A Year of Change

The first day of skiing for me ended up as a cold windy day. There are lots of people up here due to the holidays and the snow was a little crusty. My feet are a little sore having not been in ski boots for a year. I finished up around 11 or so as I had a lot of work to do and the 3 boys continued off on their own until baout 2 in the afternoon.

I managed to get a lot of work done and was even stopping on the side of the mountain to take calls on the slopes. Lori too worked hard all day and we finally picked her up at 5:30 on the way to dinner. We had planned on putting in a pork roast but forgot to do it. We’ll stick it in the crock pot this morning.

Ty’s friend Jack is staying another day and his parents will pick him up tomorrow. Lori and I and Jag I think are going down to Denver today as it’s my birthday (now don’t get too excited) to see my Mom and Jag and Lori want to hit a store or two. Dixie fell or tripped over something yesterday but is fine. Dixie, if you’re reading, you need to use your walker or cane! Everyone loses their balance as they get older as your glutes or butt muscles (which are the largest muscle in your body) get weaker. In fact, after skiing yesterday, I went to the gym to work my lower body and glutes. In any case, if you have poor balance, for whatever reason, be careful and use something to help steady you.

Time to get coffee and get the boys moving so they can hit the slopes around 8:30 or 9am. Have a great day, take care and God Bless.

Yesterday Ty and I cruised down to Denver for some returns (mostly Lori’s stuff) and then after washing the car and a few other stops, picked up his friend Jack who is with us until tomorrow. We made it back up by 3:15, just in time to take Lori to PT. She’s working today and the rest of us are skiing. It looks cold outside but we’re hoping it warms up. I’ll only ski until about 11am as I have lots of work to do. The boys will probably stay on the mountain for the entire day.

Break sure is going fast for the boys as they’re back at school next Tuesday. Lori and I really are not on break at all, unfortunately.

Guess I’ll run as it’s 7:19 and we need to leave around an hour from now. Have a good day, GB

4 days to go in the year. Lots to do and no time to waste. The 3 days off was nice but here we go again.

Ty’s friend Jack is coming up today until Thursday. His dad is bringing him up. Last night we went to an early dinner and then came home around 7. Jag and Ty went to play basketball yesterday around 3pm for an hour.

That’s about it, we slept too late so time to get moving, GB.

The Day After or sometimes called Boxing Day, if you’re in England or Canada. Everyone is still sleeping but Mojo and me. Yesterday was a nice day but we did sit in the car for a bit. Going down wasn’t too bad but coming home, we ended up sitting at the top of Vail Pass for a good 45 minutes as it was closed due to accidents. Finally we made it home between 5:30 and 6. Mojo was with us so he was fine.

It was nice to see Grandma and Tom and Ali and we had a good time. Shelly didn’t make it as I guess she wasn’t feeling well. Today we’ll go through all our presents and see what fits and what doesn’t. Then we’ll box them up (that’s where Boxing Day comes from) and get them ready to go back to the store later this week.

The boys and I might go skiing today, we’ll see. So hope you all had a good Christmas. The Bronco’s lost as we just had too many guys injured plus we have no offensive line. I’m not really upset as if by some luck we would have made it into the playoffs, we wouldn’t have gone too far. This way we’ll get a better draft choice in a few months. In any case, John Elway, who’s in charge, has to work his magic again this year but this time on the offensive side of the ball, instead of the defense. He did it 2 years ago so let’s hope he can do it again.

That’s it, hope you all made it through the day, GB.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! What a great day, looked forward to by all, no matter your age. It’s a Holy day being the day of the birth of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. But it’s also a day of memories, a way to measure times in our lives as we all have memories of Christmas’s long gone, and those memories will stay with each of us forever. I’m sure everyone one of us can remember a childhood Christmas, a funny event, one where you weren’t home, one at Grandma and Grandpa’s or at least one where they were with you, and so on. So celebrate the day as unless you’re a kid, you know it’s not about the presents but about the day and family and another year passing with the dawn of a New Year right around the corner. We love and miss you all and wish you a Merry Christmas!

