A Year of Change

Don’t get me going. Luckily, we can pay what we owe today. It’s just sad that when you save all year, a little bit here and there, that it all ends up going to the govt. We are now paying more in quarterly taxes and raised Lori’s withholding by another $1400 a month. So that means another $3400 a month out of our pockets and into the governments, and sadly, we get less from them, than we did 20 years ago.

I’m out early this morning. It’s 5:07am now. Hope to be home by noon at the latest. Ty made it home fine. He did some laundry and recouped a bit before heading to Madi’s. He works today. Both he and Jagger finished up their taxes and we got them turned in. They’ll both get around $1K back.

That’s it, time to get moving. Have a great day and God Bless.

Ty takes off from Bozeman around 10:30 this morning and should be in Eagle by 2:30 or so. Yesterday he hit the mountain for the last day of the season at Big Sky. He had a great trip and I’m sure will go back again next year.

We booked Jagger and Ava’s hotel in Bali yesterday, so they’re all set for their trip on May 13th. They’ll be gone 11 days and we’re so jealous. We were going to use points, but it wasn’t as expensive as we thought, so we just paid for the room. After their trip, we should have about 1 million Marriott miles, so we’ll be going somewhere.

I’m off to Denver in 30 or 45 minutes and should be back by 1 or so. I also have to run down tomorrow am to pay taxes, so two trips in two days. Looks like a rain and snow mix Friday and Saturday, ugh. That’s right when we’ll be in Georgetown with everyone to spread Shelly’s ashes. As I said yesterday, maybe they’ll be wrong. Time to go as it’s 6:03 right now. Have a great Monday, God Bless.

Yesterday, Ty and six buddies loaded up and headed up to Billings for the PBR, (Professional Bull Riding) rodeo. Billings is a couple hours north of Bozeman but not a bad drive. They all spent the night and had a blast as far as we could tell. He kept us posted with videos of bull riders, and bulls, doing their thing. Our youngest is ready to move to Montana and be a cowboy, he’s all in.

I found a really cool place, sort of like a mini-Yellowstone, for a couple million dollars! The house was built in 1890 but has been totally remodeled. We could do worse in retirement than living on a little spread and having one of our boys working the place, ha. Check it out,

It’s 40 minutes out of downtown Bozeman which is nothing, has water and enough land for a garden, some cows and horses. You never know!

Yesterday the guys, Mark, Clark and Ken, came over to smoke a cigar and watch the Masters Golf Tournament with me. This turned into a 5 hour hang as I was finishing off the pork roast and then we all had sandwiches Lori made for us. It was also Day 30 of my one meal a day thing and I celebrated with breakfast and dinner. I’m only up a pound, which is surprising.

Looking like maybe a little rain and cool temps when Tasha, Robi and Bobby get here. Too bad as it’s been really nice. Who knows though, weathermen are usually only right, at best, half the time.

7:11 now! We slept in a bit this morning. Not sure if we’re going to the gym or what. I feel like I climbed a mountain yesterday as we did a lot. After a Costco run, Lori cleaned out the front garden beds and we cleaned up the back. Today we’re doing some inside cleaning as it’s supposed to be a little cooler. Looking outside right now though, they might be wrong.

That’s it, time to get going. Have a great Sunday and God Bless.

Today we’re smoking another pork shoulder. I’m starting the smoker as soon as I’m done here, and then we’ll go to the gym as I don’t open the lid for the first 90 minutes. That’ll give us time to go work out and get back.

Ty’s having a blast. We finally heard from our accountant last night and we owe and extra $35K on Tuesday. So frustrating, as it seems this happens every year. We’re upping our quarterly payments about $7500 and Lori’s withholding to offset this, so it hopefully doesn’t happen again next year. Is what it is, no point in dwelling on something we can’t do anything about right now.

It was 76 degrees up here yesterday! One more warm day, today, before a mini cooldown tomorrow. No snow or anything, maybe a little rain shower.

That’s it, time to go fire up the smoker! God Bless.

