A Year of Change

Thank you thank you Grandma! Thank you Uncle T!!! You see last night they generously gave us  4 orchestra seats to the Broadway show called Rock of Ages, and it really was incredible. We took our  friends, M & C who also loved the show! Now I’m not the biggest musical theater fan, like the misses, but this show was like a flashback to a time of my life from just about 30 years ago. It’s a show based on 1980’s music with a live band playing all the big hits from the day. I guess it won awards on Broadway and I can see why. The audience was electric and featured young and old alike. In between the music there was lots of adult humor and the entire story was just fun to watch. The misses joked that I had to have had a good time as I got to listen to all my favorite music AND watch strippers with her at the same time! You see the 80’s was full of lots of sexual innuendo and so the show was full of scantly clad women which were almost, but not quite, as attractive as my wife! At the end the audience gave the cast a much deserved long standing ovation. One of the kids from American Idol a few years ago, who came in 3rd or something (not sure as I don’t watch the show) named Constantine was really a talented kid and fun to watch. We got out of there around 10:50, picked up the boys at Uncle T and Aunt B’s and made it into bed by 11:30. Another big “Thank You” to Uncle T and Aunt B for watching the boys from 6:30-11:15. We’re both a little tired this morning (it’s 6am) and the misses ran to the store for milk while I’m writing todays post. Thanks again Grandma, it was the most fun the misses and I have had in many many years, and we really appreciate you thinking of us. In fact on the way home,  I told her I was really happy for her as I hadn’t seen her laugh that much in a long time, she really enjoyed it!

Yesterday the misses team building day included her making her own candy at the candy factory (that’s like giving an alcoholic a bottle) and then, from what she says, a horrible lunch at a restaurant downtown. The boys and I cleaned up after my work and then I took them to the pool for an hours worth of swimming. They then played with their little friends for the last time until mid August as their entire family heads off to Central America today for a 2 month adventure. Now I’m all for adventure but probably would have picked some place other than Guatemala and Panama for a family vacation, but that’s just me.

The misses works tomorrow but has a big agenda around the house today. The littlest one really liked swim team yesterday so he’s headed out again at 8:30 for another hour of exercise. The oldest was going to go but the realization of just how early 6:00 is and the fact that he’d have to get up at that time every morning made him decide not to do it. We’re ok with that as he has lots going on and we don’t want to force either of them into it. I suppose this morning wasn’t the best day to try to get him to start when he was up until 11:30. Both dogs are rolling around on the rug and then shaking off 5 pounds of hair every few minutes or so. The misses just bribed them to go outside with a little food.

It’s almost 6:45 and I need some more coffee so time to sign off for today. Aunt Robie, you would have really liked the show, it was right up your ally as I’m sure you know as we’re a lot alike when it comes to music. Other than that, same old same old, too many bills, not enough money and yes the microwave is still broken! Hope everyone has a great day! Until tomorrow, God Bless and long live big hair, loud music and short skirts!

Today is Team Building Day for the misses at work. She doesn’t work (but does get paid) as all the front end employees go out together from noon until 6pm together to foster teamwork. First they go to some candy factory to see how candy is made, (that’ll require some restraint on the misses part) and then it’s off to some restaurant for the rest of the day. The store brings in an entire crew from another store to work for all of them as everyone gets to go. Hope it’s fun for her.

Tonight we’re going to a musical show called Rock of Ages. Grandma gave us the tickets and it’s some sort of musical theater type show that’s supposed to be pretty good. Uncle T and Aunt B kindly offered to watch the boys which is great as otherwise we probably wouldn’t have gone because it would have cost us $50 for a babysitter. This is just too much in todays economy.

Yesterday the misses and I did some cardio in the morning and then took the family up to Red Rocks for some leg work (this means climbing the amphitheater steps to work out our leg muscles). We made it through day 2 of just eggs, chicken, veggies and brown rice and are both down a bit over 4 pounds. All we need is a little light at the end of the tunnel, which means seeing a little progress, and we’re committed! Surprisingly even though it’s only been two days, we both feel a whole lot better.

