A Year of Change

Today is the one year anniversary of Alison’s passing and our condolences and heartfelt love go out to Tom as it is such a difficult day. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year already. I was scrolling through texts deleting spam and I found a text thread from Ali- Ali gave my mom a doll for Christmas in 2020 and mom named her Ali. I was texting Alison that mom remembers that she received the doll as a gift at Christmas from Tom and Alison and that she loves that doll. Tom and Alison were/are always so kind and inclusive with my mom….I am forever grateful.

The new owners of mom’s home will be moving in tonight or tomorrow…sad day for me. I spent the last four days cleaning out what looked like a foreclosure home. When I arrived at mom’s I was shocked at the state of the home as there were greasy boot prints on the hardwood floors and carpet, dirt clods, broken glass, leaves, clothes, and miscellaneous trash throughout the house. let me say, and estate sale is a fancy word for a rummage, indoor garage sale where people have no respect for the belongings of others.

I started upstairs boxing up what I feel mom may still remember and things that I will eventually need for her memorial service as well as some key pieces I’d like to have at our house. Rolling and wrapping 2 10 x 16 rugs alone was so hilarious, I wish I would have thought to set up a camera to make a TikTok video. I rolled the rug which was not the most difficult part, wrapping the rug was the hilarious part. Suzanne Somers would’ve been proud of my strength. I had to hold the rugs with my knees and wrap it with a plastic roll an inch my way backwards until I completed the rug. It doesn’t seem so funny on paper.

Oh I was really happy that mom and Don installed their slow elevator as I loaded it with boxes to get down to the basement for the moving company.

I used it for the big potted plants to transport the pots downstairs so I could get them over to Marcy’s. I took mom big orchid plant that she’s had for 15 years to Marcy to hols for Anneete. The orchid blooms giant yellow orchids every year in April and again in November and I’m so happy Annette will get to enjoy the blooms!

My flight this morning was supposed to leave at 8:04 and at 6:30 AM I got a text from United that my flight was delayed until 2 PM and my connecting flight to Eagle would be leaving at 7 PM getting me in at 8:05. I quickly got online and found a Southwest flight that would get me in at 1:20 so I could potentially make my 136 flight. However, the southwest flight went to Sacramento to Long Beach sat for 45 minutes and then on to Denver. I booked a one-way ticket from Denver to Eagle with the 1:36 PM departure. I had planned to cancel it if I didn’t make it to the gate on time… Option number two was taking a cab to Tommy’s and driving Ty’s car up to Eagle. Thankfully, the Southwest flight was a little bit early and I was able to run from the C gates to the train and take the train to B and run from B37 to B59.

I made it with one minute to spare. I had Don in my tote and I was terrified I was going to trip and fall and break the urn. actually, when I got on the escalator my wheel caught and jerked my suitcase which turned my tote and Don sideways. He came out and I caught hold of the velvet bag he was in…crisis overted.

We, Don and I, made it to Eagle and our neighbor Brian picked me up at the airport and now I am off to get Harley.

I am saddened by the anniversary of Alison as well as the end of my mom’s reign in her home on Walnut Road.

We left around 8:15 in the morning as Marty, of course, was 45 minutes late. After a few stops, we pulled into Pocatello Idaho around 5 in the afternoon. We headed out for dinner and even here, James was recognized. We don’t think of him as a celebrity so it’s always a little weird. Comes with the territory I guess.

Today we’re headed to meet our guides around 1 and then will head into spike camp in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Should be fun. Lori is working away and will fly home tomorrow morning. She spent the afternoon, or part of it, with Annette and Jean. Glad she got to spend some time with them.

Not sure what we’re doing for breakfast. We each lugged cases full of rifles and gear into our rooms and put our giant coolers in some meeting room downstairs at the hotel. September is right around the corner. We’re all looking forward to getting into the wilderness as in a strange way, we feel really at home when out away from everything. This is our fourth year as a group and next year is Alaska. Can’t wait.

That’s it, be well, stay safe and God Bless.

Yesterday was spent packing and battling ants coming up from between the hardwood floors. As bad as I wanted to just kill them, I laid out bait traps so they’d eat the stuff and go back to the nest and hopefully kill them all. So far this morning I’ve only seen one when yesterday at the peak there must have been 20 or 30. I might seal the crack up with clear silicone this morning, not sure yet.

