A Year of Change

Did I ever tell you that 27 is probably my luckiest number? I’ve always liked the numbers 2 and 7 the most and voila, together they make 27! You can always spin numbers one way or another to get to any desired digit you want. For example, 2 plus 7 = 9 and if you put a 2 in front of that you get 29 which is my birthday. (that’s right, 2 days from now just in case you haven’t ordered my cake yet honey!) 17 is also a good number along with 2, 7, 12, 22 and so on. Just something to think about, I need some new material, huh.

Well after the “she’s coming home, she’s staying at work” saga yesterday morning, they finally sent the misses home at 9:30. She drug herself into the house and managed to make a large pot of white bean and ham soup before heading upstairs to bed for most of the day. Finally around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, she made her way downstairs to the couch. The boys did pretty well for playing inside with little exercise. They ran some errands with me (to get Nook covers, thanks Grandma Dixie and Pa Don) and then spent most of the afternoon playing pretty well together. Most companies and all government offices were closed yesterday so it was kind of like an extra day off. The stores that were open were packed! I couldn’t believe all the people in Barnes and Noble when we went to get the Nook covers. Lots of people exchanging, returning or buying things on sale. Today we’re running to Cherry Creek to exchange or return a few items ourselves.

I’m trying to de-clutter and have finally resigned myself to the fact that there’s no point in keeping things we don’t use anymore. I managed to get 3 drawers cleaned out and have a dozen pair of shorts and 20 or so t-shirts that need to go. I’m determined to tackle the rest of my clothes that are spread out over 3 closets in 3 rooms later this week and clean and reorganize the basement. Just cleaning out 3 drawers gave me that “fresh start” feeling for the New Year. After that, I went to the gym and had never seen it so crowded. I guess it’s because everyone is off work this week. For some reason I can lift a lot more weight in the middle of the day than at 5 in the morning. I lifted so much that by the time I arrived home I could feel my back tightening up so I took some Advil. Last thing I need now is to throw my back out!

This afternoon we’re going to Vail for a party around 6 tonight. I need to drop off some wine samples and then we’ll head over to the party for a few hours before driving home to Denver later tonight. The boys are going to Uncle T and Aunt B’s and we’ll probably make it home around 10pm. I’m not going to be drinking as I’m driving so don’t worry. The weather is also supposed to be nice, no snow this week. In fact, it’s supposed to be in the 60’s by the end of the week! That’s just crazy but we’ll take it.

Have any of you thought about your New Years resolutions? It’s that once in a year chance to make some changes. I don’t believe you need a specific date to make changes but there is something to starting or stopping something on January 1st. I think the trick is not to pick too many things or something that’s not realistic. If you do, you’re probably setting yourself up for failure. We as a family like to sit around and come up with a few things together to do. The boys really like to be involved.

Not to end on a depressing note but there’s a lot of crime this time of year. I don’t want to go into specific tragedies around town or the country but there is a new trend among kids with no respect for people or life. They’re playing a game called “knock out”. This is where they walk up to a random unsuspecting person (usually older, mostly male but also female) and try to knock them out with a punch to the head! Unfreakinbelievable, what’s the World coming to? Apparently if the person is knocked out on the first punch they leave, but if not, the whole group jumps in and begins pummeling the person. There are no deaths yet but tons of serious critical injuries as you can imagine. They usually pick on someone alone that looks like an easy target so don’t look like a victim! It’s a sad time when kids will attack someone just for fun. Kids from about 12 on up are in these groups and they usually hang out in downtown areas so please be careful. Personally the misses and I just cannot believe this, what’s next, God help us. Normally I don’t bring these type of things up as there’s lots of crime each and everyday but I felt that you at least need to be aware of this as it’s becoming more and more common. Sorry but that’s the World we live in now.

Ok, back to our family. The boys grew over the last month or so. They’re getting so big, you’d hardly recognize them. Today we’re determined to get them some exercise outside so expect to read about some bike riding, skate boarding and more tomorrow. We still have snow on the ground but it’s melting everyday. Mom and the boys are still sleeping so I guess I’ll hit the cardio machine. Hope everyone is doing well and making big plans for New Years. We call it amateur night and just stay home as there’s too many crazies and drunk people out. I can’t remember the last time the misses and I were out on New Years eve, oh yes wait, it was December 31st, 1999 and we were on a beach in Seattle, now that was a fun night, bringing in the New Millennium, the year 2000. Hard to believe that was 11 years ago this Sunday, WOW. (p.s., you should have seen how cute the misses was that night, I can still see her in her little black skirt, clear as day 11 years later!)