I’ve already had 2 conference calls this morning and have another one in 45 minutes. I’m raising prices again on August 1st and need to announce this nationwide today. I know they say the economy is getting better but I don’t buy it. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the ups and downs each and every day. You need to look at the big picture and see if you can spot the trends. People, we’ve got a long way to go before we’re out of this mess, trust me on this one! The littlest one is headed off to swim team while the oldest is still sleeping in our bed. By 4am everyone was in our bed! Bunkie has had his morning shot and we need to try to get the house cleaned up a bit before Mom heads off to her Team Building Day. There’s tons of Mojo hair around the house as he’s shedding a lot. Both dogs get groomed this Friday and it’s around $90, which we don’t want to spend, but we have to do it.

All the boys can talk about these days is horses. Horses this and horses that, they have the bug and are putting any spare change into the horse jar. In fact the littlest one asked if he could have some money and when I asked what for, he told me it was to put into the horse jar. I had to explain to him that that’s not how it works. At least it’s better to save for horses than some cheap useless soon forgotten toy from China.

Well, time to run with my conference call fast approaching. Mom and the little guy are off to the pool for an hour or so, hope it goes well. Still no microwave, too funny huh? You all should be placing bets on how long it’ll take us to get that together. Could be a while as we got hit with $608 to the dentist yesterday!

Oh well, it’s only money right? Take care and God Bless

Back in the World of technology for 36 hours and I’m desperately trying to stay away, and keep the kids away,  from all the useless technology such as TV, newspapers, internet sites, etc. But everywhere I turn I’m bombarded by some talking head telling you what’s best for you and your family. As I eluded to yesterday, you don’t really realize how useless all the supposedly important stuff on the news is until you’re away from it for a few days and your life is just the same, if not better. I’m personally trying to stay away from politics in particular as it’s so easy to get consumed with the day to day back and forth going on between the two party’s. When you get to a part of the Country where people are too busy working and living life rather than having their life revolve around technology, you get a new perspective on life. It’s kind of like you go back in time and personally I think it’s a better way to live. Both boys, in the car on the way home, commented how they didn’t miss TV or video games at all. This may not sound like much to you, but here in the big city, kids gravitate to TV and video games almost subconsciously. Up in the mountains or in ranch country, they naturally get up and head outside to play. Not once was there any mention of TV, video games or the computer. It was all about rock climbing, exploring, riding horses, riding bikes, and other outdoor activities. Now I ask you, which do you think is better for a kid? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out, right?

So even though we live here in the city with easy access to all the mind numbing distractions, the misses and I are determined to do what we can to keep the boys focused on playing outside with less video games and TV. They’re happier, less cranky and sleep better when they play outside all day. Those of you that are my age or older surely remember your days as a kid and I’m sure they were filled with great times out of the house, not in it!

Ok so time to move on, it was hot yesterday and supposed to be in the 80’s all week. Uncle T and Aunt B took the boys to lunch yesterday and bought them some candy and a new video game each. (not all video games are bad, it’s just the amount of time they play that needs to be regulated) That was nice as it gave the misses a chance to get caught up a bit on the house. We still have some chores to do but she put a big dent in the mess. We visited Grandma for a few minutes on the way home from the gym to drop off the wood for her sign she’s putting up at the pond. We need to get a wood burning tool like I had when I was a kid, to carve or burn the name into the wood. Grandma looked good, healthy and happy but she could stand to gain a few pounds!

The misses and I had our first day of eggs, chicken breasts, brown rice and veggies and it went pretty well. I’m down 3 pounds from one day of no junk or alcohol. We’re sticking to this for a whole week to jump start getting back in shape. We each managed to get in two workouts as well, one cardio and then we lifted weights at the gym. I hear Mom upstairs trying to get the little one up as he said he wants to try swim team. The oldest one says no way, too early, he’d rather sleep in. He’s already developed his teenager sleep habits, stay up late and sleep late. He’s always the last one up these days.

