A Year of Change

We’re all fine, it’s Harley who has an upset tummy. I think she picked something up at doggie daycare yesterday. We’re making her rice for breakfast this morning.

Yesterday we went down to the house to see the fireplaces. They look great. We’re on the fence about using the design firm in Frisco as we might be able to get the same discount from our friend. It all comes down to money, it always comes down to money, right?

Today I’m in Denver picking up some supplies and dry cleaning. It’s sort of like going to town as ranchers did 100 years ago in their wagon to pick up a month or two’s worth of supplies. I have a plan that I’ve been following for a good month now getting a few things here and there focusing on things that are going fast or that will go really fast should things get worse. Of course I had this plan on standby for years in case something like this happened. Bulk food is near the end of the list. Now we’re not going crazy but are getting things like cleaning supplies, some meds and supplements and things that take a little more time to find. We’re also making sure we’re healthy and keeping up on regular check ups with people like the dentist as well. Anyhow to each their own. For any family, if things get really bad, and you can get here, we can take you in, just don’t bring any friends! Just as an fyi, things are not slowing down with Japan and South Korea now approaching full pandemic stage. Our own government’s health officials have said it’s pretty much unstoppable here, and for that matter, everywhere too. There is a breakthrough on 3D mapping of the virus from researchers and the University of Texas in Austin but we’re probably 18 to 24 months at best away from a vaccine, but this is a big step forward. The point is this thing is here to stay like the flu, with little to no protection for the next 2 years minimum. This is not something that will quietly go away in a month or two, let’s be clear about that. So time to set your priorities. Once again, better to have things and not need them to not have them and need them.

Moving on, Madi is in Denver for some performance this weekend. Jag is riding down with her parents to watch the performance on Saturday. Ty went to bed early as he was tired (as he always is) after staying at Sonny’s. He’s studying for his drivers test so he can get his learners permit. Break is winding down and they’re back to school Monday.

No snow last night, yea! Should be in the 40’s or 50’s today which will help with more melting. That’s it, time to get moving, be safe and God Bless.

Yesterday we made a few more changes mainly to furniture but we also tweaked a few light fixtures. We did meet with a design firm that runs about $100 a hour but we do get 30% off all furniture we buy from anyone through them. This alone makes it worth it as includes everything from beds to couches, tables, chairs, bar stools and more. I figured it out and even if we use them for let’s say 20 hours, we’d still save over $9000 from paying retail. Plus we like them and they’re local so if we need anything serviced, there’s that too.

At 7 we went to dinner with Jag and Madi and her parents. They’ve been in the valley since the mid 90’s meaning they know just about everybody. They’re super nice and fun (they both hunt!) and said what a great influence Jag is on Madi. That was nice to hear.

I think I’ll run down to Denver today for a couple errands. I have my check up appointment from my hernia at 9 and can then head down. I should be back by 2 which is about when Lori will be done with work.

Time to continue buying a little extra food each day. This really isn’t much of a prep because I only buy things (food) we use on a regular basis. Another quick tip, keep your gas tank always at least half full. By the way, gas is cheap now, that’s sure nice.

Well that’s about it, time to get going. Ty spent the night at Sonny’s and Jag at Madi’s so it’s just Lori and I and the two dogs. Have a great day and God Bless.

There are a lot of choices out there for any and every decision we have to make in our lives. The con artists these days are good too. Whether a furniture conglomerate or a financial advisor or even some doctors, it’s hard to know who to believe these days. One good thing about the internet is independent sites like Consumer Reports and reviews by actual people on sites like Yelp. But these too can be deceiving as some reviews are fake by people paid by companies to heap praise on their own products. So you really need to do your research and be careful these days as money is too hard to come by. Just my 2 cents.

The boys are doing well and Lori and I are fine tuning choices for the house. We’re going to the gym this morning and she’s working a bit this morning. More snow they say today, not a lot but more snow.

Jag and Madi were here when we came home yesterday. She’s a sweet good girl. We might go out to dinner tonight to meet her parents, we’ll see, need to check with Jag. They’re happy together and make a cute couple although he towers over her as he does most people. Ty skied the Minturn Mile yesterday which is through the trees down the back side of the mountain to home. Lots of people do it as it’s a pretty famous off track run.

Time to get moving so I can feed the dogs and get ready for the gym. Hope everyone is well, God Bless.

It’s been a epic year for the resorts. For most of us living here though, it’s getting a little old. I’m ok with it but am ready for Spring. I thought that groundhog said an early Spring is on the way. Hope he was right.

Lori and I were at the house for a bit and are using our neighbor who is a designer for 5 hours to get some help with a few tough choices. When I say our neighbor, I mean our neighbor to be as she lives about 2 blocks from the house. She gave us a few good ideas or caught a few things we missed which makes it worth the $1250 she cost for 5 hours. Plus we get her designer discount on any furniture we buy through her. Lori pretty much has everything else done though and has done a great job. She could quit her job and be a designer if she wanted to!