Well time to run, take care, God Bless and please keep your wits about you, and when out in public, act and walk with confidence. Criminals are cowards and always look for easy prey, people that look like victims usually are. Once again, sorry for the depressing note but it’s reality and we care about all of you too much.

Have a great day and get ready for the New Year, it’ll be here before you know it, only about 114 hours away!

As I said yesterday, we were all up by about 6am. The kids opened their stockings and then headed for the tree where to their surprise, they each found a new snowboard waiting for them from Santa. You should have seen the look on their faces, priceless. Next up was their gifts which included some socks (for snowboarding) and a new ski hat each which turned out to be one of the best gifts of the day as neither of them took them off until bedtime. Each boy also received the new Barnes and Noble Nook and boy were they surprised. The rest of the morning was spent playing with the youngest ones new Wii game and their Nooks and then we headed up to Grandma’s about 11am. Thanks to Grandma Dixie and Pa Don who sent some money to the boys to get some “apps” and books for their new Nooks. This sure came in handy as they were ordering up a storm as soon as they turned their tablets on. I received a custom new holster from the misses and some other useful items and she opened boxes filled with some new clothes from me. The highlight of her morning was a new blue dress (you might of remember me telling you about this a month or so ago) from her Mom that I picked up and wrapped for her. She had no clue she would get this and was really surprised. She liked it so much, I thought about taking credit for it. (just kidding)

We arrived at my Moms and after a half an hour or so, sat down to open presents. Now it would take far too long to list each and every gift so let’s just say everyone was spoiled beyond belief and thrilled with their gifts. The oldest received a new BMX bicycle from Grandma which was a combination Christmas Birthday gift for him and he was speechless. The youngest opened a couple of gifts he had been really wishing for as well and had them set up all over her living room as soon as he opened them. We finished up and loaded up our loot around 2:30 in the afternoon and headed home. I then went back to Grandma’s to pick up Aunt Shelly and give her a ride home while the misses and the boys grabbed some large trash bags and went back to Grandma’s to help clean up all the mess.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around the house while the boys played Wii and games on their Nooks. The also did some reading on them which is great as that’s what we hoped for.

The misses all through this had a 101 degree temperature. In her true fashion, you’d never know it as she’s not a complainer. She’s still not feeling well but is in the shower now as she works this morning at 7:15! Mojo the malamute has something wrong with him as he’s been howling every night since we got him back from the groomer Friday night. The misses touched his foot or tail or something last night that made him jump. He’s walking fine and we think it’s some skin irritation he has as he’s still itching a lot. We’ll call today and see if the groomer knows anything. The misses just came down as is not doing very well, she just said she feels 10 times worse today than yesterday!

We’re going to a party tomorrow night in Vail and Uncle T and Aunt B agreed to watch the boys. I think we’ll just drive home tomorrow night but we have to go and put in an appearance. I’ll be ok driving as I’m not drinking these days since I’m trying to get a head start on the New Year. I also leave for Italy in 12 days so that’s another motivator. My gym is closed until 6am this morning which doesn’t give me enough time to go before the misses leaves at 6:45 so I’ll be working out downstairs this morning. In fact, I need to run now so off I go.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and got everything you wanted. It’ll be 2012 before you know it, get ready for a roller coaster year. Not only do we have the 2012 Presidential election, (non stop tv ads all year, a good reason to kill your tv), the supposed 2012 Mayan Doomsday next December, the potential end of the euro along with numerous countries going bankrupt and other assorted financial calamities. And this is all the stuff we know about, who knows what’ll pop up and surprise us, like some natural disaster. Now for me, I’m trying to think of the good things that can happen as I think positive thinking is very powerful, BUT, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be as prepared as I can, just in case!

Oh well, more on the coming year as we get closer to 2012, for now, let’s all clean up and re-coup from Christmas and enjoy the day. Personally I’m cleaning out some dresser drawers today trying to de-clutter my life a bit.