Both boys are downstairs now and so is Mom. They are getting their work books for the daily school work they do to keep them in shape during the summer. You can’t let them forget everything they learned during the year, which they surly will, without some daily work. They both actually like it once you get them started. You also have to make them do it as soon as they wake up or it’ll never get done. The littlest one puts up a bit of a fuss but the older one just gets to work. It’s almost 6:30 now and Mom is taking L.O.L. and Bunkie to the vet at 7am. She sure is a good girl to commit and follow through every single day with taking care of that little biting dog. Personally I don’t know if I’d do it.

The boys are talking about us going to Aunt Myrna’s birthday party in Oklahoma in mid August with Pa Don and Grandma Dixie as I told them they’d get to drive tractors and ride more horses. Around here, horses are all the rage right now. My Dad, before he passed away, always told the boys he’d get them horses when they were older and they haven’t forgot this. We have an old mason jar on top of the refrigerator that’s known as the “horse jar”. For the past year, we put all out spare change in here. Your not supposed to be able to take anything out once it goes in, but every now and then it gets raided for some reason. Anyhow the boys must have a few hundred dollars saved towards their horse. Now they don’t, but I do, know the work required just to feed and clean up after a horse. It’s a daily chore that can’t be missed plus they’re expensive to keep. I don’t think we’ll have one anytime soon but it would be a good life lesson for them to have the responsibility of taking care of a horse of their own. I don’t have to worry about this now but when they get up to $500 dollars or so and have enough money, I’m not sure what we’ll do.

Breakfast is almost done and I need some more coffee before we eat so time to sign off. The littlest one also needs some help with his school work. Hope everyone is well and that you have a great day.

p.s. buy some extra food each time you go to the store so you have a little bit saved for hard times!

Here we are at home, lots of laundry to do and the house needs a good cleaning. We didn’t get much put away last night so while I’m getting back to work, the misses will be busy with the chores. Everyone is still sleeping and I need to get downstairs as I’m sure I have a few hundred emails to get through before my conference call starts in 90 minutes. I’m supposed to go to Aspen for the Food and Wine festival this weekend but will try to get out of it. I was going to meet a guy from my distributor in California but I’m scheduled to meet him a week from tomorrow in San Francisco anyhow. It seems kind of redundant to meet Saturday and then again a few days later. The only reason to go is to get some extra face time which I don’t really think is necessary.

The misses and I are going on a week long healthy makeover. All we’ll eat for the week will be chicken breasts, steamed veggies, brown rice and eggs. We’ll have coffee but use only a little cream (half and half) in the morning. We decided we need to jump start weight loss as we’ve been eating too good, or too bad depending on how you look at it! This also means no alcohol which will also be good as when you’re with friends, like at the ranch, everyone has cocktails! We’re also starting on “two a days”. This means we work out twice a day, usually morning and afternoon, to get lots of exercise. We’ll probably start today around mid morning with a family trip to Red Rocks, the amphitheater we’ve wrote about before.

I need to run now as I have a ton of work to catch up on. Thanks to Aunt B and Uncle T for taking care of our two dogs and two fish, we really appreciate it.

Oh by the way, it was so nice not to listen to any TV or read any newspapers. Turns out not much changed and I didn’t miss anything life changing. Just more useless drab like Anthony Weiner and more pornographic pictures, why can’t this guy just go away! I wish everyone could take a break for a few days from all the junk that we’re exposed to on a daily basis. None of it really matters that much. Try turning off your TV and radio and don’t read any newspapers for a few days and see what you miss, it won’t be much and you’ll feel much better, trust me, it’s true.

