A Year of Change

Yesterday after a trip to Costco (cha ching) for some desks for the boys new school set up, we spent the day unpacking and rearranging things in the house. Around 2pm, Lori’s new friend Sue, who manages another surgeon and will work right next to Lori, came over with her son Max who is also going into 8th grade a VMS. Sue has been a God send helping with advice and answering all sorts of questions and giving us the inside scoop. Anyhow she was lovely (she says that a lot as she’s from South Africa) and they stayed for over an hour visiting. Jag and Max hit it off right away as I guess there’s only like 12 boys in the 8th grade and 24 girls! She gave us the lowdown on specific teachers and more importantly certain kids, boys and especially girls, and their personalities.

She’s a real kick as she’s a strong lady and her accent sounds more British than South African. A few hours later we all decided to go to dinner at Ti Amo at 8:30. Turns out their family lives right across the street from one of my best friends brother and we know lots of people in common. So at 8:30 we met her daughter and husband, who is also from South Africa, and 9 of us went to dinner. Two hours later we were done and headed home. It was a great time and Jag and Ty are really excited as Max told them all about what to expect at school. We didn’t really want to go out that late but it was good we did.

It’s almost 7am and I’m going to bomb down to Denver in about 30 minutes and pick up our mountain bikes as Max and Jagger want to go mountain biking today. I’ll be back up by 11am or so and don’t mind the drive plus I’m happy to do it for Jag so he can go biking with his new friend. I’ll grab all four bikes as the cars were too loaded for me to get them the other day.

We found a dresser at Costco we really need but will be putting that on hold as we need to save all our cash right now for school. It was only $500 out the door but that’s a lot of money no matter who you are. I almost forgot, Jag, Ty and Max were walking Mojo up the mountain yesterday when a husky who was off leash, came charging at him. Jag said Mojo stiffened up and stuck his chest out thinking to himself, “oh boy, this stupid dog is charging me, usually I have to chase them”. Anyhow Jag threw himself around Mojo’s neck holding him back and Mojo still drug him down the mountain 10 feet or so. Ty and Max were also holding on to the leash but Mojo can easily drag 200 or 300 pounds if he wants to. Finally the ladies walking the husky realized what was happening and ran up to get their dog. Jag ended up with a couple of bloody skinned up knees that he wore like a badge of honor. Max apparently was quite impressed as he was telling the story along with Jag when they came home. Anyhow no harm done and a dog fight or should I say, one sided beat down by Mojo, was averted. I don’t know what some people are thinking walking their dogs without a leash, like the place is their own backyard. Soon the neighborhood will know who Mojo is, trust me.

Ok, time to run so I can get down the hill and get back up by 11 or so. Hope everyone is well, take care and God Bless. Mom, if you’re up, I’ll stop by and say hi!

We finally loaded up both cars and headed out about 4pm. Due to heavy traffic it took us until around 6pm to get to the mountains. 30 minutes later we had everything unloaded and spread around the house. We then decided to stage everything in different rooms and leave it until this morning. So now we’re sitting here with boxes of stuff all over waiting for us to unpack them. This by the way is nothing compared to the stuff spread around our bathroom that Lori brought up. No wonder she looks so good with all the stuff she uses!

I’m on with Comcast now trying to get the phones working while the boys are still sleeping. I think we like our bed in Denver a bit better than this one as it’s a little bit softer. We need one of those memory foam tops.

Today we need to open a new bank account, hang some pictures and look for a second hand couch plus put everything away. A co-worker of Lori’s who manages another surgeon at Steadman is coming over today with her son who is also going into 8th grade at VMS (Vail Mountain School) to meet the boys. Lots to do to get them enrolled next week but they’re excited.

It’s small up here compared to Denver but we know it’ll be great for our family. Lori talked to her Mom who is doing well (yea!) and will be coming out for Christmas which will be great. Mojo needs his long morning walk up the mountain (he already had his short one after breakfast) so time to run. Hope all’s well, we’ll keep you posted on our new adventure. Oh yea, Tommy is now getting our “egg connection” from our local chickens and Gerald who is about 80 years old. We get fresh eggs from him  about every 10 days for $3 bucks a dozen and don’t want to lose this as there’s about 50 people in line wanting eggs! We forgot to pick them up yesterday so Tommy will do it today and Lori’s calling now to give him Tom’s number! They’re good eggs!

God Bless.