Ty spent the night at Will’s with Sonny as he’s our non-stop play kid. Jag had a mono test which thankfully came back negative. He made some pasta carbonera and some great kind of cheese cake last night. Jag will go get Ty some time this morning as Lori and I are off to Denver around 8 am.

Don’t get me started on the virus. It’s picking up steam and there are 2000 or so new reported cases each day in China which I still say is about 10 times under reported. Wall Street has noticed too as they and a lot of large companies are cutting their annual forecasts of growth. Lots of companies are also cancelling conventions and annual meetings that bring large numbers of people together. It will expand here so do yourself a favor and get prepared. We can’t do much for any of you unless you live across the street, which none of you do. It’s getting to the point where you need to consider avoiding large crowds and start assuming everyone out there is sick. That’s it, each of us has to decide on our own how serious of a threat this is. Once again I would caution you to watch what the government does, not what they say. This will give you the best information. Time to go, may God Bless and watch over you!

Lori and I just woke up although I actually woke up at 3:51 and was awake until 5:30 or so. Lori is going to take my workout at 8:30 while I have a conference call and then I think we’re off to Denver. Jag went to Madi’s for dinner and stayed in their guest room. She made the sweetest Valentine’s Day card for him with pictures and sayings and stuff all in a fold up cool kind of homemade box thing. I think we’ll go to dinner with them and meet her parents this week sometime. Ty made it home at 9 from a long day on the mountain and then of course hanging with friends.

Lori is changing up the tile in Ty’s bathroom and we’re trying to decide on furniture. I’ve never had a bed with a headboard and I think we’re going to see if our cabinet maker Dave can make us one out of walnut. We think he can do it much cheaper than if we have to buy one.

We received an email from the teacher on Jag’s trip apologizing again and saying how impressive the kids were. I am still not happy at all. Lori technically took the week off when we thought we were going to look at colleges. Now though she’s working most of the days.

The snow is winding down, finally. I think the next 10 days look pretty good with warmer temperatures coming our way. This is great news as it’s been a snowy month.

Time to go, we’re very proud of both you boys (when you read this someday) as you’re both kind, caring, considerate and strong young men. Again, we must be good parents, and aunts and uncles, and grandma’s and grandpa’s to have had you turn out so well! God Bless.

P.s., here’s Ty freestyling off a homemade jump on the mountain behind us.

After a long day in Denver, Lori and I picked up the 3 Amigos (Jagger, Zach and Ethan) from the airport at 6 pm. 3 hours later after stops at Starbucks and Chick Filet we were all home safe. Their trip was a total nightmare. Upon arrival the teacher told me it was horrible and she was so sorry. They had switched from the Bahama’s the year before to the Keys which were supposed to save money but didn’t. So last year it was great while this year the so called kids in charge treated our guys like they were inner city delinquents who had never been outside before. The first question to them was, have you ever slept in a sleeping bag? Now our kids are outdoor junkies who have traveled the World and slept in snow caves so they all looked at each other like this was some sort of a joke. Sadly it wasn’t. To close it out, (too many things to go in to) there wasn’t enough food, the so called “guides” had no clue what they were doing and all the kids and the teacher counted the days until it was over. We all laughed all the way up about the nightmare it was. The boys could laugh now that it was over but it was zero fun and I’m pissed as we paid for something that didn’t deliver as advertised.

We took the truck to fit everyone in with their gear and spent the day at the cabinet shop and a few furniture and lighting stores before getting the boys. Lori wants to get or hire a designer for a few hours to get some help on a few things. We also were at the lighting store (one of two) for a good hour plus as we need to finalize light fixtures for bathrooms and the outside of the house. One of the few restrictions in our neighborhood is to be dark sky compliant meaning no direct bright lights on the outside of the house. So we found sconce’s that have indirect light to go on each side of the front door and the garage doors. They’re super cool and sort of industrial looking like steel beams.

Lori has done an amazing job with all she’s picked from floors to tile to cabinets and everything else you don’t think of like baseboards, closet material, sinks, faucets, appliances, the color of the siding and the soffit’s inside and out and more. It’s a big job. The lady at the lighting store asked “how long we’ve been doing it” and of course I said, “20 years”, ha. Oh one thing, and this is great. While in Chicago, Ty was at the Nike store and came outside and saw a homeless guy freezing on the street so he took out his wallet and gave the homeless guy his $50 gift card from Christmas to his favorite store, Zumiz. There was a Zumiz right next to Nike so Ty told him to go in and buy some warm clothes! What a kid. Then he took some more of his own money and bought a few blankets and pairs of gloves and went and gave those to some more homeless guys. How touching is that, way to go Ty, you’re a great kid. Jagger said Ty has always had a great heart.

I’ll stop there as it’s hard to top that. Hope you all are well, take care, be safe and God Bless.

We picked up Ty and Sonny around 3 pm and were home by 7. He had a great trip and was glad to be home. Jag called last night and said his trip was a nightmare! I guess the crew was horrible and he said the one guy who was a deck hand hadn’t showered in weeks. I don’t think anyone had much fun. We’ll learn more tonight at 6 when we pick him up. I guess we’re driving Zach and Ethan home too.