take care and God Bless,

What a weekend! Everything was great. Yesterday finished with the littlest one being the last man standing for the Orange team in the Paintball Championships. The trophy was as big as he is and was coveted by the group from California who were playing against each other for the grand prize. The oldest one and his team (Blue) actually won but it was the littlest one who had the entire group cheering. They play in this designated area of ranch land that has rocks, trees, sage brush and must be 3 or 4 football fields big. Each player dons camouflage clothing, gloves, masks that cover the face and most of the head and then have these CO2 charged paint ball guns that shoot 300 feet per second. (which is really powerful and fast) Anyhow at the end of the second round, our youngest is crouching in the sage brush and he’s so small the guy from the other team runs right by him trying to get the flag. After a few minutes when it looks as though all is lost, he pops up and goes running through the sage and shoots the player from the other team preventing them from winning. There’s three players left on the other team, including his brother, who are dumbfounded as from the edge of the field there’s about 20 people screaming with joy cheering our youngest on by name. He only was shot once (twice and you’re out) but ran out of compressed air. He would have won the game by himself but didn’t understand that he was supposed to grab the other teams flag. He said he saw it in the bush but didn’t know he was supposed to grab it! It was quite a team building moment for all the people from this company and our littlest and oldest solidified the entire event. They were both getting hi fives for the rest of the evening and then again this morning. We hit the hay pretty early last night as it was a full day.

This morning we awoke are 6:15 to the sound of the rushing water outside. The misses and I arranged for a bit more difficult trail ride out into the wilderness and took along the photographer who was there from Maryland shooting a brochure for the ranch. The boys will for sure be all over this as she was taking their pictures left and right. Cheryl, the professional photographer is sending us a ton of photos from the weekend. We all had to sign a waiver to let them be used when we arrived. Anyhow Cheryl travels the world (goes to Nicaragua next week for 3 weeks) and she was just working the whole time so the misses and I asked her if she wanted to come along to which she gladly accepted. We rode up through the sage to about 11,000 feet high through the 200 acre parcel where there are about 20 wild buffalo. It was really nice as it was early in the morning and the views were incredible. The boys stayed with head wrangler Jake and one of the intern wranglers named Amanda and they rode Rio and Boogie in the outdoor pen, roped some cows, roped each other and played some games. We knew Jake from last year and the boys had both ridden both of these horses before. Speaking of horses, I was on Shasta yesterday, a spirited horse that you had to keep in line and today on one of my favorites from last year, an incredible cutting horse named JJ. This horse could turn on a dime and I know it sounds strange but I think he remembered me! Horses can sense and smell fear so why wouldn’t they be able to remember a particular rider. The misses was on Bart today who was sure footed (which we needed on the steep switchbacks coming down) and looked like she’d been riding her whole life. Anyhow it was a truly great time and our hosts, who we spent some time with last night when they flew in and again this morning at breakfast, are really nice and generous to us. Both boys went up and thanked Mr. and Mrs. White personally and shook their hands. Everyone all weekend, from the staff, some who knew them and some who were new, to all the guests and the Whites, commented repeatedly what great kids they are. We of course were very proud of their behavior as should all of you be too.

We left about 11am and headed across the Colorado state line and drove up to my Dad’s old homestead cabin to scrounge for a piece of wood for my Mom to use as a sign for the pond in her pasture at the house. After a quick lunch in Walden with some friends who work for Silver Spur Ranches (John Malone’s place, owner of Starz and Cinemax cable channels) we headed out to home. We arrived here about 5pm and everything is just fine. The boys dozed off for the last 20 minutes and are now across the street at the going away party for our neighbors who go to Guatemala this Thursday for 2 months. We need to run over now and say hi and bye and then will be home to rest our backsides which are sore from so much riding. (actually I’m fine but the misses is hurting)

Sorry we’re late today and yesterday, but it was worth it. No TV, phones, newspapers, videos games, nothing, except the old west in all its glory. I wish everyone could experience this!

Until tomorrow, God Bless,

We arrived at a little bit after 12 noon and were greeted by the staff and given a map to our cabin which is named Rainbow. We drove through the ranch and made our way down the road to a two story log cabin perched on a hill with a river running beneath it. When you walk in there’s a small living room attached to a kitchen with a pot belly stove in the corner. Down the hall you find the master bedroom with a king size bed all decorated in red and black mountain colors. There’s a bath with a shower next to it and the entire place was decorated by some design firm out of Chicago. The girls here thought it was a bit too over the top so they tweaked it a bit. After all what do people from Chicago know about the old west. Upstairs is the boys bedroom with two bunk beds meaning both boys get to sleep on the top!They too have their own bathroom upstairs. It’s really just flat out perfect!

