A Year of Change

Well it only took me a week and a couple doctors and three girls stuck in a snow bank to figure things out. I have a hernia, maybe a double hernia, ha. Yesterday morning the aforementioned three girls were stuck in the snow so being the charming man I am, I grabbed a shovel and proceeded to dig them out. Then all it was going to take was a good push or two to get them on their way. That’s the moment when I self diagnosed my hernia. I felt a twang in my upper left groin area right below my belt and when I grabbed my stomach I could feel the bump about the size of a ping pong ball. I pushed it in and it was like a bubble going under ice or like when you’re trying to get an air bubble out of some plastic or something. Right then I was sure I had a hernia. I suspected this a week ago last Thursday when I first felt it while working out but had subsequently gone to the gym and worked out since. I called Lori right away to find the right surgeon and she asked Eric who recently had the same thing and he said to call Dr. Lisles. It took him a few hours to call me (the benefits of Lori working at the clinic!) but when we spoke and I told him what happened, he confirmed yes I have a hernia. I’ll see him at 11 Monday morning. I asked if it could be sore on both sides and he told me I probably have a double hernia which is very common. Likely I’ll have a quick out patient laparoscopy and be good to go and back to the gym in 7 to 10 days. I’m supposed to fly to Seattle Tuesday and come home Wednesday but we’ll see what Dr. Lisles says Monday. Now on top of that I do have a cold but I secured some antibiotics as a safe measure which I’m taking.

Jag was home all day and is skipping the basketball road trip today to Hotchkiss. Ty wants to go but we’ll see. Lori is off to Denver to get her hair done and look at tile and I’m not sure if I’m going along or staying home. Denver is such a mess I hate having her go alone.

Looks like the conorvirus is here in Colorado, Lakewood to be exact, nice. Of course they say (don’t believe everything “they” tell you) is that there is no risk to anyone. Funny how all officials say this even though we now have cases in multiple States. Wonder if “they” themselves would go anywhere near the hospital, hmm. In our uber connected World it doesn’t take many hours for anything to spread around the World. Too many people are flying here and there and there is no possible way to control everyone. Watch out for anyone in public who looks like they have a fever and are coughing. If on a plane, wear a mask!

It’s 7 now and I can go to the gym for cardio if I don’t engage my abdominal muscles so I’m going with Lori. I told Dr. Lisles I’m anti pain pill and will just live with the discomfort until Monday. After the gym we’re going to Jennifer Ebner’s, our friend who is also building a house and is a designer as Lori wants some help with tile. Then we’ll rush home so she can head down for her 2 pm hair appointment.

That’s it, time to get moving, and don’t push any cars out of snow banks if you have groin pain! God Bless.

I slept from about 7 pm last night until 6:30 am this morning and hope to be feeling better today. I have like a half cold with a lingering headache, sore muscles and a halfway stuffed up nose. Meanwhile Jagger came home not feeling well around 1 yesterday afternoon and is staying home today. That means he’ll miss the game tonight too. Not sure if he’ll go to Hotchkiss tomorrow or not.

Ty went to Zoe’s last night as she’s off to Israel today. I’ll be taking him to school and Lori to work in 30 minutes. I think he has an early game tonight around 4:30.

Lori’s whole team is on Z-Pak’s as they have two people out. Libby is calling me one in today so I’ll try that. No snow this morning. It’s not like we got a lot it was just wet and icy and the pass was closed yesterday for most of the morning. Guess that’s about it, time to go. Hope you all are well, wash your hands! God Bless.

Ok, no one here has the flu, as of right now anyhow. But at Lori’s work, she has two people out. Eric has a 102.7 degree fever and she sent him home yesterday and Diana is home today too with a slight fever and chills. I told Lori to wear a face mask today. I went to my cardiologist yesterday as I was still feeling punkish but I’m as fit as a 20 year old at least cardiac wise. My doctor also ran a complete blood panel and all looks good so he thinks I have or had some sort of viral infection that I was fighting off. Last night I had a brief ear ache which could have been the culprit. Lori has had a sore throat on and off but seems ok this morning. I was trying to go to Denver again to get the windows tinted on Lori’s car but with our snow and everyone moving late I’m postponing that yet again.

I think Ty and Zoe are going to dinner tonight as she’s leaving for Israel tomorrow for three months. What an experience. Not sure I’d let my kid go. They also quarantined 11 million people in China due to the conorovirus but this seems a little too late with a case in Washington State and half a dozen other countries. Looks like I’ll be wearing a mask when I go to Seattle next week.