Hope you are all doing well, I think we talked to most of you yesterday but did miss Grandma Annette and Aunt Robi. The misses will be home at 3 today (unless they send her home earlier) so I’m sure she’ll call then.

Take care and God Bless,

Whoops, quick update! It’s 7:20 and they’re sending the misses home from work! I have a conference call at 9am but dressed quickly and am ready to head to the gym as soon as she pulls in. I already did some cardio downstairs but am glad to get to lift some weights! Have a great day!

7:23, Hold on, not so fast, the phone just rang and the 8:15 girl at work just called in sick so the misses is stuck there after all. Of course I’m all dressed for the gym and have the car running, oh well, I guess that 2012 roller coaster is coming early!

Yesterday went really fast, our beloved Broncos stunk up Orchard Park New York and lost to the Buffalo Bills, the boys and I had 3 or 4 snowball fights, and before you knew it, it was time to go to Uncle T’s. I had offered earlier in the day to go get Aunt Shelly but apparently her friend was going to give her a ride out to Grandma’s. All that changed around 4pm when I found out her friend bagged out (surprise surprise) and she was planning on taking a cab. I told her I’d come get her so the oldest and I jumped in the car and headed downtown. We picked her up and dropped her at Grandma’s and then I rushed home to change clothes to go to the party.

We made it to Uncle T and Aunt B’s around 5:15 which was only 15 minutes late. First we had to deliver bottles of wine to the neighbors for their Christmas dinners. Uncle T had quite the spread. Sushi, ribs, turkey legs, brisket, all kinds of sides and drinks. Aunt B’s parents where there and we all kind of just grazed like cattle on the food and watched some Christmas shows on tv. Before you know it, it was 7pm and the youngest had his coat and boots on saying we need to get home so Santa would come. We made it up the street by 7:30 and the boys got into the pajama’s. Now the highlight of the evening and maybe the year was when the oldest sat by the fireplace and read the Night Before Christmas to the family. He patiently read each page and then held it up so we could all see the pictures. He would then also add any explanation where needed for his little brother. It was one of those magical moments where time seemed to stop and nothing else in the World mattered. He did a fantastic job and it looks like the torch has been passed. From this year on, he’ll be reading this story to the family on Christmas Eve until his brother is ready to chime in, then we’ll have to alternate years. We then we watched a bit of the Sound of Music and headed off to bed. Soon we were all asleep and it’s now 5am.

The big dog kept us up all night long. The misses was up and down at least 3 times letting him in and out. The oldest just came down (it’s 5:30) and is on the couch with Mom. She’s feels and looks (sorry honey) terrible! Her throat is sore, eyes are puffy, she’s stuffed up, and overall just feels like crap. Now she’s a pretty tough girl so when she says she feels bad, you know it’s really bad! She’s going to take a shower to wake up a bit and then hopefully she’ll feel better. We’re supposed to go up to Grandma’s around 10:30 or 11 which seems like an eternity from now. I remember getting up early when I was a kid too. The oldest is waiting patiently for his little brother to get up which knowing him, could be awhile.

I’m going to sign off now but I’ll jump back on around 9am and give you an update as to what Santa left the boys. (I see two snowboards under the tree from Santa but the oldest hasn’t spotted them yet!), Merry Christmas and God Bless,

Mojo woke us up at 1am to go out and then 2am to come in and then again at 5am to go back out. I broke down and took both dogs to the groomers yesterday as they really needed it. I think he was a little itchy or something from his bath and so on as he kept scratching most of the night and he’s still at it this morning. On top of that, Lacey the lab got into a bag of trash and had it strewn all around the kitchen floor when I came down this morning. But you know what, I don’t care! That’s right, the Denver Broncos play at 11am and if we win and the hated Oakland Raiders lose, we’re in the playoffs. This is all that’s important, nothing , nada, zippo else. So put on your orange and blue and get ready for the game. Make sure all your chores are done, find the kids someone to play with and take the phone off the hook, it should be a good one.

