A Year of Change

First off, no snow up here. It’s clear and cool, I think they just said zero degrees, but it doesn’t feel that cold. Mojo slept outside last night as he wouldn’t come in. Jag had four girls over, Rachel, Lexi, Katy and Hannah. They stayed until around midnight. Man are girls loud! Anyhow they had fun. Meanwhile Ty spent the night at Preston’s. We’ll get him at 9 am.

Yesterday I was in Denver for a quick trip. While I was driving home Lori called and asked what I was taking $100 a day out of the bank for. I had no idea what she was talking about. She said she had been receiving alerts on her phone (which I get too) of deposits and withdrawals. My first reaction, knowing I hadn’t been taking $100 a day out of the bank, was that we had been hacked. A month or so ago she used her debit card on line with some questionable company buying the boys some Christmas gift that never arrived. After 30 seconds of questioning her I figured out she was actually seeing the account alerts I have set up from Key Bank that send a daily text for any transaction over $100, ha. Breathing a sigh of relief that we were not hacked we both laughed. Now the real funny part is later that evening when we were talking I asked Lori how long she thought I had been taking $100 a day out of the bank. To my surprise, she said “oh about 8 months!” What? 8 months? And she’s just now saying something? Wow. Wish I had, that would have meant I had about $24,000 laying around. No such luck.

Today we’re off to the gym in two separate cars as Lori has a nail appointment at 10. Looks like some in person school is coming back in Denver. No such luck up here. Three more football games on today. Good games yesterday. Lots of work stuff this coming week. I need to finalize the financial model for the Company for the year.

That’s about it, time to get moving. Hope everyone is well. As an fyi, I’m done posting on social media. Time to get off that platform. Have a great day, God Bless.

Robi and I were texting yesterday wondering just what happened to the World. She mentioned how she was glad Dad wouldn’t be here to see what’s going on in our Country. He was a man of few words but we both agreed he wouldn’t have been happy. Likely he would have been just really disappointed. Easy to see why.

This morning I’m off early for a trip to Longmont and then quickly back home before the snow arrives. It’s not supposed to be much but it’ll be cold and we will have some. Also there are three football games on today. I should be home by noon.

Still on the fence on the vaccine. Think we’re going to wait a bit and see how things play out. The boys are fine. Jag is working out with Bryan our trainer again today and Lori might go with him. It’s going to be much warmer after this weekend.

Looks like lots of tips coming in identifying people who stormed the Capital. Good. Lock them up. Shut this crap down now. As I said yesterday, you don’t know who or what to believe any more. Good God.

Be well, stay safe and God Bless.

Last night we went to Ed and Amy Venerable’s house for dinner. They’re the parents of Ty’s friend Preston. Jag showed up just in time for dinner. Ed is a contractor who went to CU and just started out doing fix and flips on his own 20 years ago. It was good for Jag to get a chance to talk to him as Jag loves to absorb advice from successful people. They have a beautiful house right on Forest Road above the town of Vail. Before that I was in Denver and Jag went to Aspen to get his ring he ordered from Christmas. I took elk and Ed cooked it perfect. They’re super fun people.

Moving on, today we have some stuff to do around the house, work and personal. Be well, God Bless.

Yesterday was pretty normal around here with work and cleaning and dogs. However back east, in D.C., things were a little bit different. After a pro Trump rally, apparently the crowd stormed the Capital where they were counting the votes. Now it doesn’t matter who did this or why, it was wrong. Just as the rioters all summer long burned down Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland and countless other cities, this too is wrong. It’s not hard to see why though as half the Country is frustrated. That however is no excuse. Anyone they can find needs to be prosecuted. All this does is give those in power the excuse to take away more of our rights. The Washington Post even has an article saying facial recognition shows some rioters were Antifa members mixed in among the crowd. Who knows if true, we never will. Nice. One thing is for sure, the news will inflame tensions and use this for days to blame all republicans. I say throw them all in jail. This isn’t some third World country, this is America. As if the pandemic wasn’t enough, right?

Today I’m off to Denver for a quick turn then tonight we’re going to the Venerable’s for dinner. Lori had a long day at work. Ty has in person school and Jag is working out at 8 am. Lori gets to work from home. Nice day here yesterday.

Hope you all are well, don’t get caught up in the crap going on on your tv. It’s not real America. 99.99% of American’s are just like you and me. We want a good life, are kind, caring and willing to help others. Someone standing next to you could be close to falling apart. Show a little kindness and as Mom used to say, make your mother proud! Don’t all into the trap and be divided. Enough already. God Bless!