No basketball practice today as the boys get a break before their game tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do today. The impeachment thing on tv is a joke. I haven’t watched but say what you will about Trump, there’s not anything he did that warrants impeachment. What a waste of time. Time to go shovel, be well, God Bless.

While the Front Range, meaning Denver, has had little to no snow this year, we’ve had a good year. Yesterday we added to our total. I think some more is coming today too. That’s ok with us as we’ll always take moisture which is water.

Yesterday was a busy day which is why I forgot the blog. I noticed I even spelled “run” wrong and wrote ruin. That’s because Robin told me I missed it and I wrote it from my phone and the keys are just too small.

Ty made it home around 9 and Jag around 11:30. Both lost their games with Jag’s close and Ty’s a blow out. We’re more of a ski school than most other schools.

Lori is off to the gym and I’m letting the boys sleep as late as possible. I have a lot of computer work to do today.

The impeachment thing is going on but I’m not watching. What a joke. Then you have Bloomberg and his billions trying to buy the election. How about Virginia trying to overturn the 2nd Amendment? 22,000 people showed up to protest and the blackface Gov (remember him?) who outlawed the right to carry a gun saying gun owners would cause a massacre. The Dems were hoping for some sort of violence that they could use as an example of why they need to take ALL guns away from law abiding citizens but there was only one arrest for a woman who refused to remove a mask she was wearing. Hmm, looks like maybe law abiding gun owners are not the problem after all. It’s so sad and disappointing what’s going on and for the life of me I can’t figure out why every single democrat is voting to take away Constitutional rights from the people. The Constitution has been in place since 1776 but today’s democrat’s think somehow it’s up to them to change it, unbelievable. It’s amazing people can’t look beyond whether they like Trump or not. Sure he’s crude and says outrageous things but our economy has never been so good, unemployment is lower than ever and the U.S. is stronger than ever. The Dems have been after this guy since day one and their plan is to create a divide among the American people. They ought to be ashamed and run out of office. I’m sure others (half of the Country or so) have a different view. Oh well, all of this just hurts you and me no matter which side you’re on. The politicians are like a bunch of little kids, God help us.

Boys, I know both of you will do something to make our Country and the World a better place. We need you and others like you to turn this mess around. Your generation has a big challenge ahead of it as things cannot continue this way. You’re both smarter and more practical than many of those elected officials we’re watching now. Good luck and God Bless.

Sorry I’m late, totally forgot. In Denver picking up tile samples then heading back up the hill. The boys play in Aspen today and will be home late. That’s it, gotta run.

God Bless

Today is MLK Day and at school the kids will spend the day volunteering in some way. Our boys are holding a basketball clinic for young kids in elementary school. Ty has Deb,(his tutor) from 8:30 until 10:30 this morning before he and his brother head to school for their clinic. Tomorrow they have games in Aspen.

I feel fine and just needed some extra sleep yesterday. Thanks to Lori for writing yesterday. I was headed to Denver to have a clear bra and tinted windows put on Lori’s car but am not going to make it today. The 49rs’s won yesterday and will play the Chiefs in two weeks. We all need to cheer for the 49rs’s.

That’s about it. January is moving along fast. Soon it’ll be Spring. Make it a great day, God Bless.

Good morning,

Doug isn’t feeling that hot today so he his taking it easy. Big game today…I think we might be cheering against one another.

The boys had basketball 3 hours away, the JV team lost and Varsity won. Jagger got a lot of playing time but they didn’t start him. Ty also played a reasonable amount and had a lot of fun. Both boys stayed with different friends last night and Jagger just walked in.

Jagger has his interview with the Stanford Alumni today and we are really excited for him. He has worked really hard and I hope the Interviewer finds Jagger as engaging as we do.

Ty is finishing up his social weekend and I’m sure he’s on his way to the mountain right now. We are really proud of the young men the boys have become.

I’m going to check on Doug now. Have a great day!

Again, poor coaching led to a two point loss. These guys obviously have no experience coaching basketball. I was more upset than Jag was as he just took it all in stride. Maybe they’ll wake up today and change things up a bit. At one point when we were needing a basket the coaches pulled the two tallest guys and put in two short guys. Lori leaned over and said, “there’s an idea, let’s go smaller”.