Hard to believe it’s Christmas eve, it sure came fast and it’ll be here and gone before you know it, so savor it while you can. I’m all done with my shopping, the little that we did this year. I hope (don’t think) anyone will be disappointed but we really didn’t buy a lot of things or spend too much money this year as times are tight. This includes the boys, they really didn’t get much, maybe 3 or 4 presents each but I think Santa brought them something pretty special. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow or the day after to find out as he’s the only one who knows. Uncle T and Aunt B and Grandma will all have presents for them so fret not, they’ll make out just fine. The misses is worried that she didn’t get me much as I got her as she’s been eyeing a bunch of packages under the tree that have obviously been wrapped by me! I don’t have to put name tags on her presents because it’s easy to tell just by the wrapping job, which ones are for her. Little does she know that I shopped really hard and found a lot of great bargains for her. It’s a known fact that there’s always more stuff and great deals on women’s things than men’s. I think this is because women just shop more than men. I told her to get over it and just enjoy the season and her gifts and I’ll be just fine with anything.

She worked yesterday and has today and tomorrow off and then is back at it Monday the 26th. The oldest one went over sledding at Jennifer’s Grandma (with Jennifer) while the youngest and I went to lunch and then Mom took him sledding too while I went and helped out at my buddy’s shop to make a few extra dollars as he had a big sale. I’ll run downtown and get Aunt Shelly after the game and then she’ll spend the night at Grandma’s so she’s there in the morning. Uncle T and Aunt B will be busy preparing for the party at their house tonight. Aunt B’s parents are coming and all of us so it should be about 10 people in all.

My nose is still stuffed up (really pisses me off) but I’m going to the gym anyhow. I just can’t take it anymore and have decided to just ignore it and get on with life.

Lowes (the hardware store) had a huge one day sale yesterday with big discounts and no interest for a year so I finally broke down and bought a kerosene heater. I’ve been watching for a good deal on one for over a year and finally found it. You might wonder why do I need a kerosene heater, well we have always kept some kerosene on hand along with lanterns and stoves in case the power ever goes out, (better safe than sorry), and now we have a way to heat the house too. After all, a good heater on sale is less than $100 and is frankly good insurance. I can hear Uncle T laughing now and that’s ok but if the power ever does go out, especially in the winter, it’ll be warm here and of course we’ll let him come over. I’m sure some of you older than I remember kerosene lanterns and heaters quite well as they were very common in the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. Oh well, must just be the boy scout in me.

Time to run and head to the gym. Maybe I can sweat this damn cold out of me. Have a wonderful evening, take care and God Bless. We’ll call you all tomorrow and talk to you then.

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” – Matthew 1:23 (KJV)

Man, I’ve been stuffed up for almost a week! I just can’t seem to kick this cold or whatever it is. Every year there are more and more new strains of viruses and colds out there. Doctors have been overprescribing antibiotics for years which they say has allowed viruses to mutate into super bugs that we have no defense or cure for. Now being two days before Christmas, I’m not going to go off on some depressing diatribe about germs, bacteria and viruses, but I am going to tell you to just wash your hands often, as this is your best defense.

Yesterday the good looking one (the misses) worked from 7 until 3. We did drive her due to all the snow but today she’ll drive herself. It’s about 5 degrees outside right now and the high temperature between now and Monday the 26th, is supposed to be only in the mid 30’s. This means, yes we will have a white Christmas! The boys played hard yesterday doing flips into giant snow piles created from the neighbors shoveling their driveways. I had a bunch of phone calls and a few last minute errands that I needed to run so Uncle T took the boys to lunch and watched them for an hour, thanks!

Around 5:30pm, LOL (June) and her 66 year old son and daughter in law, who are here from Seattle until Christmas day, came up for a glass of wine. The misses did this really for June who likes to get out whenever she can. The boys each had a small present for her from the rock fair at school. She had already given each of them a few things like a book light for their rooms and a couple of other small things I forget. She gave me a black scarf I think must have been her husbands as it seems old. The misses received some chinese dolls and $100! She’s a very nice lady who’s doing quite well for 90 years old and would be lost without the misses. Bunkie loves the misses as much as June and it’s almost been a year now that she’s been giving him his shot twice daily. I don’t know if I could do this day in and day out like the misses does, but she knows the little dog would probably die without her. I’m sure there’s a special place in heaven for the misses.

I’m supposed to work today at my friends shop for a few hours if I have time. The biggest issue is I don’t have anyone to watch the boys. The oldest has been invited to Jennifer’s Grandma’s house to go sledding this afternoon so maybe I can find a play date for the youngest one. If not, I’ll take them with me.