Ty went to the Bronco game with some friends. Lori worked her tail off cleaning and packing, and Jag was hanging out in Boulder. I’m all packed and the truck is cleaned up ready to go. The guys should be here in 90 minutes, and we’ll head out.

Shelly seems to have rallied. Guess she was home sitting on her back porch smoking a cig and drinking coffee yesterday afternoon. She needs to stop smoking. Not sure how anyone can smoke cigarettes these days although it’s super hard to quit.

Time to get moving. I’ll do the blog tomorrow, but Lori needs to do it Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as I think I won’t have a signal. Tom, please remind her if it’s not up.

Everyone take care and have a good last few day’s of August. See you in September! God Bless.

Tomorrow morning I leave for hunting, Lori is working away in CA and the boys are both well. Ty and some friends are going to the Bronco game tonight.

Yesterday Tommy called and said Shelly is in hospice? I texted Tasha who is trying to get home from a conference. Shelly is my older stepsister and Tasha is her daughter. She’s only a couple years older than me, maybe 1 1/2. I’ll try her phone in a few minutes as I’m texting with Tasha right now. Guess she had double pneumonia and hasn’t bounced back. Tasha is in France so it’s not easy to get back, ugh. Trying to get ahold of the nurse now. Tasha is trying to get home now as we’ve been texting for the past 30 minutes. Say a prayer.

I’ll stop here for the day, more stuff but I’ll save it for tomorrow. Have a great day, God Bless you all and may God comfort Shelly and Tasha and watch over them.

In 45 minutes I’m taking Lori to the airport and then am off to Aspen for a haircut. We’ve been dealing with some little ants we found in the living room but seem to have got them all. They’re outside and with the weather have been trying to get inside. We cleaned the pantry, where there were none, thankfully, and the rest of the kitchen really well. Looks like we caught them before they became a problem. $100 at Ace Hardware stopped them so far.

We dropped Harley at 11 and she’s having fun and doing well playing with the other dogs. We’re super happy as we didn’t know how she’d do. I called to check on her yesterday afternoon.

Marty’s dad had a stroke in Montana at his assisted living home. We were almost heading out today for Montana to see him but he seems to be doing ok so Marty will probably go up after were through hunting.

The boys are fine and working hard. We all went to James last night for an hour and a half, fun time. I need to get in the shower so time to go. It’s weird without Harley here. Glad we now have a place to board her so Lori and I can take some trips.

Make it a great day and God Bless.

Tonight we have a party in Aspen. Not sure if we’re going to make it. I’m heading back to the range again today, I think around noon. I also need to start getting my gear laid out although I have everything I need, and it’s all compartmentalized in storage tubs. I decided we’d drive most of the way Sunday and go all the way to Pocatello Idaho. That’s about 9 hours. Then Monday morning we only have about an hour to go before loading up the horses and packing into camp.

I thought I’d see Ty yesterday, but he had some block party for school. I bought him an I-pad and arranged for him to go pick it up at Best Buy in Belmar. Jag is doing well and had an interview with the CEO of Walker Dunlop which is one of the top commercial real estate investment firms in the World. Guess it went well. He has half a dozen interviews set up. Who wouldn’t want a smart, personable kid who is fluent in Mandarin and by the end of the school year, will be in French also. By the way, his 26 year old French teacher is smoking hot. Wonder if she’ll be joining us for Thanksgiving, ha.

Lori leaves in the morning and Harley goes to the Pet Center today. We wanted to take her when we can both drop her off as it’ll be easier. Time to get moving so we can get to the gym. Hope all’s well, stay safe, save your money and get ready for higher prices and huge shortages this winter. Europe is forecasting energy shortages, unbelievable. Get prepared now, God Bless.

Watching the news last night, it says carjackings are up 5000% all over the Country. On top of that, 80% are by criminals that are armed. Of course all these guns are stolen, but I’m sure the govt. will say we need new gun laws because of this. Gas stations and liquor stores are where it happens most often. Be careful wherever you are. Store, restaurants and any other parking lot are places to be careful. Be especially careful at banks and atm’s. Attackers are as young as 11, wow.