Ty’s having a blast. Last night they went to the rodeo. I thought it was the night before, but it was last night. Ty found a new belt, (he needed one bad), and bought a bolo tie! He fits right in up there in Montana. He loves Bozeman, but then, what’s not to love. Not sure what his plans are today. We’ll keep you posted.

Long management call yesterday. We accomplished a lot, but it seems like I’ve been on the phone for 15 hours the past two days. Unfortunately, we’re going to let two people go. One has been with me over 20 years, but she’s just not that productive as the way people buy wine, and what they buy, has changed. In the end, it all comes down to math. Still, it’ll be tough.

Lori is working 10 to 12 hours a day as she has over 50 surgeries backed up that she needs to schedule. Looks like a warm day with temperatures hitting 80 for the first time this year. I’m down to 200 pounds. I’m actually eating a bit more, but it seems my body jumped over that plateau where I was stuck for a few days. Only one more day to complete my 30 meals in 30 days program. Think I’m sticking with it as I’m not really hungry and pretty much in a groove.

Time to get moving. My back is getting better each day. Think I’ll go to the gym with Lori this morning and take it super easy. Probably a mistake but I need to exercise. Easter is here next weekend!

Time to go, hope everyone is doing well. Have a great day and God Bless.

Ty made it to Montana and kept me posted with videos of him landing and then driving with Sonny to town. They also Face Timed me so Sonny could say hi. Last night they were going to the rodeo. Not sure if Sonny has some classes today or not, or if they’re going boarding at Big Sky. Glad he’s there and having fun, he deserves it.

Looks nice outside today. It was windy yesterday but not so much so far this morning. Dr. B had a great birthday at work and went out to dinner last night with his wife, his brother and his wife.

I have a management call this morning at 10 to review the Company financial model and make adjustments for the remainder of the year. Things change so fast these days that you need to stay ahead of things. Yesterday with the pause in tariffs, giving countries time to negotiate with us, the market shot up almost 3000 points! So now, everyone but the Dems are happy. They’re still bashing Trump even though economists all the way back to the Reagan administration are saying Trump is doing the right thing to reset the trade imbalance we have, and it’ll be better in the long run for the Country and all of us. This is exactly why we voted for him. To change the status quo of government which was a road to nowhere. Everyone needs to relax and have a little faith and patience as soon things will get even better.

7am now. We’re still waiting on our accountant to see what we owe next Tuesday. We shouldn’t owe anything, but I’m sure we do. We always do. I just don’t understand it. We pay more and more and owe more and more. If we retracted our income, meaning made less, we might be better off. Sounds illogical but it might be true. In any case, we’re figuring out how and when to retire with our goal being a year from December.

That’s it, time to go. Have a great day. It’s National Siblings Day. I’m super thankful to have such a great brother and sister! Love you both! God Bless.

This morning Ty is off to Montana! It’s also Dr. B’s 50th birthday and a pivotal day for the economy and more importantly, my Company. I need to make some proactive decisions today to cut some costs, in the event that things don’t get better fast.

Yesterday I had a haircut in the afternoon and Mark drove down to join me as he needed a trim and wanted to try our new guys.

I was going to Denver but Nate, (my neighbor who is a doctor) told me to rest my back and take Advil 3 times a day for a good week. Looks warm today but windy.

6am now and Ty needs to leave in 30 minutes. Lori is planning on taking him, but she needs to be at the office by 7:30. If he’s running late, it’ll be me taking him.

That’s it, time for coffee. Have a great day and God Bless.

Ty was home with us last night and is again tonight before he flies out to Bozeman tomorrow morning. He’s super excited as it’s his first vacation since he went to Bozeman last year around this time. Good for him as he deserves it. I think he worked 97 hours last week! I think they’re going to make him the manager which means a $10,000 raise! He’s probably making $75 to $80K right now. That’s big money, especially for someone 21 years old. We’re super proud of him. As I said, he also quit vaping and smoking since he had his wisdom teeth out, which makes us really happy.