Time to get some more coffee and see if the paper is here. We need to call Grandma Dixie today and see if she made it to Palm Springs. We hope everyone is doing well and all set for Christmas. I’ve been making it a point to say Merry Christmas to everyone instead of Happy Holidays, just my little way of rebelling. So, ho ho ho, have a great day and we’ll see you tomorrow! God Bless

OMG means “oh my god” for those of you still in the dark ages. Anyhow, I can’t believe how much snow is outside. Of course the misses works this morning at 7:15 (90 minutes from now) and we’ll probably have to drive her. It’s going to take some work just to clear off the car and shovel the driveway and sidewalk. One thing for sure, we will have a white Christmas! It might not snow again but no way this’ll be gone by Sunday. Luckily most of my errands are done. Oh yea, the temperature this evening will be right at zero!

The big dog is playing outside right now not wanting to come in as he’s made for the snow being a malamute. It’s supposed to stop around 11am or noon but with this much snow I’m sure a lot of people will be stuck at home as it’ll take time for the plows to get to the side streets. Here comes Mom in her little blue robe, fresh out of the shower. Of course now the big dog wants in as he’s seen her. I need to wrap up pretty quick so I can get out there and start shoveling, Uncle T will get some good use out of his snow blower today!

Yesterday I ran a ton of errands from around 8am until about 3pm. Thankfully the oldest and I hit the grocery store for our last stop. The misses made some risotto with parmesan and chicken breast and roasted cauliflower for dinner. We also managed to sort of clean the house which is a daily chore around here. Our neighbor Cindy brought over a tray of freshly baked cookies which the boys were all over like a cat on a mouse. (don’t know where that analogy came from) The misses thinks she’s driving herself this morning but I don’t think so. At least she gets off at 3pm.

Sorry about going off into politics yesterday, I’m really really trying to stay away from the subject for the rest of the year. In fact, I’m considering a moratorium on politics for all of 2012 but with the Presidential election in October, I don’t think it’ll be possible. We hope Grandma Dixie and Pa Don are doing well on their drive to Palm Springs. Auntie Kristin is driving down to see them Christmas day as her husband will be working. She lives in L.A. so it’s pretty close. She and her husband Frank are then going to San Francisco and renting a house for a week (I think) over the holidays. Well, I’d better get moving as it’s going to take some time to get the car cleaned off and the walkway shoveled. It’s also trash day so I need to get that out too!

Take care, stay warm if you’re in Denver and God Bless,

WOW, ok, I tried to stay away but he started it. Yesterday Obama compared his accomplishments to that of Lincoln and said his first 3 years are more successful than anyone other of our previous Presidents, can you believe it? I’m am just stunned, man is this guy detached. Alright in the spirit of the season, that’s all I’m going to say on the issue, you need to decide for yourself if Obama is more successful than George Washington, Ronald Reagan or Abe Lincoln. WOW

Ok, I asked the misses to write today but I’m up drinking my coffee getting ready to head to the gym. My cold’s a bit better but still hanging on. We think the youngest is getting it now, hope we’re all ok for Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, is it really 3 days away? I hope you’re all ready. We’re all going down to Uncle T’s for a buffet and to visit. I think we’re going to throw something in the oven just so we have some leftovers. Hopefully we won’t be sick or we’ll just be home in front of the fireplace taking it easy.

This morning I need to be in Boulder by 9am and then back in Denver and downtown by 11. Then it’s a couple of phone calls, one with Nevada and one with Arizona, then off to Fed Ex to get Aunt Robi’s and Auntie Kristin’s gifts on the way. I just love Fed Ex, they do a great job.

I’m going to run now, maybe the wifey will pick up the banner and write a bit this morning, let’s hope so. If she doesn’t, take care and God Bless, see you tomorrow.