The afternoon was filled with activities…especially for the boys.  It started with rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking and ending with a paint ball war the a big group that is staying at the ranch.  The boys were on the same team for the first match, but had to separate when one of the other teams players opted out.  Our oldest rushed the opposing team shooting and yelling “Die Freaks”….turns out both boys were real assets and they are now set to play in the Championship match this afternoon.

We went back to our fabulous cabin to clean up for dinner and sit on the porch to enjoy the views, then headed back to the Saloon for cocktail hour and dinner at the Chuck Wagon.  The Chef cooked up enough New York steaks for thirty or forty people, linguine with jumbo prawns in Alfredo sauce, a vegetable medley of squashes, onions, peppers and spices, homemade rolls and a creme brulee pie to die for…or at least gain 10 pounds for.  The boys were well behaved and adjourned to the fire pit to roast marsh mellowsand make s’mores. They entertained the group staying here until almost 10:p.m. when we headed back to the most comfortable beds ever!!

Of course morning comes early at the ranch. The Mister was up before 5 and the youngest was up shortly after him and woke his brother shortly sfter that….so we showered and headed in for breakfast at the Lodge.  Wow./..pannini breakfast sandwiches eggs, bacon, fruit, oatmeal with all of the toppings you can imagine, pastries from the pastry chef and many more delicious items…hope no one is hungry while they are reading this.

Off to the races…a trail ride for about 2 1/2 hours and the boys rode beautifully…chatting with every one each way.  We got back from the ride in time to enjoy lunch at the Chuck Wagon…more good food. After lunch the youngest jumped on a mountain bike and rode back to our cabin…we followed him in the Suburban.

We rested for about 2 minutes…then the Mister went out to the shooting range and the boys and I walked back to the activities center.  They climbed and climbed the rock wall, played basketball and wore the employees out.  Signining off to go to the Paintball Championship…

God Bless

LLF DBF

It’s 6:00 a.m., the air is crisp, the sky is clear and we are very excited to be heading off to Brush Creek this morning.

We found a great deal on cowboy shirts yesterday…wait until you all see pictures of the boys in their new duds…super cute! I borrowed some duds and accessories super cute too…Thank you, thank you!

Our daily five (chores and summer school work) are going well with really no complaints from our munchkins.  The boys are doing 5 or 6 pages in their workbooks in about 15 minutes and making their beds, getting dressed, brushing their teeth and emptying their assigned trash cans in no time at all…It’s not a lot of work, but it is teaching them a little daily responsibility.

We still have to pack for the weekend, load the snacks for the boys hourly feeding, (big boy included) throw the ball for the dogs, give Bunkie his shot, wash and fill up the Suburban, make breakfast and shower…all in the next hour and a half..I’m sure we can do it!

The mister has a huge bruise on his arm where the football (thrown by the oldest) hit him…what an arm that kid has. The youngest is really pushing for swim team, so we’ll check it out Monday morning..for both boys.  It starts very early for the oldest…6:45 a.m. maybe it will tucker him out…doubtful…but we’ll see.

More losers on the news this morning…another politician involved with an escort service and wouldn’t you know it he is a married man. Cheaters, cheaters…it is so sad and I’m sure humiliating for the families…

Anyway, I am off to prepare for our fun, exciting adventure..no televisions, computers or outside world….hurray!!  We are taking helmets for the boys, so when they are climbing up 30 foot rock faces I don’t completely freak out.  Horses, trails, mountain bikes, and target shooting…here we come.

We may not be able to post tomorrow…we will make up for it on Sunday.

God Bless

LLF

I woke up at 4:15, made some coffee, read the paper and headed off to the gym. After stopping at the grocery store to pick up some donuts ( a rare treat) for the boys, I arrived home at 6am. It’s spitting a fine mist outside and foggy, a nice cool morning. Everyone is still sleeping including the dogs.

The boys and I ran a few errands yesterday and then the oldest had a play date at 2:30 and the youngest at 3:30. Mom arrived home a half hour early at 2:30 as it was slow at the store. She’s now off until next Wednesday. We all ended up home by a little after 6pm and grilled up some hamburgers for dinner. The boys must have found some sugar somewhere during the afternoon as they both had a hard time going to sleep. It seems they get more energy the closer it is to bedtime.