Ty forgot his jersey so by the time we arrived with it, it was halftime. He played really well once he was in with a couple saves when the ball was headed out of bounds, a bunch of rebounds and deflections and was perfect from the line when he was fouled. After his game while the girls game was going on, we drove Ty home and he showered and went to Zoe’s for the night. Today both boys need to be at school by 11:30 when the bus leaves for Grand Junction. They should be home around 9:30.

At 1:30 today Lori and Melanie are having massages at the Westin. We were headed to Denver for Lori’s hair but I accidently thought she said she was ok cancelling when I guess she wanted to still go. After sitting on the highway yesterday in white out conditions and delays and closures I knew the roads and traffic wouldn’t be good today. Looks like it still isn’t all that good and this morning Lori is ok that we stayed home. She and Melanie will have fun getting massages. Hopefully it’ll help her head. Then we’ll go to a late lunch somewhere. Melanie’s birthday is Wednesday.

Boys, so proud of you. They way you both played and the way you handled the inexperience and incompetence of your coaching staff was admirable. Learning to accept that things don’t always make sense and rolling with it is a much needed quality especially these days when everyone always think they know what’s right and few are willing to recognize they might not always know everything. Super proud of you. I told Mom I was more frustrated that you two were, ha. God Bless.

Today is Ty’s 16th birthday! Whoo hoo! Hard to believe he’s 16 years old. Jag turning 18 seemed easier we think, but maybe not. Anyhow one thing’s for sure, we don’t look old enough to have 16 and 18 year old boys, right?

Today I have a sales meeting in Denver and then we have basketball games at 4:30 and 7. We also need to leave early to get Ty’s snowboard for Ski Friday. For Ty’s birthday we bought him the World’s largest portable Bluetooth speaker which he wanted, because we need louder music coming from his room. Not sure if we’re going to dinner tomorrow as the boys have a game in Grand Junction at noon and 2.

Jag had to register for the Draft yesterday. All men when they turn 18 years old still have to register, who knew. Can’t see Jag going to war at this age but many young men did throughout history. I don’t think the Draft will ever come back as wars are fought differently these days with drones and high tech missiles rather than massive amounts of people on the ground.

Time to get the boys moving. We have a busy day and weekend. It’s also Lorenzo’s Mom’s birthday today in Italy. Kristin who has worked for me for 20 years is also having her second baby today in Portland. So there ya go, a big day for 3 generations. Take care and God Bless.

Ty, super proud of you! You are a great kid and probably the kindest person we know. We always have said you’re going to have a happy life as you have that great outlook on all things that will make it so. Remember this day as it’s a special one, we love you!

Good morning! Yesterday is a blur as we got up at 5:15 a.m. to get out the door and on our way to Denver by 6:30 a.m. We thought it would be clear driving but the Highway Patrol closed I-70 East due to sun glare and diverted traffic to a one lane frontage road…no fun!

That first paragraph was written by the lovely Lori! A few more highlights, she lost an earring. It was a little hoop with some little diamonds on it, bummer.

Today Ty goes back to school. Tomorrow it’s his birthday! We also have a basketball game tomorrow. The game the other day I learned we lost by two points because the coaches didn’t start Jag because he was out injured. He did hit the buzzer beater to go to overtime and scored all the points in overtime but it should never have gone that far and wouldn’t if they played him earlier in the game. I don’t understand some people or coaches sometimes. I mean just what are they trying to teach or prove? Don’t get hurt, ah dud. Oh well, the whole team was more disappointed that they didn’t play Jag than he was and he was pissed as it just wasn’t logical and Jag is a very logical kid. He told Mom he’s just so over high school. I don’t blame him as he’s already in college in his head.

The joke of impeachment is going on but I and most people are not paying much attention. The Dems have turned this into such a joke. Pelosi even signed various copies with a bunch of different pens like it’s some great new law or something and then handed ceremonial pens out to various people. Trust me, history will not look kindly on any of them. Oh well, they’re in their own little World which will come crashing down as they all do. It’s just a matter of time.

Boys, great week! Jag, we’re very proud of you as always and Ty, you are amazingly kind and caring to all people. You’re like a saint in the selfless ways you’re just naturally concerned about everyone. I won’t go into details but you make choices without thinking that always put others ahead of yourself. Tomorrow is your 16th birthday and we can’t wait! Know that you two have always been admired by all the other parents and adults who knew you. You’re amazing young men that will someday somehow change the World for the better. I know it!

God Bless.