Yesterday was Uncle T’s birthday. I took him to lunch and then later we all went to dinner at a mexican restaurant. Hope he had a great birthday. It’s cold here, really cold and I finally caught somebody’s cold and am all stuffed up this morning. I had to laugh at lunch as Uncle T (my brother) asked me if I’m happy and of course I said yes, why do you ask. He said he read the post about changing some things to be like the French and so on and if I was really happy as the posts seem to advocate a lot of different changes. I had to confess, it’s post number 350 today and I might just be running a bit short of material! This doesn’t mean we make things up, when we read the article on how the French live vs. us, there was some truth in how Europeans tend to enjoy their meals more and so on. But it is December 20th and do you all really want to hear about who the kids played with yesterday? Well just wait until next year, I’m already planning some big changes for us all, ha ha.

Ok, yesterday the kids did play,(surprise surprise) mostly indoors while Mom cleaned the house starting upstairs and working her way down. She didn’t finish and the boys constant bickering while “being boys” all cooped up didn’t help. Today I’ll be gone from about, let’s say 8:30ish until around noon so she’ll have them both to herself again, lucky her! Don’t get me wrong, they are good boys, but they’re still boys, high energy, rambunctious, opinionated boys! They’re not really made to be inside for 6 hours at a time. To them, inside or out, everything is a potential playground, it doesn’t matter where they are. They can turn the living room into a football field in a matter of seconds!

Five days until Christmas, it’ll be here and gone before you know it. Then the biggest day of the year, that’s right, wait for it, here it is, the coup de grace, December 29th, my birthday is here! Yeah, oh wait, 4 days after Christmas, 2 days before New Years Eve, no one feels like partying, hmmm. I think I’m officially moving my birthday to July 29th starting next year! Just kidding, I’m used to it and like my birthday right where it is. It is a difficult day to get people out to a party though.

Alright, can you tell I’m a bit short on material today, next year I think I’ll be including pictures to fill up some space. Oh wait, Grandma Annette reminded me that #3 in the French living post yesterday says to go try some french milled soap and she pointed out, buy American. I have to admit, she’s right and I agree but that french soap really is nice, I used it yesterday. This morning Grandma Dixie and Pa Don are loading up the car and driving down to Palm Springs until I think January 7th. They sure get around for both being in their 80’s, hope they have a fun safe trip.

Well I’m too stuffed up to head to the gym so I think I’ll just take a shower and get to work. I’ll try to get the misses to write tomorrow to give you all a fresh take on what’s going on around here. Take care, stay safe and God Bless,

Ok ok, I know, it’s only football but it sure would have been nice for the Broncos to beat the Patriots. I really never thought we would win but you never know. If you follow football, you know the term “any given Sunday” which means any team can beat any team, on any given Sunday. Well the Patriots brought us and Tebowmania back to earth for at least a week. Oh well, in the grand scheme of things, it’s just a game.

We arrived home around 6:15 and rushed to get ready to head down the street to meet Santa. After a few songs accompanied by bells and other instruments handed out by Santa, each child (from about 7 to 20) went up and sat on Santa’s lap and received a gift. The family who invited us are great and have included us for 3 or 4 years now. We and one other family, also with kids, are the only ones invited on the street. Today John (the dad) is taking his whole family to Jamaica for 5 days, what fun for them.

We made it home by 8:30 or so and then Jennifer’s mom came to pick her up as she had joined us for the party. The oldest one had a pretty rough day yesterday. It must have been some kind of birthday hangover as he was feeling pretty sorry for himself.

Everyone gets in a funk now and then (I hear my Mom is blaming me for the Green Bay Packers loss as I told her before the game that this is the one game they could lose!) but we all need to remember the big picture. Sure some of us would like more money, some would like a better job, some would like 6 pak abs (that’d be me!), some would like loved ones to still be with us or live closer but these things are not always in God’s plan. It’s up to us to remain strong and keep our heads up and live each day to the fullest. Remember you also (in most circumstances) can do something about it if you really want to. Now we can’t bring the youngest ones Grandpa back (something he repeatedly wishes for), but if I really want 6 pak abs, I can change things in my life and get them, if I’m willing to sacrifice what I need to, to do so. If one of you wants a new job or career, go after it! I know Grandma Dixie is missing her daughter and the grandkids these days, well get on a plane and get out here! Even if only for a few days. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, didn’t someone famous say that? The point is, don’t fall into the trap of believing you can’t do something if you really really want to. You’d be surprised what you can do if you put your mind to it or if you really really want it! Ok enough preaching for today, it’s Christmas week.