Today from 10 to 2 I’m on a planning call. I hate long calls but would rather knock it out in one day instead of two. Lori is in Vail today and the boys are home with me. Ty’s first day back to school is tomorrow and Jag’s is the 14th I think.

Lori has a chance to get the vaccine but I think is going to pass. She’s on the fence. I have to wait as I don’t have a choice this early in the game. Personally I would probably not get it right now as nationwide over 1000 people have been sent to the ER with complications. To be fair, about 4 million people have had it but still, what’s the hurry if you’re healthy. If I had some illness that put me more at risk I’d probably get it.

Both democrats could win the runoff in Georgia. This is not good but Obama also had the House and the Senate for two years and we survived. Socialism will run rampant though. Taxes will go up, medical care will suffer and more of your rights will be taken away. Prepare now.

For us, we’re riding things out here close to home. No travel for the near future and pretty much staying away from large gatherings and Denver. Of course we have been doing this for some time anyhow so not much has changed. We’re most worried about finances due to new regulation and taxes going up. But we will all survive. Life will go on. Sad that all these career politicians can’t seem to work together.

Time to get moving, hope everyone is doing well, mentally and physically. Our elk mounts are done and being shipped to us in a few days! Can’t wait to get mine here, God Bless.

Today we’re supposed to see a little of the white stuff. We’ll see. Lori is in Edwards while the boys and I are home. I took Ty to school yesterday only to arrive and find out it was a teacher planning day. Lucky for him he called me as I was 2 minutes away so I could go back and get him.

We had a window guy up from Denver yesterday who fixed some trim on the windows at the front door. He’s coming back Thursday to install some thicker weather stripping on our slider doors. Slowly we’re getting everything around here fixed. Sure takes time with a brand new home.

The World is still bat shit crazy. Is covid super deadly or not? Should you get the vaccine or not? Are the dems stealing the elections or not? On and on it goes. If there was ever a time to think for yourself and hunker down, now is it. We’re just sitting back and watching the shit show unfold. Thank God we live up in the mountains. I do hope the dems don’t steal the two elections in Georgia today. You can’t give the dems and old man Joe total control over the Country. I’d say the same if republicans were in power, there should always be checks and balances.

Guess I’ll run and head to the gym. It was a good first work day of 2021. I accomplished some goods things but I’ve only just begun! Look out World, ha! God Bless.

Lori has a meeting at 8, Ty has school at 8:20 and I’m already working. I’m so energized and anxious to get this year started that I could hardly sleep. Time to think out of the box, time to go all Elon Musk as I say. Time to do the unexpected. Just not in work but also in life, here we go.

Yesterday we made it to the gym, cleaned up some more and caught up on some laundry. Kids and dogs are fine. It was warm yesterday but cold at night, Snow up north but not sure about down here, guess we’ll see. Lots to do so time to go. 2021 is here, time to face it head on, GB.

Tomorrow is the first recognized business day of 2021. I have a call both Monday and Tuesday and will be hitting the ground running. Ty’s back in school and Jag is preparing for his January 14th start. Lori too will be on it but she never really stops.

Aspen was pretty much cleared out with the last few remaining private jets lined up on the runway staged to take off by the time I arrived. I was in and out of town in an hour and home by 1. Lori had most of the ornaments off the tree and had already taken down the other decorations. I helped her take the tree apart and then we cleaned up. Ty made it home around 5 and Jag was here with us most of the day until he went to Lexi’s around 6 pm.

We’ll squeeze the gym in this morning before getting some more cleaned up around here. Time to get after it.

Just a quick note on the boys. Man do we have great kids. Both boys have turned into great respectful, well mannered and most important, caring young men. Seeing the World through eyes filled with a gentle kindness is a blessing. Many people lack this quality and only care for themselves and no one else. I can’t imagine going through life with that outlook. It must be so lonely and discouraging. Where’s the hope? Even in these trying times, one can find hope and happiness. It’s there, you just have to look for it. We’re so thankful our boys have qualities that will make the World better rather than contribute to its downfall. Our future will be determined by our young. It’s so important to encourage and support them every way we can and try to steer them in the right direction through opportunity. Thanks for all the encouragement and support each of you provide them. They’re made up of their upbringing of which you’ve all been a part. Thank you, keep up the good work!

