means he can wear Grandpas old boots! I know the girls down there pretty well as I bring them a bottle of wine or two when I stop in for jeans. They gladly took them back, gave me full credit and with everything on sale, I walked out with two pair of boots for me and a pair of jeans! HAPPY DAY.  Cowboy boots  are the most comfortable thing to wear for me these days. I think I’m turning into my dad who wore them all his life. The misses always reminds me of all the boots I have whenever she wants a new pair of shoes as it is true, I probably have more boots than she does shoes. To each their own.

I picked up the oldest from his sleepover on the way home and as soon as we arrived home the misses said Jen called and wanted to know if he wanted to go swimming. Of course he said yes so off he went. Meanwhile I took the youngest to Target with some of his birthday money for a new PS3 remote and a game. His friend Ben came along and we stopped at Subway for some lunch on the way home. The boys headed straight upstairs to play but we made them take breaks and go out and play basketball every half hour or so.

The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and relaxing. After an early dinner we settled in for a little tv and then it was off to bed. The oldest has inter-murals this morning so I need to get him up at 6. Mom has physical therapy at 10 so I’ll run her downtown. She says she can drive herself, which she can but she hates it so I’ll take her. The lawyers and doctors, on the other side, are screwing with us big time trying to get out of paying anything more for her neck. We received a copy of the report from the appointment last week and the doctor is clearly biased towards the attorney who sent us there, surprise surprise. Now they want her to go to another doctor of there choosing and if we don’t go they just cut us off so I guess we’re going. What a rigged system, all we want is for the misses to not have a headache.

“All of us need to be reminded that the Federal government did not create the States, the States created the Federal Government.” – Ronald Wilson Reagan, January 20, 1981

Time to run, have a great week and God Bless.

Hello all, sorry for the late post…but the website was down until now.

Yesterday we met our friends and their kids at the Stock Show around 12:30.  Our friends  left for the event at 10:00 and the oldest originally planned to go with them.  After discussing the possibility of an allergy attack with us he decided to go with us in order to ensure he would be there for the entire Rodeo.

First we walked around the livestock.  I haven’t been to a Stock Show for a few years and I don’t remember the cows being groomed.  When I say groomed, I mean shampooed, brushed and blow dried!  The cows were adorable with their hair all shiny and fluffed and they seemed to enjoy the process of a spa experience for livestock.

The youngest decided the animal for him is a mule….Hogan was his name and he was huge and handsome.  The oldest didn’t have a favorite animal..he liked them all.  While we were enjoying the smells of hay and eau d’livestock, our friends called to let us know they were in line for the kids to ride the mechanical bull.  We made our way to them and their kids were just finishing up bull riding.  Our guys got in the line and the Mr. and I went browsing horse trailers.  We returned just in time to see our not so little cowboys show us their stuff. They were really cute and all smiles.

After the bull rides we wandered around some and made our way to the Rodeo arena.  Our seats were great! Row 11, seats 1,2,3,and 4. We sat down…the boys with their giant lemonade, cotton candy and smoked turkey legs and waited just a few minutes for the opening ceremonies to begin.  Wow, I don’t remember the Rodeo being so “4th of July”.  It started with the lights going off the music(good music)starting and indoor fire works.  Then the Westernaires came riding out in the blackness with glow in the dark costumes with lights and glow in the dark flags.  The kids were all bopping to the music, standing and dancing…too cute!  Next up were the Bucking Broncos…man can those ponies kick. The Mr. and I noticed that every cowboy was limping after their ride. Some guys stayed on the entire 8 seconds…amazing. There was roping, barrel racing, calf wrestling, sheep riding and finally, bull riding.  Those cowboys are nuts! Don’t get me wrong…they are incredibly fun to watch, but just nuts to put their bodies through that trauma.  In between events there was a “Kiss Cam” up on the jumbo t.v. screens and you guessed it, The Mr. and I were up there on the screen.  The Mr. noticed and leaned over and planed a long passionate kiss on me and the youngest leaned in front of us and waved.  The MC said, “and that is how they got him”…meaning of course our enthusiastic kiddo.  We tried to find a photo of it on 9 news..no luck.  Too bad I think you all would have enjoyed a laugh or two.