Now to the day, I made it to Denver and back by 1 which was pretty good timing. Lori and the boys were walking out the door when I pulled up to take Mojo up the hill. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching Christmas movies and wrapping presents. Around 5 we left for dinner as Lori managed to get us in to Vintage, a French restaurant we’d never been to. We stopped at a friend’s house to drop a bottle or two of wine and then headed over. It was a cute place that when you walked in immediately made you feel as though you were in Paris. The waiters, mostly girls, were all dressed up in cute little French outfits. In Lori’s words, we probably had the best family dinner that she could ever remember. No one was on their phones and we talked and laughed and had a great two hours as a family. Before we went, while Ty was getting ready, he came down and said “smell my chest” to which I did, and then he said “Old Spice, for the manliest men”! Too funny.

We made it home by about 8 pm joking that lucky we didn’t go later, as we were both wiped out. We put on some Christmas movies and began to wind down. At 6 this morning Ty woke us saying Merry Christmas and let us know he put out milk and cookies for Santa Claus. Well he sure did, as he poured a whole half gallon of milk in a giant plastic cup from one of the football games. He then threw away the milk carton so I had to pour some back in a few glasses and put them in the fridge. I also then had to eat a few cookies to help out Santa! Lori and I then, just now, had a cup of coffee and wrapped the last two presents. Ty’s back asleep and so is Jag. It’s snowing and blowing outside and we’re hoping the pass is open so we can get to Denver in a few hours. It’s supposed to snow non-stop until 6 am tomorrow. We’re also worried about getting back up with Mojo being here alone. We might take him with us and he might just have to stay outside at Grandma’s, we’ll see.

So again, Merry Christmas to all, enjoy and indulge in the day as it comes but once a year. Think of years gone by and the great times with family as the older you get the more you realize it’s not things that are important, but the memories. God Bless everyone.

Here we go, hold on, it’ll go fast now.

Yesterday was pretty busy itself. I can’t even remember everything but I do know I was at the gym, a few stores, the hospital a few times, in and out of town dropping Jag to play some basketball and then we wrapped some presents. This morning, believe it or not, I’ll be in Denver by 8am picking up one present that didn’t make it up here! I also have another that the store left the security tag on so I need to take that down to have it removed. I hope to be back by noon and that includes a stop at the grocery store.

We’re supposed to get hammered with snow this evening. They say between tonight and tomorrow it could be a foot or more. We’re hoping most of it will be a bit higher on the mountain as we need to get to Denver tomorrow morning. Today at 4pm we have the Cowboy Christmas out at the 4 Eagle Ranch. They have a giant, and I mean giant tent that must hold over 1000 people. Then on stage is a great cowboy band that plays Christmas carols. Throw in hot cider, fire pits outside with s’mores and sleigh rides and it’s a fun time. I still have a couple of things to wrap too.

Lori is slammed at work. I finally pulled her put of her office around 5 :15 yesterday. Everyone else but one PA was gone. As we were driving out of the parking lot, 3 girls, with one on crutches, were walking in the snow covered lot and having a hard time. I rolled down the window and asked if they needed a ride. In broken English they happily accepted. So I rearranged all the stuff in our car and loaded them up. Turns out they were three 19 year olds here from Argentina working on visas at one of the local lodges. They are here for 4 months and one of them had a bad snowboard accident and hurt her foot. They were trying to get to the transit center so they could take the bus home to Avon about 10 minutes down the highway. Lori and I looked at each other as the poor little girl on crutches was having a real hard time. Without discussing it, we both said at the same time, “do you want a ride to Avon?”. They gladly said yes all at the same time, and then we said first we need to pick up our oldest son down the street where he was getting out of the movies after playing basketball. They were fine with that. As we pulled up, they saw Jagger and made some comments like “ooh, look at him” and some other assorted giggles. He opened the door and said “wow, there’s a lot of people in here” and then we explained what was going on. He climbed in the back and the three girls started talking to him and soon Lori decided as a Mom to weave the fact that he was 15 years old into the conversation! Being 6 foot 4 or 5 inches tall, it’s hard to tell as he looks much older. Anyhow we drove them home and they were so thankful. Victoria, Camilla, and Julia, (pronounced O-lee-aa) were really nice girls and are here working for $12 an hour! If we didn’t drive them home, Julia would have froze as she would have had a hard time walking in the snow on crutches from the bus stop. So, there was our good deed for the day!

Not sure if Dixie’s package arrived last night. It was supposed to but so was Annette’s that is now arriving Tuesday. It’s my fault for getting them both out so late, sorry. Time to run as it’s 6:15 and I need to be on the highway in about 20 minutes. Merry Christmas and I’m sure we’ll talk to everyone sometime today, May God Bless you all!