We stopped by the cabinet maker and everything looks good except the laundry room. The melamine which is the veneer like product that goes on the wood is the wrong color. They used what Lori picked out but now it looks like it has a tint of pink to it. It’s so hard to pick colors when your looking at a 2 inch by 2 inch piece of wood rather than a 4 X 8 foot sheet! I said let’s suck up the $600 and change it yesterday but she then said leave it. This morning though it’s still bugging her so we need to change it as if not, it’ll keep bugging her. We also need to pick out some light fixtures today.

I think we’ll take the truck down today as the three boys all have long legs. We have new neighbors in Nancy’s place next to us. We haven’t met them but that’s ok as we’re out of here in about 8 weeks. It’s coming up fast now.

I’m stopping at R.E.I. and buying some dehydrated camping food as we have a huge dividend from all the gear we had to buy last year for the kids trips. All credible news outlets and agencies are now saying get ready for the virus to take hold here in America. Executive Orders have been signed by the President giving the DOD (Dept. of Defense) powers to spend and prepare for a pandemic here in the U.S. Other govt. agencies like DHS (Homeland Security) have been granted money and been instructed to get ready also. Like I said a few weeks ago, watch what they do, not what they say! That’s all I can say. We told both boys to wipe down all surfaces on the plane and assume everyone is sick. Hopefully it’s still not spread very much with the boys traveling home but none of us know and won’t for at least a few more weeks. Anyone of us or anyone anywhere could have it and not know. So try to stay healthy and again, get yourself a little extra food if you can. I’ll stop now as if you haven’t heard me by now, you probably never will.

We’re showering and headed to Denver. make it a great day and God Bless.

No matter the holiday, Valentines Day, Easter, whatever, mom would always get us a card with something small, usually money as we grew older. She never forgot. Funny how that’s what I thought of first thing. Our power went out last night and just came on at 6 am. Ty lands in Denver at 3 pm this afternoon so we’ll head down around noon to get him and Sonny. Yesterday I was down and up by 2 pm. Tom called to tell me they were closing Vail Pass for avalanche work but when I made it there, it was thankfully open.

We didn’t get much cleaning or purging done this week. Lori worked a lot and I tried to take it easy but also worked a bunch. The kids are off next week so we’ll get them cleaning and packing.

That’s about it, no big plans today as we’re trying to save money. Hope you all are well, God Bless.

Lori just told me she has a Town Hall Meeting at 7 and I’m dropping her so no time to waste. James and I spent the day in Aspen and had a blast. I’m not going to share any details of our day or friendship but man the stories and shit he has to deal with you wouldn’t believe if I told you. He’s having a tough time and it’s good that I (and Lori) can be there for him. More to come in the coming weeks as we have some things we’re working on that we might do. Anyhow being a mega-rock star with all the fame and fortune is not something I or he would wish on anyone.

I’m off to Denver today, tomorrow and Saturday as the next two days we need to get each boy. The house is coming along great and James and I met Lori there on the way home from Aspen. Our hats are freaking awesome. They’re like heirlooms and even make me look like a rock star. He said I look like one more than him, ha. Time to run, God Bless.

We heard from Ty as he’s having a blast. We can’t reach Jag as he’s out on a boat with zero communication in the middle of the ocean. Only 2 and 3 days now until they’re both home.

Today James and I are taking a road trip to Aspen. Lunch was good. Without getting into too many personal details, he’s at a crossroad as is the band. At some point in our lives all of us question just what are we doing with our life. This is sort of the general place they are all in. In a way you could say (let’s hope so) that this episode will result in some positive changes. We talked about rehab, addictions and life in general focusing on where we both are at this point of our lives and just what’s important these days. While there are vast differences in how famous and wealthy we are, (he’s a little bit more famous and has more money than me if you were wondering) we’re a lot alike. He did say he told the band he just cant do 50 shows a year anymore. I told him do 12 and do them every other year, but only if you still like and enjoy it. Anyhow enough of our lunch as there was a lot more but I’ll keep that to myself. He did tell me how there were people in rehab for being addicted to their phones and social media big time. Not surprising if you think about it.

It warmed up big time here and felt like summer compared to the last week. As I said, the boys will be home soon and we miss them both. My Italy trip is officially off and we’re making some changes at work to coincide with our new German partners.

We’re up early as Lori is working out. I might go with her to walk the treadmill. Mojo wasn’t feeling well yesterday but seems better today. Harley is her same old puppy self. Think I’ll skip the virus segment today but suffice it to say, it’s not slowing down. The MWC (Mobile World Conference) in Barcelona which is one of the largest conventions in the World has had companies like LG, Navidia, IBM, Samsung and others, all pull out. I suspect we’ll see more of this in the near future. All I can say is what I said before, prepare as much as you can.

Here’s a couple pictures of Ty and his group in Chicago. He’s with Chloe and they’re doing their best Ferris Buhler pose!

Enjoy the day, God Bless.