Today Mom will have her hands full with laundry but first she gets her hair done at 9am. We’ll leave tomorrow morning for the ranch in Saratoga Wyoming. You can click on this link to see where we’ll be, here’s a link, www.brushcreekranch.com/lodging/logcabin.php. You can also click, www.brushcreekranch.com/index.php , for the main page.

If that won’t work, just copy and paste in your browser to see the ranch. Right now it’s on the page that shows the cabins. You can also then look around by selecting various links at the top of the page.

As I said earlier, we might need to post Saturday’s post on Sunday as we’ll have limited computer access. Hope no one goes into withdrawls.

Today I have several calls in the morning and I probably shouldn’t have bought the boys donuts with Mom being gone, but as I said earlier, it’s a rare treat. I took them both to the western store yesterday as they have both grown out of their cowboy boots. In their sizes, boots cost about $45 a pair which isn’t too bad until you realize they need a new pair each year. The younger one picked out black as he has before while the oldest selected brown, also the same as he had before. We’ll need to dig out their jeans and also get some groceries. I think we’re in a cabin away from the main lodge, which we prefer, and it has it’s own kitchen and all the comforts of home, except thankfully a TV! Last time there, we had no TV, video games or even music and no one missed any of them at all. That’s what’s so great about the place, tons of outdoor activities to keep everyone busy all day long.

It’s almost 6:45 and I’m giving you all a break on politics today as I’m trying to block it all out. I almost forgot, the boys and I picked up our Colt 45 revolver yesterday after it arrived from Texas via UPS, to my local gun shop. It sure is pretty and both boys are excited to shoot it. Like an old indian chief would say, “good trade”. I need to see if down the road I can come up with another one as the boys are already arguing over who will inherit it. I needed to remind them I’m not planning on going anywhere anytime soon, knock on wood! The youngest one often asks me if I’m going to be an old man when he grows up to which I always reply, of course not. You can see a sense of relief on his face as he doesn’t want Mom or I to grow old. That’s why I keep going to the gym!

Anyhow time to run, I need to get Mom up soon for her hair appointment and take a shower to get ready for the day. Hope all of you are doing well and have a great weekend planned. Take care and God Bless,

Well it’s Wednesday, commonly known as hump day being the middle or peak of the 5 day work week. Time sure flies.

Yesterday went by fast, it started with Mom heading off to work at 6:30 as she had to go to Bunkie’s first. I then dropped both boys at Grandma’s around 9am as I had a meeting at 9:30. While I was gone she must have made them about 25 or 30 mini pancakes in various shapes. When I showed up she was making christmas tree pancakes for the youngest one. I loaded them up and they grabbed the rest of the uneaten pancakes and we headed home. I had some more work to do on the phone and then we headed out for some errands. The day was broken up with lunch at Mustards Last Stand, a Chicago style hot dog joint that’s very popular. Both boys chowed down on dogs, fries and root beer, good to be a kid. By the time we got home is was about 2 and Mom was getting off work at 3. The boys tried their hand at selling lemonade again with not much luck as not many cars drive by during the middle of the afternoon. I did come up from my basement office and found Aunt Shelly outside talking to the boys. She was on the way to Uncle T’s as she had some problem with her cell phone. It was nice to see her.

Yesterday was also the official 90th b-day for L.O.L. so Mom had invited her up for dinner. She sure gets around for being 90. During grace before dinner, our oldest said “and thank you for June who’s 90 years old and is pretty fast and that’s pretty cool”. Even though it put a crimp in our evening, it was nice to have her over as she really has no one around and is pretty lonely. She and the misses were talking about some jewelry and she said, “you know you acquire these things all your life and in the end, you don’t know what to do with them, they’re just things”. This pretty much sums it up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have nice things but we shouldn’t lose sight of what’s important which is friends, family and good times, not how many expensive watches you have. Anyhow, you get the picture. The older we get, the more we realize this.