The closing ceremonies were very special.  The MC announced four generations of rodeo supporters that were in attendance and introduced the grandmother…out she came..a beautiful chestnut, bucking mare.  Next was her daughter another bucking  mare.  Then came her daughter, and finally a sweet little colt.  They all nuzzled one another out there in the spotlight.  A very special end to a very special rodeo.

We came home so the oldest could shower…he did have to have one dose of benedryl during the show.  After his shower he was off to a sleepover at his buddy’s.  The Mr. the youngest and I watched a movie and settled in for the night.

Oh yeah, the oldest did get a picture with Miss Colorado. He spotted her and asked if he could get a picture. She was very nice, cute and accommodating. When we left after the photo, Dad said thanks but the youngest thought he said, “call me” to her! Too funny. Anyhow it was a great time that everyone enjoyed. We have to make a point of going again next year.

Hope you enjoyed the post today, sorry again for the technical difficulties…we would love to hear some of your rodeo memories.

God Bless

That’s right, yesterday was post 750, quite a milestone if you think about it. 750 days of what happened in our lives. We’re feeling pretty good about things these days and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that our Family Makeover, even though it will always evolve, will be right where we wanted it to be when we started, by post number 1000. We still have some short term challenges (like the next 2 months) but long term, meaning by the end of the year, we’re looking pretty good. I won’t bore you with the details but things are shaping up as planned for our family of four. Let’s hope they continue to stay that way!

It’s 5:30am and I went to bed about 8:30. I feel like I’ve been jet lagged since the 9th of January when I left for Italy. The one day turn around to Seattle this week didn’t help as I was up early and up late. Hopefully tonight will be the turning point where I can get my sleep back to normal. It’s not getting up early as I always do that but rather the quality of sleep I get.

Today we’re all headed to the stock show. Our friends buy something like 30 tickets every year and have 4 for us. The oldest will leave at 10am with their family while the youngest, the misses and I will head down a bit after lunch. Then we’ll all meet up for the Grand Rodeo at 3:30 this afternoon. We love it, seeing all the animals and checking out all the farm and ranch equipment and then watching all the events of the rodeo. Supposedly the seats are really really good.

After school yesterday the boys had chess club and Jen went with them as her Mom asked if we could take her home with us which we did. I was in and out all day from downtown to Boulder while the misses cleaned the house from top to bottom. I don’t know how she functions with her headache, she’s just flat out tough, she should be in the rodeo!

Both dogs are at my feet and Lacey seems no worse for wear after her little fall. I guess Grandma Dix and Pa Don are in Vancouver Washington at Larry’s for a brief visit. It’s great that they still travel like they do!

Time for me to run as I’m headed to the you know what, (the gym) and then should make it home before everyone gets up. It’s really my only addiction if I think about it. I’m pretty much through with alcohol, thanks to the misses quitting on Nov 21st, and I don’t really have any other vices or things I can’t live without, except my wife and the boys. I’m glad I started working out when I was 20 or so as it’d probably be hard to start in your 50’s. I still feel like I’m in my late 20’s or 30’s and am actually stronger physically now than I was then. I love it and have to go, it’s just my thing, so, see you tomorrow.

Take care and God Bless.

Good morning, the sky is dark and the sun is just beginning to create a glow on the horizon.  The youngest was the first person awake this morning and the oldest just made his way down the stairs.

The mister arrived home around 11p.m. and was wide awake when he climbed into bed. His meetings went well and except for the downpour of rain he had a nice time in Seattle.

The boys stayed after school for their creative writing class and I ran to the art gallery and the dermatologist office to look at the chairs and the paint before I picked up the kiddos.  Both boys got their homework done…. the oldest just sat right down and got his homework finished and the youngest…well that is a different story.  Finally after a couple of hours and a few consequences the youngest finished up with his work. Both kiddos played with friends while I cleaned bathrooms.