It almost doesn’t feel like Christmas but last night with Santa helped put us in the spirit. It comes so fast and then poof, it’s gone. We have to, as they say, take time to stop and smell the roses. Life is precious and we must enjoy each and every moment. When all the kids were sitting on Santa’s lap last night and he was asking each one what they wanted for Christmas, I thought to myself, what do I want and then it hit me, time. Time to enjoy my family, travel, read, relax and so on. The misses and I read an article in the paper the other day titled “What can we learn from French living”. The jist (is that a word?) of it is that the French are better at living than we are, way better. It says, get ready for this, that Americans are, and I quote, “galumphing, unrefined, consumption-addicted clods”. Even peasants in France use tablecloths. It goes on to say they would never eat pizza from a box in front of the tv and zone out. And it’s not all about money, not at all! They live very well compared to the average American. Think about it, in many ways our lives have become unmanageable,  our homes are filled with clutter, were slaves to technology (like this computer, ha, ha) and we move too fast through life and don’t, as I said earlier, stop and smell the roses. So here are the few steps to ponder to get more out of life.

1. Start by living in the moment, calm down. If you’ve ever sat in a cafe in the morning in Paris with your coffee and pastry, you know what I mean. In fact they enjoy every single meal. There’s no one rushing through their food or eating on the run!

2. Use the best you can. Use your good China and cloth napkins every day. Those in our family are the ones we love the most yet we only pull these out when guests or holidays come around, why?

3. Relish the little things. It says no American manufactured soap can compare to french milled soap, guess what, they’re right. It’s amazing how much difference a bar of soap makes.

4. Reject materialism. We don’t need all the latest and greatest things they pound into our heads with endless advertising or brainwashing that we are exposed to every day. It’s better to have a few really nice things than a house full of fads.

5. Pursue quality pastimes, always have dessert and good conversation, especially at meal time. Then listen to good music and read something! Life should be about conversation and connection through the arts. A 6 year old french child knows more about the arts and history than the average 40 year old American!

I could go on but you get the point. Now I’m not saying everything about France is better than America, quite the contrary, but we can all learn how to get more and enjoy life more from most cultures in Europe. I’m just saying, take a look at it, we need to slow down and take stock of what’s important in our lives which to me is family and friends, not the tv and endless pursuit of material things that are here today and gone tomorrow. Think about it, every year at Christmas they have the latest fashion or electronic or toy we all have to have and by the next year, it’s on close out or not even salable. Hmmm.

Oh well, I guess I’m preaching again. It’s a big week and with the coming new year, we can all start contemplating our resolutions for 2012. We hope you all are well, take care, God Bless and stop and think about what YOU want, then go after it. Trust me, you’ll be amazed what you can accomplish.

The day started out like any other, a work out, coffee and then breakfast. But alas, that’s where the normal routine ended. At 11am Uncle T, Aunt B and Grandma showed up bearing gifts for the birthday boy. Before you know it, it was 12:30 and time to head off to Big Time, the trampoline place to meet up with a half dozen of his friends for party #2. This ended a little after 3 and by the time we got home we had an hour to get ready before heading off to dinner. Dinner was fantastic and we all had a great time. The oldest and his friend split a steak and had popcorn shrimp while the youngest had a grilled cheese. The highlight of the evening was the flaming pot of fire that arrived at the table with a big bowl of marsh mellows, chocolate and graham  crackers so the kids could make their own s’mores. The food was really good and everyone was really well behaved, what a fun time.

We arrived home and the 3 kids (our boys and his friend) plopped down on the couch and watched the Smurfs movie. Around 9pm, his friends mom picked her up.

It’s about 7:15 am now and I need to head to the gym to get in my pre game workout before the big game today. This has to be the biggest game the Broncos have played in for 10 years or so as we haven’t had many games that mean much since John Elway retired.

After the game we need to head down the street to Britan’s house (their former babysitter and tennis teacher) who has an annual Christmas party where we think, the real Santa, shows up every year. We’re lucky to be invited every year as it’s mostly their family.

Sorry for the short post and sketchy details but I’m rushed for time. If you’d like to hear more about the party, give the misses a call, she’s still in bed though so wait a bit!

One week until Christmas! Hope you all are ready, take care, have a great day and God Bless the Denver Broncos!