Today we will officially move to Vail although we’ll be leaving a bunch of stuff here. I did swap out a few paintings on the wall and Ty and I cleaned out the pots and pans from the cupboard. We’re only taking our good copper cookware, our Kitchen Aid mixer and Cuisinart. I could go on about other things but you get the picture.

Yesterday they threw a going away party for Lori at work. She said it was nice and Chris gave her compliments that she’s probably never given anyone in her life. I think she’ll come home early today so we can get a jump on the weekend traffic.

We also received some great news yesterday. Both boys have been accepted into Vail Mountain School. They had 2 spots in 8th grade but had to make an extra for Ty in 6th. That was great to hear but then we had to wait to see what the financial aid committee was going to say about is not being able to pay the full tuition. Well they came back and have said they’ll provide a $10,500 scholarship per child. This is great news but still means we need to come up with about $11,500 per kid. Lori is adamant about us getting the boys in so we’re working on it now. The public schools up there are pretty good but this is leaps and bounds above any public school, even The Manning School where Jag goes now. So we need to commit today and figure this out right away as it’s our number one priority. Lori and I were saying a few weeks ago how we would have given our right hand to go to a school like this when we were kids. We both think our lives would have turned out totally different, not that we’re complaining, but it’s the kind of place that gives kids today such an advantage. We’ll keep you posted. Another advantage is the public school is an hour round trip drive (meaning two hours a day) verses about 7 minutes to this school.

Today I need to cancel a few things in town, get to the gym and pack up the truck. We countered the offer we had on the house but they didn’t counter back. Apparently they wanted to put an elevator in???? Anyhow we’re ok with that as they low balled us on the price. So we’re back to square on which is ok.

Time to get moving, it’s a big day, hope all’s well, take care and God Bless.

We’re so tired and busy that we have no energy or time to write much today. Lori worked until about 8pm and Ty and I made a trip to the hills while Jag went to lunch with his church group. His physical was good and everything’s fine. We have another showing at 9am this morning and Mojo looks great as he was at the groomer. Meanwhile Ty spent the night at Vinny’s. We did get an offer on the house but we’ll counter this morning as it’s about $40K less than we want. We might come down $10K or so but not $40K. We’ll see what happens.

God Bless.

Well both boys went to the dentist yesterday and who would have believed it neither had any cavities! They don’t brush very well so this was somewhat of a surprise, but we’ll gladly take it.

This morning Mojo goes to the groomers, Lori to the dentist and Jag has a doctor appointment for his 13 year old shots and physical. Then Ty and I will head up to Vail for a quick trip and Jag has a church meeting at 11:45 to rehearse their presentation for a week from Sunday telling everyone about camp. I guess he told Mom about this and maybe me although I never heard of it until last night. In any case, he can stay home and go and Ty and I will be back by about 2. Lori is killing herself at work trying to get everything done and then some before the week is over. Her replacement said to her yesterday that Dr R has no idea all that she does. Lori just sighed and said, I know.

It’s 5:22 right now and time to get some coffee and head to the gym as I didn’t get there yesterday. We had another showing and I had to clean more than I thought. I need to start changing addresses and canceling things like the gym and then find a new one up in the hills.

The coffee machine just beeped so time to run. Hope you all are well, take care and God Bless.

We landed about 9am yesterday and boy were we tired. We dropped the misses at work and the boys and I headed home. Today I need to make a list of all the addresses I need to change and get on that. We’re so behind in doing all the things we need to do to move in 3 days! This afternoon the boys are going to the dentist and we also have a showing at 10am.

While we were gone we had a really good showing but apparently our friendly dog Mojo growled at the people and wouldn’t let them in the backyard. The realtor has asked us to have Mojo gone when we have showings from now on.

I left the boys at home and picked Lori up from work at 3 as she didn’t have a car since we dropped her at work on the way home from the airport. I was going to try to go to Vail today but am not ready so we’ll make a run up tomorrow instead. We ate way too much in California so today I think I’ll fast, just coffee and water. That’s about it, time to head to the gym, God Bless.

It’s 4:35am and we’re at our gate waiting to board for our 5:40am flight. We only had a few hours sleep last night as after the service a bunch of people came back to the house.

The service was everything anyone could have hoped for. Lots of relatives and many many people who had worked with Don over the years showed up. We arrived at the place around 2:15 and by 4pm it was almost full. There were speakers, family and friends, for a good hour and a half. Then everyone mingled about and visited. Finally we all headed back to the house about 8pm. Dixie did a really nice job organizing everything and it was a great tribute to a great man.