Today the Mr. is going to Boulder for a meeting and he has to be down south at the distributer between 8 and 8:30 to pick up samples for his meeting.  Our friend Peter called…he is the man that runs/own the organic farm that we get all of our lettuces and veggies from during the summer.  Peter is doing a green house here in Denver and the Mr. is going to see him sometime today….Hopefully, the Mr. will be coming home with arugula, lettuces and tomatoes this afternoon.  Yum!

I took the dogs for a short walk yesterday…just around the big loop  maybe a mile.  Boy were they excited.  I’ll make walking our four legged family members a priority.  The lab takes herself on her own mini walks whenever she gets a chance..not such a subtle hint.  Lacey followed me down into the basement last night and I was coming up ahead of her when I noticed she was having difficulty getting back up the stairs(there is no carpet for her to grip) I turned and was making my way down to her when she tried one more stair.  That was it…she slipped right in front of me and I couldn’t catch her. She rolled, flipped three times before landing on the concrete floor below.  It was awful to see it happen and not be able to get to her in time.  I got to the bottom of the stairs just seconds after her.  I gave her comfort and checked her out before helping her up each stair.  She is a bit stiff this morning, but no broken bones.  Lucky Lacey is my new name for her…lucky me too.

That’s right, lost in all the euphoria of Obama’s re-election is the little often talked about drought the country is going through. Our state is not doing too well but we’re better off than most of the country, especially the heartland where most of the nations food comes from. Hopefully it’ll be a wet Spring.

Last night the youngest had his first organized basketball game. He played well but wasn’t sure of all the rules as this was the first team he was on. It was 3rd and 4th graders and the other team clearly had more 4th graders than we did! He had a blast and did well but we’ll need to go through some of the basics over the weekend. Several times kids from both teams (not ours) ran the wrong way with the basketball as they changed directions each quarter and the kids were confused. Everyone had fun though and that’s what counts.

I’m off to the airport in a couple hours (it’s 4:30am now) for a meeting all day and will jump on a plane at 7pm tonight west coast time and land back in Denver around 10:20pm. We’re really looking forward to a great year for the Company as things seem to finally be lining up. This of course was planned for years but the good news is things are finally coming together as planned.

The misses had physical therapy yesterday and we think had a little relief. She still has a long way to go but any kind of relief is welcome. She has two more appointments scheduled for next week.

Time for me to run, hope everyone is well, lots going on in our economy and politically but I’ll leave that alone. All I can say is be prepared to take care of yourself. God Bless.

Remember when you were a kid and laughed at hump day? I hope you know now that they call it that because it’s the middle day of the week.

I just made it home from the gym, the car wash and the grocery store and it’s 6:30am. I’m taking the misses dentist appointment in an hour as she doesn’t feel up to going. She does have physical therapy at 10 downtown. Yesterday we went to the IME (independent medical examiner) up in Thornton. It was pretty painless and mostly consisted of questions. There was little if any sort of physical exam as he just looked at her neck and felt the top of her back and that was it. We expected more of a hassle. Who knows what’ll happen now, we just want the misses head to feel better. Of course it was worse the rest of the day as he made he look down and to the side which causes pain.

We then ran to get me a haircut and return a coat to Nordstroms that fell apart on my trip. Both boys had their haircuts later in the day after school with the youngest getting a buzz cut. Tonight he has his first basketball game at 7pm.

Tomorrow I fly to Seattle at 8:20 in the morning and will be back in Denver at 10:30 in the evening. It’ll be a long day but it’s better than spending the night.

I only have 45 minutes until I need to be at the dentist, (I hate the dentist) so I’d better run. Everyone in the house is itching, some more than others. The youngest has a rash and we can’t figure out what it is, oh well, everything goes away sooner or later.