Luckily I managed to get some packages shipped yesterday as we have new snow this morning! Not sure how much, only looks like 4 or 5 inches out the window, but that still can mess up the roads. It’s the last day of work for Lori and I until Tuesday and then we’ll have the big 4 day rush to wrap up the year. I don’t even want to think about all I have to do next week.

I think the boys are going skiing today. Jag went to play basketball yesterday and Ty pretty much stayed home. I need to drive Lori to work again as she still really can’t drive with one arm. Then it’ll be a mix of wrapping some presents, numerous phone calls and a few last minute shopping stops. I might need to run to Denver tomorrow but am hoping that won’t be necessary. If I do, I’ll be down and back by noon at the latest.

Time to run, not long now until Christmas will be here, Dixie and Annette need to watch for the Fed Ex man today! Take care, and Merry Christmas.

Well, we hit the road by about 7:30 and were in Denver a few minutes before 9. We dropped the car and picked up our loaner and then it began. First off, we headed to Target, and then the bank. Then the madness began. Next up was the distributor, another bank and then the mall where we’d be for the next 2 hours. We were like contestants on a shopping show and did really well rushing from store to store. Lori likes to take her time and if I would have rushed her, that would have even slowed us down more. So I just let her do her thing. Finally around 11:40 we were leaving Park Meadows mall and off to another store and then yet another. Then it was back across town to pick up our car, then a quick bite to eat, then another store, then Petsmart for dog food and then the dry cleaners before stopping at my Mom’s.

After a 45 minute visit, it was up the hill. In Frisco we had to hit the grocery store and then were headed home to Vail. Once there, we yet had another stop to pick up a couple more things and finally we were home by 6:30. So, we did a lot but were dead tired as all through this we were both working, answering calls and emails too.

Today I have a few packages coming which we hope arrive. I also need to pick one up at Lori’s office and then grab a few more presents in town. Then after wrapping and shipping, I should be pretty much done. Now that we see it all in print, we sure did a lot! It’s 7:42 as we overslept a bit as Ty and Sonny, who spent the night, were up giggling when I heard them at 2:30 and then told them to turn off the lights. Lori needs to be at work by 8:30 which gives us about 30 minutes so I’d better go. We’re in the bottom of the 8th inning of the middle of the 4th quarter, depending on which analogy you like so hope you all are ready and have sent your cards and packages. We’re using good old Fed Ex! Ha ha, God Bless and Merry Christmas!

Up here winter is in fill swing. It was warmer yesterday, like the mid 30’s, which caused a lot of spray on the roads. Today is also the shortest day of the year which means we better get moving. Lori is sleeping and it’s 5:33 and I’d like to get her up and out the door by 7. You see, we’re off to Denver and have a long list of things to do. Our list is too long to write but we must have over a dozen stops with only 2 being for Christmas.

So, time to move, have a good day and God Bless.

Hard to believe Christmas is only 5 days away. We sure have a lot to do, both personally and professionally. Hope we get it all done in time. Yesterday after dropping Lori at work, the boys and I rushed down to Denver to do a little shopping and get haircuts. Jeannie, our friend, cuts our hair for no charge which saves us about $200. We just made it back up by 5:15 to pick up Lori at work.

Today I have a couple work packages arriving via Fed Ex. I think tomorrow I need to drop a French wine sample at the distributor in Denver, if it arrives today. Lori of course has work and PT. I was going to PT for my knee but just received a $600 bill last night for the few times I went so I immediately cancelled my appointment today. I’ll just have to figure it out on my own as Lori’s bills for anesthesiologists and other doctors are pouring in, Merry Christmas huh.

Well Donald Trump was confirmed by the Electoral College. Turns out more electors defected from Clinton than Trump! So after all that fuss with dems saying they had the votes to overturn his victory, more dems left her to vote for Trump or Bernie Sanders. What a laugh. The dems are like a bunch of little kids that just can’t get over their crushing defeat. Face it, she lost, it’s over, get over it and move on with your life. You sure didn’t see all of us acting like a bunch of spoiled entitled babies when Obama won now did you, hmmm.

It’s 6:45 so time to get moving. Hope everyone has mailed their packages. Ours go out today. Take care, GB