Today we’ll drop Lori at work after we land. Everyone here is dragging with little to no sleep and we have a huge week ahead of us. I think I’ll run now to go get Ty some food. Hope all’s well, take care and God Bless.

Yesterday a bunch of people came over. There must have been 15 or 20 float through in the day. We had Mexican food for lunch and Thai food for dinner. Finally around 10pm we all headed for bed. At 3am we had to get up to try to figure out how to turn off the tv.

Today the service is at 4pm and I think it’s quite the deal. I thought there would be a 15 to 20 minute eulogy but I guess it’s more like an hour to an hour and a half as there’s lots of speakers as Don had lots of friends. Dix is doing ok but I hope the pressure of all the people doesn’t get to her too much today.

It starts with an open bar at 4pm, then speeches for a while and then food at 6 or later. Hope everyone’s not drunk by the time the food comes out as you tend to drink more in this heat! In any case, it’ll make for a good rockin time!

Then we’re up at 2:30 so we can leave at 3:30 for a 5:40 flight. First we need to return the rental car though so that takes a little extra time. We should land in Denver before 9am and then the week from hell begins. Have a great day! God Bless.

Man can that Myrna cook! For breakfast we had biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon and eggs. Then it was off to the boat where the kids were pulled up and down the river behind one of the boats Grandpa Jim has. They also spent a fair amount of time going off the slide on the top of the houseboat into the river. It was the highlight of the trip for them so far.

Finally we made it back to the house after hanging out with Annette, Jim and Aunt Jean and GG, the boys cousin who’s going into 9th grade. It was hot but being on the river made it a little more bearable. Jim and Annette look good and it was nice to see Aunt Jean as it’s been a while. I don’t think we ever met Gianna (GG) before.

Today I’m not sure what’s going on as more people are here or arriving but I do know I’m not eating like I’ve been eating! A few more cousins came over last night from Oklahoma City and more are here that I’m sure we will see today.

Think I’ll run to the gym as they have one here. Hope all’s well. God Bless.

We made it to the airport in plenty of time and boarded all together with the 1st Class people. Once we took off I offered my seat to Lori but she decided to stay in Row 10 with the boys. Lucky for her as I had a screaming baby across the aisle from me for the whole flight!

When we were getting close to landing I looked out the window to see what looked like a desert with everything brown and dying. I thought we were over Nevada and landing early for some reason but it was indeed California. You see they have literally no water! We’ve all heard about this on the news but to see it in person is a different thing. After we landed and picked up our black rental car, in 100 degree heat, we headed out to Dixie’s. You couldn’t help but notice how all the trees were brown and dying, even the palm trees. As we drove up the highway it looked like Armageddon had already been here according to Lori. Businesses were deserted, buildings run down and not much green anywhere. This was quite a change from the lush California we had been used to.

We pulled into Dixie’s and she was thrilled to see us, especially Lori and the kids. Myrna, her cousin from Oklahoma, has been her for about a week helping out. She had run to the store to get the fixin’s (that’s Oklahoma talk) for fried chicken, mashed potato’s and gravy. We decided we needed some more chicken so we could have some leftovers so the boys, Myrna and I ran back to the store. That meal was probably the best fried chicken I’ve had in my life. If she’d open a restaurant in Vail, they’d be lined out the door! Before that I had a brisket sandwich with horseradish as she made 3 large briskets a few days ago. I think we’re having sausage, biscuits and gravy for breakfast before going out to see Grandma Annette and Grandpa Jim at the boat so this trip is turning out way better than I had thought.

I woke up around 5 which was 6am in Denver but had to lay around as no one else was up. I did nudge Lori and asked her if she was awake to which she replied, “I am now”. Personally I think she was already up!

Now on top of all this, you can’t flush the toilet here too often meaning if you only pee, you’re not supposed to flush. Myrna and I were talking that that right there would be the tipping point telling a person, time to get out! If you live in a State where there’s not enough water to flush the toilet when you go to the bathroom, it’s time to leave! Plus they have no money, taxes are highest in the Country, except for maybe New York, you can’t carry or own most guns, the government is all liberal and State is over run with illegals who all have guns! It makes you appreciate Colorado a lot!

That’s it, time to run, hope all’s well, I think Lori and I have to shower together to save water! Ha ha. God Bless.