Take care and God Bless,

Today the kids are back to school, the misses has a doctor appointment at a doctor the opposing council on her workman’s comp case is making us go to, I have 20 re-caps I need to get out to winemakers in Italy, everyone still needs a haircut and we have a bunch of bills to pay. Lacey the lab woke me at 4:23 am barking for breakfast which is probably a good thing with all I have to do. It’ll be in the mid 60’s today and almost 70 tomorrow. Hard to believe it’s January. It’s also really really dry outside, so much that they say we need to water the trees.

Yesterday was work work work along with a trip to the sporting goods store for new tennis shoes for the boys. We headed downtown at 4:30 for a meeting with our friend the doctor to discuss her skin care line that we’ve been working on for 6 months with her. By 7 or so, we arrived at home and Mom made some fish tacos for dinner.

Maybe the misses will write some more when she wakes up as I need to run and get some of those re-caps finished. Hope you all are well, have a great day.

Well at least the San Francisco 49’rs are Super Bowl bound. I’m still not over the Denver loss and think they would have beat the Patriots after watching last nights AFC game. Oh well, the NFL draft is only about 90 days away. For the misses, Grandpa Bob and all others in California, I hope the niners win.

Here’s a comment from yesterday’s post from Annette,

We are all rooting for the 49er’s today.  I’m sure all of our family in California will be glued to the t.v. for the NFC Championship game. I really hope they win!

The oldest had his baseball tryout yesterday, and did very well fielding and had a good showing at bat…especially since he hasn’t picked up a bat in the last 4 years.  Already the lobbying antics of coaches were in full force.  One boy at tryouts had played on another team for the last 4 or so years and the coaches went over to his dad one at a time to list the reasons why he should play for them.  I hope our team is not the crazy competitive type…just competitively fun.

The Mister had most of the Christmas lights down by the time I got up, so after the tryouts we took down the garland and de-Christmased the rest of the exterior of our home.  I took everything up to the attic and stored the attic ladder that has been obstructing our garage door since early November. Now we can once again clean our garage.

Uncle T and Aunti B came over to bring the youngest his birthday gifts.  He loved everything, especially a stuffed animal that he said he wanted.  Aunti B searched and searched for this plush collectors stuffed blue “My Little Pony”.  The look on our 9 year old’s face was priceless!  Good thing Uncle T reminded me to get my camera ready when the gift was opened or I may have missed the photo opp.  Our kiddo told us all that he had been joking about wanting a stuffed animal but the pony soon made it’s way to our youngest’s shoulder where the he rode around most of the day.

The Mr. made breakfast for all of us this morning..Thank you, Honey!  The boys are lounging on either side of me..not much room with all the legs and the Mr. is now cleaning the kitchen…thank you again!

I think our plan for the day is a sportsman’s show and a family hike.  Have a great day…Go Niners…and

God Bless

Both boys went to birthday parties yesterday after school and as it turned out, both were going to sleep overs. Not knowing what to do with our alone time, the misses and I had a quick salad and steak by candle light (the misses idea!) and headed off to see the new James Bond movie, Skyfall. About 5 minutes before it was over my phone rang, (it was on vibrate) and it was the oldest telling me he was getting a rash as the classmate whose house he was at had cats to which he’s allergic. So we picked him up 10 minutes later which is for the best as he has baseball tryouts this morning and needed his sleep. Meanwhile the youngest spent the night at his friends house who also had a birthday party yesterday.

I almost fell asleep in the movie about half way through due to jet lag. A quick trip to the snack bar woke me up but it always takes a couple of nights to get back to normal.

I ran to Boulder yesterday morning and after a $$ stop at the grocery store, was home a bit before noon. I need to take down the christmas lights today after baseball tryouts before the weather changes which it always does. Today at 2 we’ll also have the youngest guys family birthday party as Grandma and Uncle T and Aunt B have some presents for him.

We’d like to go to the stock show and see some horses and cattle so maybe well get that in tomorrow. I’m pretty much through with football until the Super Bowl but will cheer for the 49’rs.

That’s about it, maybe the misses will write something. I could go into bills, politics, gun control and more but am trying to block it all out. We’re praying for some big changes this year and so far, things look promising. We’ll keep you posted. Take care, have a great weekend and God Bless.