Lori is in Edwards today. It was super sunny yesterday and my face is red from being out in the sun for a while. More sun today and they say for the next 7 to 10 days.

Ben and Eleni called yesterday from their second home in Palm Desert hoping we’re coming to visit. I’m not sure if we can squeeze it in with everything going on between now and mid-May.

On the news they’re telling a story of how they have brought back the Dire Wolf! They’ve been extinct for 10,000 years! Hope they don’t bring back any T-Rex’s. Crazy what science can do these days. We’ll take two.

Ty just left for work, time for me to get moving too. Hope everyone has a great day. Take care, be safe and God Bless.

We actually sat outside in our lawn chairs yesterday. Lori did some gardening and we both went to the gym earlier in the day. My back is almost all better, yea, although I’m still taking it easy for a few more days.

Looks warmer today and even warmer tomorrow. Signs are up saying Be Bear Aware, but we rarely see bears up here in the sage brush. A mile or two down the road, they can see more as there are more trees and a little lower in elevation.

Two days until Ty leaves. He worked 94 hours last week and is cramming as much time in as he can before he’s gone for five days. Good for him. He deserves a vacation. I think his teeth are almost all healed up too. He did quit smoking as he hasn’t had anything since he had his teeth out. I told him if he does one thing this year, that should be it!

I’m dealing with the tariffs here and in Italy. Things seem to be settling down and the estates in Italy are agreeing to pay the cost, as they should. Over 50 countries have reached out to negotiate to end the tariffs. The Dems would have you believe we should keep paying the bills for other countries and essentially let these people continue to take advantage of us. No surprise as this is just like them being mad at the people that found fraud and abuse, rather than those that committed fraud and abuse. Crazy stuff. In the end, we’ll be much better off. We struggled for years, especially the last four, so giving things a few more months for things to fix themselves, is a no brainer. We say stay the course.

6:30 right now. We were going to try to go to the gym, but Lori says she doesn’t have enough time. She’s in Vail today, Edwards tomorrow, and then Vail again on Wednesday.

The Rockies actually won a game yesterday! Tonight is the college basketball championship game. I’m a little sore, my legs, from a leisurely mile on the treadmill yesterday. I think it’s because I walked on a flat surface meaning with no incline. Not sure if I’ll go this morning, we’ll see.

That’s it, April 7th today. We’re hoping the snow is done for the year. Nothing coming up in the next week or so. We could get another mini blast later this month or even in May or June. You never know.

Time to go, have a great day, be well, stay safe, don’t get complacent, and God Bless.

After almost lying in bed on my back all day yesterday, I’m seeing some signs of relief. I’m still sore and tight depending on how I move, but lots better than yesterday. No weights today. I saw a text from Tommy this morning that Houston came back and beat Duke! That’s a huge upset in the college basketball world. I turned it off after watching most of the first half so Lori could come to bed and watch something. Who knew? I guess AI knew as a guy with an AI produced bracket won $1 million over a professional gambler from Vegas.

Lori made me pork tacos with coleslaw and jalapenos and cheese for my meal yesterday. Man were they good. Just about two weeks until Robi and Bobby and Tasha and all of us get together. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

No snow yesterday, they did get some in Denver. Tom texted some tracks in his yard asking what they were. He thought they were from a mountain lion and after looking at them, I told him, yup, mountain lion.

We have tons of deer and elk around as the semi cool temps are keeping them down low. By the end of next week, a lot of them will move to higher ground to stay cool. Spring is a coming!

I had a long phone call with Jonny Newmark, my close friend from when we were kids. He’s doing well. Both of us have a hard time realizing just how old we are. We both feel 20 in our minds. Good to talk to him. He just had his foundation flood to the tune of $45K to fix it. He’s had a motorhome for probably ten years now and is heading out this summer for a couple months going back to mainly Utah. Good for him and Bridget. It was nice to catch up with him, he might try to come down for a Bronco game this Fall.

That’s it for the day. Have a great Sunday and God Bless.