It’s now 6am and Mom just came down while thankfully the boys are both still sleeping. They were so wound up, especially the oldest one, when it was time to go to bed. We watched True Grit and the boys ended up watching the last half with us. It was good but I much preferred the ending of the original so when the new version was over, we dug out the dvd of the 1969 version with John Wayne and watched the last 10 minutes, what a movie and what a great American icon John Wayne was, it’s sad he’s gone. I’m glad I grew up at the time when he was around. Things sure have changed in the last 20 or 30 years and I’m not so sure it’s for the better but what are you going to do, life goes on.

Sometimes I think even though life would have been much harder way back in the times of the old west, life to would have been a lot simpler and fun as well.

Today I have lots of work again (don’t I always) and the boys will be in play mode. Obama yesterday says he’s “not concerned that we’re going to have a double dip recession”, are you kidding me! That’s enough politics for the day as I think that statement speaks for itself.

Oh well, as I’ve said before, you need to rely on yourself and your family, don’t fall into the trap of thinking the government will be there for you in times of trouble. I don’t care who’s in office, our system is so huge and out of whack, it’s not set up to help the individual. Get ready, tougher times are coming before it’ll get better.

Supposed to be in the mid 70’s with isolated showers today, need to run as Mom’s getting ready to leave. Have a great day and we’ll talk tomorrow. God Bless.

At 4pm sharp, we will begin the official screening of the long awaited western classic, True Grit. Everyone is welcome but you must come dressed in the regalia of the time. Get out your best western duds, saddle up the horse and ride on over. We’re having a hitching post installed in the front yard so all of you can tie up your mounts. Beef brisket, baked beans and biscuits (known as corn doggers in the movie) will be served. I’m doubly excited as my wife makes one fine looking saloon girl!

Today the misses works at 7:15am so we set the alarm for 5. I of course was up at 4 and then woke her at 5. She’s putting the finishing touches on her good looks right now and then we’ll get breakfast going. We splurged for some king crab legs from Costco yesterday as they were on sale and it looks like we’ll get about 4 or 5 meals out of $40 worth, not too bad. So, crab omelette’s for breakfast. The kids of course will want french toast or pancakes. It was hot yesterday, somewhere in the mid 90’s, thankfully we have air conditioning. Even Mojo slept inside last night due to the heat. Yesterday we took both dogs up to Grandma’s and they both jumped right in her pond for a swim. The misses pointed out this morning that it was Mojo’s first swim of his life! When we got them home we had to then shampoo both of them in the front yard to get the pond water off of them.

The boys set up a lemonade stand in the front yard and the littlest one took a large rectangular sign and was dancing for passing cars much like the kids you see on every corner advertising for businesses these days, he was pretty cute. He kept coming in asking for a quarter to buy himself a glass as his older brother didn’t want to let him have one for no charge. Obviously I corrected the older one right away and let him know that the little guy, who was doing all the work in the heat, could have all the lemonade he wants. With not a lot of action around 2 in the afternoon, the boys grabbed their la crosse sticks and headed down to the neighbors to play. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and we all hit the hay around 8:30.

I have a meeting at 9:30 so Grandma has graciously agreed to watch the kids for an hour while I’m gone. I’ll then let them play outside while I work in the basement. Mom will get off at 3pm so she’ll be home mid-afternoon. There’s a ton of haze in the air from the huge fires in Arizona. You can barely see downtown or the mountains from all the smoke that’s drifted up from the southwest. Hope it clears out soon.

Ok I’ve tried to resist but can no longer abstain. Did you see Congressman Anthony Weiner on TV yesterday finally come clean and admit to basically sending porn of himself to multiple women, while married, over the past few years! Unbelievable, not that he did this, but that he lied about it so blatantly for the past 10 days! On top of that, he says he won’t resign. I mean come on, give me a break. How can this man stay in office, and his name is Weiner! In my book if you lie about one thing it makes me think about what else you’re lying about. Ok, enough politics for the day, I don’t want to get myself distracted with True Grit out today.

So have a great day, stay safe and keep your powder dry, God Bless