Here’s a big buck in the front yard, we see him often, and a frosty tree from yesterday morning, enjoy.

God Bless and let’s go get 2021!

There’s a fog that’s settled over the surrounding mountains creating a peaceful feeling of calm that we haven’t felt in some time. It’s almost like it’s out of a movie like Lord of the Rings or something. I’m sure it’ll burn off by noon or so.

Yesterday I had a neck headache from working out the day before. I also was tired as I had little sleep the night before from Mojo keeping me up New Year’s Eve. I did manage to squeeze in a few hours rest yesterday and am feeling better today. Jag and I are off to Aspen for a couple errands. We hope to be back by 2. Ty spent the night at Sonny’s as Jack leaves today for Denver and then the party is over. Ty and his crew have been on a 4 day party!

Jag might go to Slovenia for a couple months this summer to stay with Aleks Simcic and work at the vineyard or cellar. More on this later. For now it’s getting the tree down over this long weekend. Dogs are fine. 7:30 now and I’d like to be on the road in an hour so time to go, May God Bless you and 2021!

Well here we go, 2021. Today is also the beginning of Chapter Two of the blog. Not sure how long it’ll take me to print the first 10 years but my best guess is about 6 to 8 weeks. If I print let’s say 100 posts a day five days a week that’s 500 posts a week and there’s 3,650 posts so you can do the math. Then there’s the ink and paper. Some where along the line I’ll run out of both and have to replenish the supply. When it’s done and I head to the printer, I’ll reach out and see who wants a copy. For now, on to the day and the New Year.

Yesterday after Ty’s doctor appointment (he doesn’t need surgery thankfully), we came back and woke Sonny and Jack to dig Sonny’s car out of the ditch. I could have pulled them out with my truck but thought I’d teach them a lesson on how to get a car out of a snow bank. I told them where to dig and what to do and then gave them 20 minutes or so to get it done. When I went back out I had to direct them to a few more strategic piles of snow that needed to be moved and then told Sonny to start it up and drive his car out of the ditch. They were all surprised that he drove right out saying things like “wow, didn’t think that’d work”. I told them they all need a weekend of life lessons which would install some common sense and old school skills. I don’t think they could even change a tire!

While I was gone, Brian our hardwood floor guy came by to caulk some gaps where the floor had shrunk. He is ordering a few new boards from Italy to fill in one larger gap from where the house settled. All new homes settle in the first year as lumber dries out and the ground settles.

Next up was getting ready to go to Marty and Melanie’s. We left around 3;30 and arrived an hour later. They downsized and Melanie is not happy about it at all. It’s a cute duplex but we totally understand why she’s upset. Lori would never move there. They’ll probably be there a year or so and then move. I guess it’s gone up $200K already. We had a fun dinner and it was great to hang out. The girls I think drank 2 1/2 bottles of champagne! Lori’s still sleeping, ha.

Ty, Sonny and Jack showed up around 10:45 as I wanted them home before midnight. Not sure when Jagger made it home but his car is in the driveway so he’s home safe too.

2021, WOW! I remember December 31st, 1999 vividly. Hard to believe that was 20 years ago. We all decided to pick a word for 2021 to use as a mantra to get through the year. I came up with Proactive which everyone chose as theirs. Time to take charge rather than sitting back and being reactive seeing what’s going to hit you in the face next. Think about it.

Today it’s a little cloudy out and we’re cooking a prime rib. Mojo kept me up all freakin night and I finally put him out at 3:40 am. He’s getting really old and is going a little crazy. He also is so skinny in his back end and has a hard time getting up and down. He is 15.

This weekend we’re de-Christmasing the house. We left the tree up longer than usual as it came so fast this year.

Driving home at 9:30 I came around the corner to drive up the hill the last quarter mile to the house and darn near ran into a giant bull elk! He stumbled and I slammed on the brakes before he ran to the side of the road. The next 100 yards had us driving through about 100 elk on both sides of the road. They all hang in our neighborhood all winter long. Lucky I was paying attention. Lori couldn’t believe how huge the bull elk was. She’d never seen one up close, and he was huge.

Ok, here’s to 2021 being better than 2020. It has to be right? I’m telling you it will be, no matter what, if you decide it will be. It’s up to you! So strap on that new attitude full of confidence and positivity and go tackle the year, starting today, head on! You can do it! God Bless.