I’m off to Denver for a quick turn after Fed Ex arrives this morning. Lori is working in Frisco today so we’ll both be home around dinner time. Harley did really well on our dry run to the vet. She played and had treats with the girls and now wants to go everywhere in the truck.

Ty had a big concert last night and Jag is trying to get a parking spot close to his apartment. Guess some dogs above him have been barking for the past couple days. They both like their classes. Dixie was confused yesterday thinking someone was having a baby and that she was supposed to go help them. Then the phones were off in the entire building, ugh. Hope they’re back up today.

That’s it for the day, time to get moving. Make it a great day, God Bless.

Both boys had their first day of class and all went well. Ty enjoyed his classes and Jag did too. Jag told me he came out of one class and saw two kids fighting and rolling around on the ground. He said he just watched for 30 seconds or so before shaking his head and walking away. Must have been freshman, ha.

I ran down to Denver to drop Ty’s computer and some clothes and gave him the last cash in my pocket, $144. I then stopped at the dry cleaner and headed home.

This morning we’re running Harley to the vet for a dry run just to familiarize her with the place before she goes there on Thursday for five days. Hope it goes well. We’re taking some treats and her ball.

I have a conference call at 10 so it’ll be a busy morning. The house is pretty clean, at least the living room and kitchen as the boys are not here to mess it up! That’s it, time to get moving, be well, stay safe and make it a great day, God Bless.

Lori and I remember the kids first day of school some 15 years ago or so. I think we had a party almost every year they started school. Today both boys are in college. Hard to believe when you really think about it. Best of luck to both of them.

Yesterday after the gym and some work around here, Marty and I hit the range. Afterwards Lori made us a great dinner and then Marty and I washed the entire outside windows on the house. He used to wash windows in college and showed me the trick. I can’t believe what a difference it makes. They’re so clear it’s like they aren’t even there. It’s been a good year since they were washed, and it cost us at least $500 last time. We knocked out the outside in about 30 minutes. A big thank you to Marty.

Around 9pm my phone rang, and a friend called to tell me our close friend of 20 years, killed himself yesterday. Eric was the son of the original CFO of Microsoft. I’ve talked about him before as Eric was an eccentric guy who raced vintage cars in Europe and traveled the World taking pictures of various places. He was socially awkward but a great guy. He recently sold his place in downtown Vail for $20 million. He told me he was thinking of moving to London for a while. We were sort of shocked but that was Eric. I was thinking of him yesterday as I saw a book on Porsche 911’s when in a store with Lori and it made me think of him. Eric had an extensive library of books on cars as he loved them, and I have a few that he loaned me. He collected Ferrari’s, Porsches’, Alfa Romero’s, and more. They were spread all around the Country in different storage facilities. I won’t go into details as it doesn’t matter but it’s so sad. His dad, John is flying in today. We were talking the past couple years about taking his dads plane and taking a trip to Europe. This is not just a plane but a commercial airliner, I think it’s a Boeing 757. Wish we would have known how he was struggling as we all would have reached out. I did text him a couple weeks ago but it was normal not to hear from him for a month or so. May God Bless him and take care of him and provide him peace.

Make it a great day and cherish life. No matter how bad things are, they aren’t that bad! I promise. God Bless.

Lori is on a mission. Yesterday she cleaned the basement from top to bottom. Not just a quick pick-up and vacuum but a deep clean. She stripped the couch cushions and washed them, scrubbed the bathroom and hit every single inch of the room to make it look brand new. She also spent time upstairs and in the laundry room, as well as the living room too. Lots still to do but things always get done one step at a time.

It’s going to be a busy week. We decided to try to board Harley at the vet when we’re both gone. We’re going to take her by tomorrow just for a visit with a bunch of treats and a walk through and then leave and come home, just to get her comfortable with going. Hope that works! This will be much better so when we want to go to Hawaii or someplace, we can just board her.

Last night we received a call from Audi at 10:45 pm saying they had an Audi alert and were calling to make sure the car and driver were ok. I talked with both boys and they’re fine so we’re not sure what’s going on. Could be a scam.

Cloudy and rainy a bit today. Marty and I are going to try to hit the range today after he shows a guy from Denver a couple houses. Nice and foggy outside. Looks really cool.

Both boys classes start tomorrow. Excited for them both. Time to get moving, we’re headed to the gym, of course. Make it a great Sunday, God Bless.